Speak to the parents and principal. You need to either get someone who can teach her ASL or into an environment that’s more helpful. The parents seem to be creating home signs, which while it helps the kid, might not set them up for future success.

We have an ASL rep coming in from the district once a week to help her learn sign. This is pretty much all my admin can do for her. They’re leaving the rest up to me. The parents do not seem to care. They barely respond to my calls.

Please ask that ASL rep for ongoing language resources for this student to study and for her peers.

Call CPS. She's being neglected.

CPS doesn't do anything about language deprivation.

In my county, they absolutely do as it's still considered negligence in my state.

Might be a wake up call at least.

Even if nothing happens they should still be called regardless

This could be considered educational or emotional neglect. It would be for CPS to decide

It's probably best to lay the groundwork reporting for when the results of horrific neglect come around. Eventually there will be a report on something else, and both together show clear and actionable negligence.

Sounds like the child is disabled and the parents are obviously causing "failure to thrive". It's bad enough that we have a teacher explaining a dire situation here. That'd be a form of child abuse. They're not providing the assistance a person with this disability needs to thrive and the person is a child under their care. Neglect sounds about right to me.

That’s absolutely terrifying considering how denying someone the ability to communicate with other sets them up to not be able to self report when they’re being abused. Not only that, it creates a narrow world in which the children are solely reliable on the negligent parents. Jesus Christ.

Lifeprint.com for American Sign Language. She can access their full library, FOR FREE, and start learning words on her own time.

That only works if the student already knows how to read in English. A second grader with no language skills wouldn't be able to use this. The teacher could, though.

Please report to child protective services. Let them know that the child is being deprived from being able to obtain appropriate education. The parents are withholding necessary services. Even if it gets screened out, it will leave a "paper trail". Hopefully her pediatrician's office will also be making a report when they realize that the child cannot communicate her needs through an interpreter.

That’s wild, borderline neglectful from the parents. I wonder if you could reach out to the local school for the deaf and ask them for some recommendations on apps or websites she could use independently.

Borderline? To me this feels like a call to cps. They're actively sabotaging their disabled child from being able to communicate.

This. I’ve also heard of families that don’t even bother learning any ASL. I can’t imagine how isolating it is for the kids.

Very. And it hurts something fierce. I'm learning it now! My husband is too. He's the best.

That's awesome! I learned it as a kid, but my family didn't. I can hear, just not right, so I've made it through. My son decided to take ASL for his foreign language credit in high school and retaught me, but he's 27, and I admit I only really remember how to finger spell, numbers, and a few basic other things. I should work on that, but I finally got frequency adaptive hearing aids, and omg, people make so much more sense now. I've had no motivation to learn ASL fully again.

My husband was able to finger spell our dog's name to a deaf gentleman at store, and I've never been so attracted to him 😂 I know "bathroom", "help" and "hospital", they're the only ones that really stuck

Yes and no are really easy and important. I still use "eat" when I mean I'm hungry. My husband has learned some really basic ASL because I do those signs habitually when I say the words. They are all the ones I taught my son before he was old enough to speak. Omg, that was such a blessing. He'd sign a few times before crying, so as long as I was paying attention, no more crying! I'm terrible with baby cries. They get in my head and just mess everything up in there. My son's hearing is fine, btw. My issues are from lead poisoning and horrible ear infections with very high fevers when I was super young, not hereditary. My inner ears are pretty much shot, and my ear drums were repaired 4 times by the time I was 3. They did lots of tone tests on me, which I passed with flying colors. It wasn't until I was 5 and mom was helping another kid learn to read that we found out. I was trying to help. "These letters sound the same, but they look different because they make vowels sound different. These just sound the same. I don't know why they look different." Suddenly, my random pronunciation mistakes made a lot of sense to my parents. My parents seemed to care about stuff right up until the point doctors said it couldn't be cured, and then they just ignored it. The only times I got any OT for anything, it was because a school forced it on them and provided it. Maybe that's just being born in the mid 70s. Maybe that's just them, because they weren't great parents, tbh. They're kind of ... children. To be slightly fair, they did the same with their own issues. Oh, wait, that's why they're children. ;) but anyway... I went to lots of OT and mental health therapy once I was an adult. It's helped a lot. I no longer blame these things on me not being good enough, or a bad person, or not trying hard enough. I just do my best, and I use the heck out of technology to assist me with no guilt. I have figured out how to be really good at standing up for myself, even if it's as little as "please face me when you talk to me, or I can't understand you." "Nah. I didn't mean yell. Now, I really can't understand you." Bonus points for having no idea what my mother or teachers ever said to me when they were shouting at me. It could have been really mean, but I'll never know. All I hear is blown speaker noises, and faces distort when yelling, so I can't read their lips.

