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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS BY PARENTS OF DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING CHILDREN *Missouri Parents Act (MPACT).* They offer services such as individual assistance, newsletter, parent training and information for parents of children with disabilities, resource library, special education issues, and workshops. For additional information refer to the "Favorite Links" page. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CAUSES OF HEARING LOSS? In some cases, the cause of a child's hearing loss may be easy to trace. There may be family history of deafness, a congenital condition, an illness, an accident, a prescribed medication, etc., that may obviously be the cause of the hearing loss. In many cases, there may be no obvious reason for the hearing loss. Parents must come to understand that they may likely never know the cause of this hearing loss. WILL MY CHILD EVER TALK? A deaf child can learn to speak. With the use of powerful hearing aids and/or cochlear implant and speech therapy, a deaf child can learn to produce speech. WHERE CAN MY CHILD GO TO SCHOOL? There are options available to you. The law mandates that public schools are responsible for providing an "appropriate education" within your neighborhood school. School districts are required to educate students in the least restrictive environment with the related services necessary to allow for their success. Some counties/states will have what is called "cluster programs". This is when classes for the deaf or hard of hearing are located in specific schools. Students can be in an environment with a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing and deaf and hard of hearing peers but also be in a regular school setting. Another option for families is a school for the deaf. Most schools for the deaf now offer different communication optiions from which families can choose. For additional information on the Missouri School for the Deaf refer to our "Favorite Links" page and click onto their website. WILL MY CHILD HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING? According to the 1997 reauthorization of the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), the IEP team must consider the following factors when developing a program for a child who is deaf or hard of hearing: "language and communication needs, opportunities for direct communications with peers and professional personnel in the childs language and communication mode, academic level, and full range of needs, including opportunities for direct instruction in the childs language and communication mode." The schools must now take into consideration these factors which include peer interaction in the child's language and communication mode. This does not mean that the peer will also have a hearing loss but should be able to communicate in the deaf or hard of hearing child's mode of communication. Many parents choose to have their child in a setting where other deaf or hard of hearing students are also in attendance thereby allowing for friendships with other deaf or hard of hearing students to develop naturally. WHERE CAN PARENTS HAVE THEIR CHILD'S HEARING TESTED? Parents may ask their pediatrician or family physician for a referral to an Ear, Nose, and Throat or Otology practice. Most medical practices such as these have licensed Audiologists on staff who can perform the testing. It is preferable to utilize the services of a Pediatric Audiologist. Additionally, many hospitals, teaching and general, have Audiology Departments. Again, licensed Audiologists are listed in the yellow pages are generally willing to refer a child onto a Pediatric Audiologist if they are not experienced in working with children. Lastly, the American Speech Language and Hearing Association (1-800-638-8255 or ASHA) or the American Academy of Audiology (1-703-610-9022) will be able to assist you in locating qualified clinicians in Missouri.
	WHY DOESN'T A HEARING AID FIX HEARING? A hearing aid will not correct hearing in the same way that eyeglasses correct vision. A sensori-neural hearing loss usually involves some degree of sound distortion because of the nerve damage that has occurred. A hearing aid boosts the level of the sound but is not able to clarify speech and other sounds. Intensive intervention, including speech/language therapy and auditory training, must be in place for young children to learn to process or "make sense" of speech and other sounds.

