Raising children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) requires unconventional parenting. To discover different ways to support my son and daughter with their challenging symptoms, I stumbled upon a service dog agency that trains dogs for children and veterans. The decision to pursue a service dog for my daughter in 2013 changed our family immeasurably.
When general education teachers feel overwhelmed and unprepared to support students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), the benefits of inclusion can be significantly undermined. To truly embrace inclusion, we must think beyond the logistics of classroom placement and actively cultivate a learning environment where the diverse needs of all learners are acknowledged, affirmed, and celebrated as essential to the vitality and health of our schools.
For Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, parents and professionals must understand that access to language and language development is a crucial part of the of the overall functioning of children and adolescents. In fact, I might argue, that understanding its impact is the central issue that school and clinical psychologists must understand in order to conduct ethical and effective evaluations of cognitive, academic and social-emotional functioning.
One of my favorite professors in college, Shoshannah Stern, is a famous Deaf actress and an incredible teacher (See: Weeds, The Hammer, Jericho). She asked us one day to consider what our reactions would be if we gave birth to a child one day who could only speak French. Well, I can only speak English. And we’re not in France, we’re in America. Would my first reaction be to learn French? Well, maybe a few key terms, but my focus would really be on trying to teach my kid English. Try to assimilate them into the culture and country in which they live. Having a deaf child is no different. That child is automatically born into a culture different than the parent, and that doesn’t happen to other families unless in very special circumstances…