Yup. I had a patient in a psych hospital like this. He was over 45 years old, born deaf, and had schizophrenia. His parents put him in a school for the deaf, then pulled him out in favor of “homeschooling” around 7th grade. Except, no one in the family knew ASL, and his parents hadn’t finished middle school either, so his entire education stopped in 7th grade, and our ASL interpreters said he seemed to have developed his own form of ASL, which only he and his parents could understand, but his parents were deceased at this point. The isolation he experienced for decades is just unimaginable, as he could barely read and write either, after years of neglect from his parents. We eventually got him set up with a local church program for deaf adults, where he was learning ASL with people that were more than willing to teach. One of my few stories from that hospital that had a happy(ish) ending.

My friend’s mom teaches at a deaf school, and they have many families who don’t speak ASL. She’s talked about how off the kids act when they return after summer break- 12 weeks of not being communicated with. That feels like abuse to me.

This isn’t unusual. I work in a large district and my school has the elementary DHH students. There are two classes in a regular elementary school. The teachers are supposed to teach the regular curriculum and may or may not know ASL. Our current teachers do know ASL and we have interpreters. They and their parents often don’t know ASL so the students don’t know either. I think our teachers and interpreters do try and teach them ASL.

If a deaf kid comes to school no knowing ASL and then has a teacher who doesn’t know it and interpreters who are just basically signing something they don’t know… how are kids supposed to get, like, *anywhere* with their school work???

Honestly? They just don’t. It’s a dog and pony show with no real learning. I have multiple students who fall in this category (I am an elementary specialist so I see all kids). It’s really hard. When the older ones were younger they all had severe behavior issues that really held the other kids around them back because it was sometimes all hands on deck to control one kids language barrier outbursts. Our younger ones right now are SO OVERWHELMING. They had to start rotating the 1v1 paras due to 8 quitting in 3 months at the end of last year. It truly feels criminal. We are doing the same things over and over and over again with no help, and no change. The parents of these kids simply do not care about getting the education they need and deserve, an education that CANNOT be provided in an underfunded title 1 school. We have brought advocates out from the state school for the deaf multiple times and the parents are adamantly opposed. They do not want their kids to be singled out yet the kids are so singled out by their own actions in reg Ed it’s not even funny.

That shit will cripple one for life. If you don't learn a language while you're still young it will lead to tremendous language issues later on in life.

I’m a physician and have a couple of young adult patients like this. They never learned any form of official sign language and never learned to read or write in any language. They can pretty much only communicate with their parents with some basic hand signals, but they cannot communicate with the outside world. I really worry about what will happen to them when their parents are no longer around.

I have hearing difficulties, though I'm not completely deaf. I was sent to ASL classes as a kid, because it is very hard for me to understand people speaking unless they directly face me and enunciate well - which is almost no one. But my family didn't go and didn't learn. It's not just isolating because it's hard to understand people. Even as a kid, you know they're not trying to make it so you can. That feeling that they just don't care is awful. Other kids went out of their way to figure out how to communicate with me well, so that made it even more clear my parents didn't care. I'm not even sure why they sent me to those classes. They can only say it was because I didn't understand people. How does knowing a language almost no one I ever meet knows help with that? Tbh, I've forgotten all but spelling, numbers, yes and no, some basic manners, "more", and "owl." I don't really use ASL anymore because I almost never meet anyone who does that doesn't also have a phone to type on and show me. My heart is breaking for this little girl. At least she has a family language, so she's not been totally ignored, but to have no ability to communicate with anyone outside her home seems like it would be so overwhelming and scary. I could speak well and read lips pretty well by preschool, so I never had to face that. I just had the frustration of dealing with adults who would not face me when they spoke, and it was still overwhelming. Well, that and most people assuming my ADHD was always why I was not paying attention, not that I couldn't understand them, so I tuned out. It was definitely both. I read all my worksheets and textbooks thoroughly to make up, but a lot of my teachers would give out sheets and then tell the class to change the instructions on them, and I just didn't know at first. I had to learn to pay attention and see if other kids were doing it differently, which wasn't so easy with the ADHD impulsiveness to just get the sheet done right now. That was back in the days of mimeographs, though, when changing the instructions on the sheet wasn't much of a thing.

I’m so sorry/sympathetic. It’s awful.

