Regarding USDB ~ our family's experience

The following is a letter (sent 30 July 2008, after meeting with Christine Kearl in Governor Huntsmals' office (!) ) about our family's experience with USDB over the last 6 years with 2 deaf children. After I sent this we decided that our daughter 4 would NOT go back to USDB even though her language skills need more help. This was a hard decision. USDB is the only game in town for deaf children.

Our daughter is now going to a beautiful (hearing) pre-school 5 mornings a week, speech therapy at the U 0f U twice a week (the drive is a drag, the program is Great) and she gets to play with friends and work on projects with me in the afternoons. Benefits: Our schedule is simplified, she is learning pre-reading and math skills, we are not being constantly told what we are doing wrong, she is not constantly tested and I don't have to deal with the administration at USDB that doesn't Listen or work to change the facilities or services unless threatened by State Legislators. She misses her USDB friends and Lori and Nicole.

There is a bit more to report. About 2 weeks ago the USDB Trailers in Orem had some visitors. Margaret Dayton (State Senator) came by as did Representative Fowlke and Daw. USDB Superintendnent Tim Smith was there as well as the local director Marilyn Madsen. USDB is being watched, the facilities were inspected and this, although long over due and slow for the children's sake, is progress.

Do YOU have something to say? I am adding the email addresses so that you can tell your story.
Here is the Letter I sent to the following:
Christine Kearl - ckearl@utah.gov - Office of Governor Huntsman Deputy of Education
Patti Harrington - patti.harrington@schools.uah.gov - State Superintendent of Education
Karl Wilson - karl.wilson@schools.utah.gov Utah State Office of Education
Christine Timothy - Christine.timothy@schools.utah.gov - Assistant to Utah State Office of Education
Karl White Ph.D. - karl.white@usu.edu - Wizard behind Newborn Hearing Screening and Sound Beginnings in Logan
Lorie Fowlke - Local State Representative

It was an honor and a pleasure to meet with you to discuss USDB and options/plans for new facilities. Thank you again for meeting with USDB parents and administrators in the Governor’s office. It is encouraging to know that the Governor is so concerned about the disabled children in Utah.

On Monday, 28 July 2008, the Utah State Office of Education held a parent input session regarding legislation to change the administrative organization of USDB, as well as other changes. Legislation is not the solution to the real problems at USDB; as there is no mention of improving the facilities, services, lack of progress or change, and especially the basic incompetence of the administration. This is the statement I read:

N (7) and M (4) are the youngest of our 5 children. They are both deaf and have cochlear implants. Over the last almost 8 years I have seen many different aspects of USDB. I have researched, corresponded with, and visited other pre-school and elementary programs for deaf children around the country. USDB's lack of adequate facilities and services is a fact. Its resistance to change, improvement, inability to manage their budget and the repeated placement of incompetent leaders is tragic since the consequences effect, and often dramatically interfere with, the lives of so many children and families for years.

In short: Legislation to reorganize the administration is not the issue. More state money for facilities is not the issue. The lack of forward thinking, organized, professional, even passionate and caring leadership from the top of the USDB.

While other programs in the state are getting new facilities and offering not only speech therapy to their students three times a week in the summer USDB-South (Orem) is languishing in 25 year old run down trailers and not only did ANY summer programs to even the neediest deaf children, finding loopholes in the regulations to get out of it.

The following are examples specific to my experiences with USDB in Utah County. Perhaps this is harsh, but there are many examples of USDB's incompetence:

- Lost parent evaluations. When I spoke to Tim Smith (1/08) about reorganizing parts of the school he mentioned that they needed to do evaluations. I mentioned that we have been filling out evaluations for years, and I knew other parents had too. He said he had never seen them. I have talked to about 10 families who thoughtfully wrote, complained and even left their name on the evaluations. I emailed Mr. Smith a copy of one of my evaluations and his reply was that he would be "in touch."

- Lack of progress with many students. The bench-marks that USDB uses are “standard”, yet what they consider progress does not meet many parent's expectations. What is the number of students that leave the USDB program and move to other programs, counties or states for better services? One boy (5) is at a residential school in St. Louis. Another family moved to St. Louis and another family the mother and two youngest children moved to Logan to be a part of Sound Beginnings where their son receives better services and is making progress. USDB-South thinks all this is fine--perhaps fewer students. We have decided our pull our 4 year old out and put her in a private hearing preschool with extra speech (at the U of U) after school.

- Inappropriate bathroom facilities for boys and girls. This is unbelievable. There is a history of sexual abuse with deaf children. Why, with 3-6 year olds, blur the lines of privacy and appropriate social behavior? The facility issue could be expanded to include the noisy, dirty trailers and the lack of a playground.

- Watered down IEPs. USDB tells the parents, who at first know little or nothing about speech acquisition, what the child needs based on what they can offer, NOT what the child actually needs. Parents also know little about IEPs, everyone is nice and the papers are signed. Once the parents realize the child is not progressing they are bound by the IEP and need to fight.

- Biannual hearing evaluations, when sometimes weekly or monthly evaluations are needed. These take place in a trailer (on wheels) only in the Spring and Fall, since they can't drive the trailer in the heat or cold from Salt Lake City. Why not just have an audiology booth at the school?

- No services for cochlear implants (CI). A child's CI needs to be programmed/checked often. Without this service locally the parents need to travel hours for help. When USDB has been asked about this they state that Primary Children's has "a monopoly on this service" and they don't follow through. Sound Beginnings has had the audiologist visit their program once a month.

- Lack of hearing peers in the pre-school program. Again, there is an excuse... not enough space (there are only 4 deaf children per class), not enough time (they are only in class for about 2 hours a day). All children learn about speech and communication through peers.

- Failure to follow through on progressive ideas. An example of this is their use of materials. One year I saved all of the papers that came home from my son’s USDB pre-school (not knowing what he would be required to bring back), at the end of the year it filled three large black garbage bags! Other schools for deaf pre-schoolers create/use experience books that are not only compact and simple they can be referred to for years.

- Lack of academic pre-school curriculum. While trying to teach the children to speak there is no reference to the alphabet/written language/reading and writing. When I asked the teacher if we could do more of this in class, to reinforce what we were doing at home and encourage pre-reading skills she asked why I wanted my child to be reading so young. Nothing changed. Many deaf adults don't read beyond a forth grade level. Our son had a progressive hearing loss, when he lost his hearing we hoped he would be able to at least read a bit of what we were saying.

- Interference by USDB into parents organizing to improve facilities. Former superintendent Linda Rutledge and Marilyn Madsen (USDB-South director) told the Alpine School District's business administrator not to work directly with parents. Ms. Rutledge attended a DFCM meeting that Michelle Archibald (parent) and I spoke at, she stood up and interrupted our presentation stating inaccuracies. The interim superintendent Tim Smith says things are changing and to prove it he helps clean the decrepit trailer (that didn't have janitorial services (2006-07) for about 8 weeks) and yet their is no real sign of working with or encouraging parents on a consistent basis.

Journey to Hear is a foundation that has been created by parents to improve facilities in Utah County. As parents we don't want to open a school for the deaf, we have tried to work with USDB and in return we have been placated and frustrated. It is ironic that the Utah Schools for the Deaf doesn’t listen. Money could be raised for new facilities but what would go inside? As USDB currently exists it would not be worth the energy needed to raise the millions of dollars for a facility, no matter how willing the parents are, if the facility would be turned over to such a disorganized organization.

I appreciate you taking the time to listen. I hope that soon things will change for the better for deaf children in Utah.

Sincerely,
Hailey Liechty