	PUBLIC SCHOOL OBLIGATIONS TO DEAF INDIVIDUALS This memorandum addresses the obligations of a public school system under Section 504 and the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Deaf students, parents and personnel are entitled to a physically accessible facility and to services including qualified sign language interpreters when they need accommodations to have meaningful access to school activities. The ADA and Section 504 apply to all programs and activities offered by a school system, including school board meetings, extracurricular programs, teacher conferences, recreational activities, social and cultural activities, adult education, summer school or hobby classes. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794, requires programs which receive federal financial assistance to provide interpreters or other auxiliary aids to handicapped people when necessary to give them equal access to the program. See also 34 C.F.R. 104.4 and 104.21. Public school systems receive substantial federal financial assistance, so this law applies to them. the ADA, 42 U.S.C. 12101-12213, requires comparable access by all state and local government programs, regardless of whether or not the programs get federal assistance. Title II of the ADA went into effect on January 27, 1992. A separate federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), also affects children with disabilities. This law requires public school systems to provide a "free, appropriate public education" to children who need specialized services because of a disability. It establishes a procedure for developing an individualized curriculum and identifying needed supportive services for individual children. Although this is the principal law which determines the special educational services children will receive from a school system, Section 504 and the ADA provide additional protection, especially in the context of architectural accessibility, extracurricular activities, summer programs and services for parents, personnel and other adults. The U.S. Department of Justice has promulgated regulations to implement Title II of the ADA, which applies to activities of public entities such as school systems. 28 C.F.R. Part 35. The accompanying Analysis specifically addresses the question of duties of school systems to provide accessibility to parents with children who have disabilities: Some commenters asked for clarification about the responsibilities of public school systems under section 504 and and ADA with respect to programs, services, and activities that are not covered by the IDEA, including, for example programs opens to parents or to the public, graduation ceremonies, parent-teacher organization meetings, plays and other events open to the public, and adult education classes. Public school systems must comply with the ADA in all of their services, programs, or activities, including those that are open to parents or to the public. For instance, public school systems must provide program accessibility to parents and guardians with disabilities to these programs, activities, or services, and appropriate auxiliary aids and services whenever necessary to ensure effective communication, as long as the provision of the auxiliary aid results neither in an undue burden or in a fundamental alteration of the program. The Title II regulations specifically address the obligation of a school board or other public entity to remove communication barriers for deaf individuals. Qualified interpreters, note takers, transciption services, written materials, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices, assistive listening systems, telephones compatible with hearing aids, closed caption decoders, open and closed captioning, telecommunication devices for deaf persons (TTYs), videotext displays, or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments. In order to make sure a deaf individual is alerted to a fire or other emergency, a school system should install visual (flashing) fire alarms in areas used by deaf individuals. A telecommunication device for deaf persons (TTY) may be necessary, so that the school and parent can communicate directly about illnesses, schedules, discipline of a child and other problems. Failure to provide a qualified sign language interpreter or other auxiliary aid or service for a deaf parent or child under these circumstances would be a discriminatory practice. Any time a school building is altered or constructed, the building must meet the minimum standards in the ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) or the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards(UFAS).

	RECOMMENDED READING FOR PARENTS King, Jess Freeman and Kelley King, Jan, ASL Basics for Hearing Parents of Deaf Children Hillsboro, Ore., Butte Publications, 1996. Introduces the basics of ASL in an easy format. Video also available. Mahshie, Shawn Neal, Educating Deaf Children Bilingually Washington D.C., Gallaudet University Press, 1995. Practices in educating deaf children to achieve grade-level mastery and fluency in the languages of the deaf community and general society. Marschark, Marc, Raising and Educating a Deaf Child New York, Oxford University Press, 1997. Information on deaf children's needs. Neisser, Arden, The Other Side of Silence Washington, D.C., Gallaudet University Press, 1983. Classic book on American Sign Language and the Deaf Community. RECOMMENDED READING FOR CHILDREN Bahan, Ben and Dannis, Joe. My ABC Signs of Animal Friends San Diego, Dawn Sign Press, 1994. For children birth to age five. Bahan, Ben and Dannis, Joe, Signs for Me: Basic Sign Vocabulary for Children, Parents and Teachers San Diego, Dawn Sign Press, 1990. Vocabulary primer with the basics for preschoolers.. Peterson, Jeanne Whitehouse. I Have A Sister-My Sister is DeafNew York, Harper Collins, 1977. An empathetic, affirmative look at the relationship between siblings, as a young Deaf child is affectionately described by her older sister. INFORMATIVE WEBSITES www.beginningssvcs.com BEGINNINGS provides emotional support and access to information for families with deaf children, age birth to 21 years. BEGINNINGS helps to inform, empower and support parents as they make decisions about their child. www.clerccenter.gallaudet.edu The National Deaf Education Network and Clearinghouse provides accurate, up-to-date and objective information on hearing loss from birth to 21 years. www.clerccenter2.gallaudet.edu/KidsWorldDeafNet/index.html Kids World Deaf Net (KWDN)provides information for parents and professional with a Virtual Library containing E-Documents and Useful Links, a discussion forum including live chats with E-Document authors and information on laws, such as IDEA.