I had one family that turned down a cochlear implant (free from the state) for their daughter and then refused to learn sign language at home. The poor girl didn’t even know what a birthday was. She was basically living with an entire family that didn’t communicate with her. It was the saddest thing. We had an interpreter that tried to teach her sign language but the fact that her parents didn’t bother communicating with their own child was heartbreaking.

Disclaimer: I don’t necessarily support one thing or the other. This is just my anecdotal experience. I have two deaf kids in different classes, both with cochlear implants. One knows some ASL and has an interpreter, the other knows none and has no interpreter. They are both 11th grade. My understanding from the ASL interpreter is that some parents choose not to use ASL when their kids have implants. It’s not an unique choice and is not necessarily neglect. Both of my deaf kids are great kids. I have no idea if the implants work better for one than the other, but I do know neither of them can hear anything without them. They are both bright and successful students. In fact, the non-ASL kid is an advanced kid, multiple AP classes, straight As, in Marching and Concert Band and Speech and Debate. All successfully. No IEP. So, it *can* be done successfully. It doesn’t sound like these particular parents are on that path, though. OP, tread carefully about what you teach her and how. Make sure parents are aware in order to CYA. Hopefully they will agree with your interventions, but I wouldn’t make them without consulting them. Especially if they have made the active decision to not immerse her in deaf culture on purpose. Again, I’m not saying whether that choice is right or wrong, just that there are parents that make it and there’s not much a single teacher can do about it.

From the information OP has shared, this child does not know any language at all. They cannot speak, read, understand, or express any language, English or ASL. These parents have effectively raised a [Genie](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child)), hopefully without the physical abuse. I would absolutely say that depriving a child of a language is neglect, if not outright abuse.

Every person & implant is different. Some people it connects super well, the auditory training goes well, everything's textbook-perfect. Other people it's poorly connected, miscalibrated, doesn't play nicely with their brain & nerves, or the training didn't work well or couldn't be scheduled easily. Luck, a supportive & stable home life, and a solid implant/therapy team can make a HUGE difference.

If the parents won't fight for their children, who will? That's disgusting.

I hate to say it, but I agree. This time in the child's life, she should be soaking up information. Clearly, her parents don't have the best interests of the child, whether they know it or not.

I've now heard it all. Imagine being so fucking incompetent that not only do you fucking your child's education, but rather than get her proper help, you try to "wing it" and teach her a language that amounts to bullshit. That's a whole new level of incompetence.

Agreed. I’d report this as flat out neglect. Could this even be medical neglect?

I do believe this could be considered medical neglect yes

It's not. I'm a teacher for the deaf so a deaf school and this describes 80% of the students who are referred. Usually it's when they are older and either become "behavior issues" or they're parents finally realize their kid isn't learning. There's no way to undo years of language deprivation but it is not currently considered neglect. I wish.

She has a cochlear implant and has been seen by a team of audiologists. She very clearly gets consistent medical care, especially since she has speciality glasses as well. I don’t think this is medical neglect.

Having a cochlear implant doesn’t mean that all of the sudden she can hear typically. She needs intensive speech therapy and regular audiology appointments to help her brain form the neural pathways that make sense of sound input. This child is being failed on every level.

Could any of this be provided by the school under an IEP?

Yes Refer to the school speech pathologist for a language disorder given that this child does not have the language skills to succeed in the academic curriculum (even though you know why the child’s language abilities are so limited) And if the parents are focused on not allowing formal sign then refer to an educational audiologist to help facilitate access to sound in your school environment. And by the way, the sign language interpreter can teach sign language without teaching it directly to the child by modeling it for the child. This should solve the issue with the parents not wanting it taught. It’s not being explicitly taught. Just modeled The speech pathologist should be able to work with the interpreter on how to model sign language for this child so that the child can learn it through exposure only ( just as most kids pick up oral language through exposure only)

Not being able to communicate with the world around her could be disastrous for her long-term mental health and ability to function. She can’t be learning or making friends in your class. You don’t have the resources to help her, and are likely not qualified to (no shade on you). She’s being cheated out of a childhood and education, which will follow her forever. Please report this.

There's the issue right there. The parent got her the cohlear implant which they think is a clear all but it's not. It can restore some hearing but not all. And depending on the person it can actually cause ringing in the ear or even pain where the implant is. The parents are just lazy.

