First and foremost, I wish to apologize for not having written a new post in nearly 4 months.
With the start of school last year came a whirlwind of activity. There was much time spent advocating for an interpreter for Shea, as well as staying with her at school until one was found. The main problem was that there were no certified interpreters in our area. This is mainly due, of course, to the fact that this area pays them so little that even local individuals who attend the interpreter program at a local university that they tend to move to other areas affording them larger salaries. After giving news interviews (Yes, sweet Shea is officially a TV star! http://www.dothanfirst.com/story/shortage-of-interpreters-creates-classroom-barrier/d/story/Hw2XlvI5m0KxDyooeSecBA) and talking via phone and e-mail with anyone and everyone who would listen, we finally got Shea's interpreter. It actually came about because a a lady in the norther part of the state saw Shea on the news and contacted a friend of hers who is Deaf and told her that she would be able to be Shea's interpreter because she has years of experience as an educator for the Deaf and, obviously, is fluent in ASL. This was a huge blessing to us because, as it turned out, we already knew this wonderful lady from attending Deaf Family Christian Fellowship! As a matter of fact, she had even been to our house before! She had been unaware that she would be able to be Shea's interpreter. Overjoyed by this news, we met with Shea's new interpreter, giving her the ins and outs of what the students do in class and giving her a list of all the classmates and teachers so that she could familiarize herself with them. And so, for the last couple weeks of school, Shea had an interpreter whom she knew and was comfortable with. All seemed to be going well.
As generally happens, school ended and summer overtook us. We traveled to VA to see Shea's Aunt, NY to see her grandparents and great-grandparents and then, yes, we made it to Sesame Place! And now a new school year is upon us again. She will have the same teacher as last year. She loves her, so we are thankful for this. We did, however, receive a text message from our dear friend who was interpreting for her and she informed me that she would not be Shea's interpreter for this school year. It seems that another interpreter who was under contract already had her student transfer to the Alabama School for the Deaf so the school board was obligated to use her first because she was under contract. This came as quite a shock to me because we had not yet been notified of this change, and school was about to start in a matter of weeks. Upon receiving this news, I immediately contacted the Special Ed Coordinator for our county school system. She explained the situation to me and assured me that they would still use our previous interpreter should this new one be absent for any reason. OK, that's great, but my daughter is 3 and I'd like for her to be comfortable with this new person, so I asked the Spec. Ed. Coordinator to please give our new interpreter my contact info so that we could set up a meeting with her, both for Shea to become familiar and comfortable with her as well as for her to get to know Shea and see how she signs and understand some of her quirks.
Yesterday was that meeting. We went to the Open House at the school and saw Shea's teacher, as well as her new interpreter. She seems quite nice and Shea got along quite well while we were there. We also met some of her new classmates. It turns out that, because of having to fill the full time schedule of this new interpreter, Shea had to have her class days switched.
So, in the end we got what we needed - an interpreter for our daughter. Is everything exactly as we had hoped? Not by a long shot! Will we ever get everything we want for our daughter's education? Certainly not in the public school system. For now, we have done our best to provide her with what she needs, but in order for her to receive what we believe to be the absolute best education, we will have to make some huge changes in the near future. What does it mean? Well, stay tuned as our family embarks on the road less traveled....
And so it begins. Shea has aged out of Early Intervention and will be starting pre-school. Federal mandate requires that the school system provide any child with whatever they need to get an equal education as the rest of the children. In our case, that means an interpreter. She starts school tomorrow - we don't have an interpreter yet!
After our 3-year check-up this morning, I have been on the phone for the past 3 hours, literally! This is a copy of what has been e-mailed to Governor Robert Bentley of Alabama and the entire State Board of Ed as well as the US Dept. of Ed:
"My name is Beth Mitchell. I have called and am now e-mailing you as the President of the Board of Education. My daughter is 3. She has aged out of Early Intervention and will be starting pre-school tomorrow. She needs an interpreter. Because of the new rules you have made, they can not hire someone who is not certified, even though we know her and she interprets for our daughter at church. She is an interpreting student and she takes her test in June. You will, however, allow them to hire an aide. She doe not need help feeding herself, she needs an interpreter! I'd love to hear your reasoning for this. And thank you for making my job as the parent of a child with special needs that much harder!
Please be aware that I will not stop until my daughter has what she needs. I have an appointment next Monday with an Advocate from the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program. It is my great hope that you will be able to help resolve this issue before then.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter."
If you have to advocate for your child - DO IT! DON'T STOP!! You'll become a much stronger and more confident person in the process.
If it helps you, take my words and use them to write your own letters to get whatever your child needs. And if I can help in any way, contact me! My e-mail is signingwithshea@gmail.com and I will always answer. If I don't know how to help you, I will point you in the direction of someone who can!
As generally happens, school ended and summer overtook us. We traveled to VA to see Shea's Aunt, NY to see her grandparents and great-grandparents and then, yes, we made it to Sesame Place! And now a new school year is upon us again. She will have the same teacher as last year. She loves her, so we are thankful for this. We did, however, receive a text message from our dear friend who was interpreting for her and she informed me that she would not be Shea's interpreter for this school year. It seems that another interpreter who was under contract already had her student transfer to the Alabama School for the Deaf so the school board was obligated to use her first because she was under contract. This came as quite a shock to me because we had not yet been notified of this change, and school was about to start in a matter of weeks. Upon receiving this news, I immediately contacted the Special Ed Coordinator for our county school system. She explained the situation to me and assured me that they would still use our previous interpreter should this new one be absent for any reason. OK, that's great, but my daughter is 3 and I'd like for her to be comfortable with this new person, so I asked the Spec. Ed. Coordinator to please give our new interpreter my contact info so that we could set up a meeting with her, both for Shea to become familiar and comfortable with her as well as for her to get to know Shea and see how she signs and understand some of her quirks.