I woke up Saturday morning to the news that in these lean times the state is considering getting rid of the Schools for the Deaf and the Blind to save money in the state budget.
My first reaction was,"WHAT?"
Who is kidding who, that is still my reaction.
I feel getting rid of the School for the Deaf and the Blind would be a travesty. There are many reasons I feel this way.
First of all, I understand that economically this is a hard time for many people and by extension the state. I understand that there are more programs and services than money. Heavens, we all deal with this all of the time in our families. You have to pick and choose what are the most important needs and go with those.
I truly feel that the Schools for the Deaf and the Blind is one of those important elements that the state should leave intact even in this difficult economy.
Not all government services give back to the community ten fold as the kids who get what they need from the Schools for the Deaf and the Blind do. If these kids like Chance get the services that they need while they are young, they can acquire language skills and integrate into their neighborhood schools where they learn along side their peers like any other child. Just those few years of intervention by specialists can literally work miracles in these kids lives. They flourish and grow and are able to reach their potential in a way that is remarkable. Shifting this task to the school districts would be a travesty. Each and every district could not provide the spealization that is required for these deaf children to aquire language. I truly feel that the services offered through school districts could be nothing but substandard. School districts have enough they have to do and adding kids requiring such specialized help in the beginning would not be possible.
The Schools for the Deaf and Blind have the professionals already in place along with years of experience. In order for each district to acquire the specialists to help these kids would be near impossible. Not to mention a huge increase in expense. Which is truly cheaper, having a consolidated school that specializes in helping deaf children get what they need and then moving them out to their regular schools, or expecting each school district to acquire and provide these services individually?
Deaf children need specialized schooling beginning at age 3 in preschool. I cannot fathom school districts being able to provide these services. I believe we would see a huge drop in the quality and progress of deaf children. Years of experience and methods that work would be thwarted.
Not to mention the dedication of these professionals. I truly felt that my son was loved by many of the people that provided services. They were devoted.
The money put into these deaf kids now, pays off 10 times what is put in within a few short years. Many times the children are able to perform at the same level as their peers and reach their potential which includes having the capabilities to eventually go out into the world and support themselves and their families.
We have written our representatives and parents of deaf children are going to gather at the state capital this week to make our presence known. Our representatives need to see what these deaf kids are capable of and what a specialized focus on language and hearing can do for years and years to come.
No money will be saved by cutting the Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. In the long run money and services will be lost.
I can only imagine what parents of blind children are going through at this suggestion.
We need to put faces to the numbers for the legislators so they can see who this will directly affect, which would of course be the deaf and blind children of Utah.
There is hope. Our representative lives next door to a deaf child who went to school with Chance for many years. She has seen the impact the early intervention has had and she has many disabled children herself as she and her husband adopt children who have special needs.
I believe we have many allies on capital hill. We'll just pray for the number of our allies to outnumber the naysayers.
4 comments:
This is too sad!
I read about it last week when another parent wrote about it here: http://misskatsmom.blogspot.com/2011/02/another-deaf-school-closing.html
You said it well! I want to only add, that really our services begin at birth, not age 3. You're right that what we do now in the early years, makes later years success possible. It's a scary thing when people want to balance the budget on the backs of those needing the most help to get a good start on life.
You are right Ann, you all pick up the kids at birth to begin services. And you do a great job! We are so thankful for dedicated people like you who work with our kids.
This is terrible! I think of how far Chance as come with help from these great schools. Keep us posted!
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