Their hearing may be impaired or lacking altogether, but a group of Merced County Office of Education students at Merced City School District’s Peterson Elementary School don’t feel left out of any of the school’s activities.
This inclusiveness where deaf and hard-of-hearing students mingle with Peterson classmates is endearing to Maria Duran-Barajas, Peterson-based special education coordinator with MCOE.
“It’s not like they are isolated; actually, they are included in every aspect of the day,” Duran-Barajas said. “We have had a lot of success being able to integrate our students in the general education setting. Peterson Elementary is very accepting of our students. We are included in events, assemblies and field trips.”
Regular education students and teachers are very welcoming of the deaf students.
MCOE has two classes at Peterson School on Donna Drive. There is a preschool/pre-kindergarten with six 3 to 5-year-old students and an elementary class of six children in second through fifth grade.
These students communicate via American Sign Language. Another 201 deaf and hard-of-hearing students attend classes at schools throughout Merced County.
Duran-Barajas said the deaf students are academically up with their peers.
“They are as smart as anyone else. What we tell everyone is their mode of communication is using their hands,” Duran-Barajas said.
Pre-kindergarten students have the same curriculum as regular classrooms. They also interact with the regular students during the day.
The MCOE program has three signer aides who are deaf themselves. They serve as good role models for the students, Duran-Barajas said. There also are two certified interpreters who use sign language and voice to communicate with their students.
Some students use a frequency modulation system. Specially modified speaker systems adjust the volume for hard-of-hearing students.
The range of hearing loss varies from mild to severe; some students have no hearing at all. Some students are fitted with hearing aids for safety reasons, to be able to hear things such as trains or airplanes. A few students have cochlear implants which bypass regular ear channels and go directly to the eardrum.
Duran-Barajas said students simultaneously learn sign language and oral communications skills. They also receive speech therapy so their speech can be perfected as they learn how to speak. Elementary-level students primarily communicate through sign language and will likely do so throughout their lives.
She said students may be mainstreamed into regular classrooms for English-language arts, mathematics or science lessons. They are accompanied to these classes by the certified interpreters who translate teachers’ words into sign language.
Part of the inclusion of deaf and regular students involves an effort started last August by Eliza Flores-Clark, a teacher of elementary deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Each Monday she posts a set of signs in front of her classroom so regular students can learn to sign these words to their friends.
The school’s assistant principal gives phrases of the week such as asking how the student is, a good morning greeting, if they want to be their friends and play together and where their favorite vacation spot might be. This effort has been very well-received.
“The deaf and hard-of-hearing students sense the excitement of the regular students. The regular students are excited to learn the phrases for the week. These sign graphics are emailed to teachers who learn sign language. Our students feel important, validated, and part of the school. Our students are not isolated or ridiculed,” Duran-Barajas said.
During school assemblies, regular students will sign the words to a song and practice this inclusiveness. Regular students love the opportunity to learn sign language. When she was young, Flores-Clark had a deaf friend, learned sign language to communicate with her, fell in love with the language and decided to pursue it as a career.
Duran-Barajas said Peterson Principal Suzanne Silva-Fagundes is very supportive of their program.
“We are a team. Instead of feeling different, the kids are honored for who they are. They are accepted by teachers, students and the administration,” Duran-Barajas said.
On Monday nights, the school also provides sign language classes for parents of deaf children, the staff and caregivers.