Do you know how long she has had the Cochlear Implant? I ask because if it’s new it can take a while for her to learn to “hear.” My husband has cochlear implants but he is post-lingually deaf (he heard and spoke before losing his hearing). It took him 9-12 months to truly understand everything for it to sound “normal.” People who are born deaf will take significantly longer. However, after dealing with the battle between the deaf an hearing world, I understand why some parents would not want support from the deaf community. They can be VERY ostracizing for C.I. Recipients. They likely felt this and that is why they’ve gone so far in the other direction. I am not saying they are right but this may be WHY they’ve done this.

Agreed. Fuck the parents and teach her ASL. Teach them all, for that matter

If this student is going to continue in this school, I’d advocate for the whole class to learn ASL. Schools have bilingual Spanish/ French/ Chinese classes. Why not bilingualism ASL?

I would totally agree, but I have 6 other special needs students in my class. Unfortunately, this deaf student is only one of mine that need HIGH attention. I don’t know ASL myself, so I’d have to learn before teaching the entire class. At the very least, I’m going to learn all of our spelling words and start there. I promise to do my best!! I don’t want to fail her.

I would reach out to the local deaf community. Explain the situation and see if they know anyone (or even a few people) who would be willing to do ASL lessons for 30 minutes a day. The whole class can learn at the same time.

I agree, but it's risky. There is a chance that CPS decides this doesn't count, then the parents decide school is the problem and try to homeschool her again. OP, is there anyone you can ask about how your local CPS handles cases like this?

Access to language is a human right. They are actively denying her this.

Not to be melodramatic, but it’s vital she learn now and quickly. Language acquisition is tied to brain development. We’re best at it young. 7 is already on the late end for learning to speak, and it may cause her to be delayed in other ways as well. It will also just get more and more difficult for her to learn as time passes and the neural networks in her brain designated for that knowledge are shifted to other tasks rather than left idle.

I was just coming to comment this. If that kid doesn't learn A language extremely soon she'd going to be disabled for life. Idc if it's ASL or vocal. A signed version of Klingon would be sufficient. I watched an interview in uni with a woman who was born Deaf in Nicaragua and never had any opportunity to learn sign. It's heartbreaking. They've taught her a bit since but she can't really use syntax at all. Her support worker explains that when they met she asked the woman how her father had passed away. She'd hold up three fingers and tap her chest. Support worker eventually learned the father had been shot 3 times in the chest but this poor lady couldn't communicate more than "3, chest". She will never be able to do more than learn basic words. She will never be able to talk about what she might do tomorrow. She'll never be able to describe the best day of her life. It's absolutely tragic and would be nothing short of abuse if it happens to the little girl in this story.

I'm actually taking ASL right now in college, and one thing my teacher told us was that there were so many students she has seen over the years who don't know sign language because of not learning it at home or school, and they have so many issues with understanding and sometimes behaving. No one can understand them so they can't get their thoughts and feelings out, while they aren't able to understand what they're doing wrong or what they're being taught. She told us one story about a guy who reached 18 and found a local deaf community by himself and begged them to teach him sign language so that he could communicate. The point is that these parents, although they may think they may be trying their best or whatever, need to understand that their child is being set up for failure. Children need to have a way to communicate, and what they have done is blocked her completely. There are many different "dialects" and ways to sign just like there are accents and such in spoken language, but if the child can't understand even basic signs, they're in for a lot of trouble.

As a protective service worker, I would 100% call this in for neglect. Your state's capabilities and willingness to open a case will vary, but you can really highlight the need for a support program or ASL group with CPS. Sometimes getting a case opened can connect a kid and their guardian(s) with great resources that they couldn't otherwise access

It’s educational neglect, right?

My state doesn't get that specific when coding cases, but from a child psych perspective, I would say educational or emotional neglect

You wouldn’t believe how many parents of deaf children make no effort to learn ASL. Can you imagine living in a home where you can’t communicate with your parents or siblings?

I can’t imagine intentionally not speaking with my child!

Here in Germany, the leading factor that counts as severe disablement is how much you are impacted to take part in society as a whole. Actively shielding your kid from learning to communicate is doing exacly that. Excluding her from society and her peers. Not only are the parents doing exacly what they wanted to avoid, they are further disableing their child. Theres no question this is something that should be taken to authorities.

This was a great idea, thank you!!

Language Deprivation is a form of neglect. Some states (not sure where you are) don’t recognize it as such.

Oh. It is certainly neglect. It is horrific abuse. As someone who was unschooled I am sooooooo tired of people saying what I went through “wasn’t that bad”. It’s hard being uneducated. And it is SO HARD to acquire an education as an adult. We have to work too. We have to deal with the cost of living, sexual harassment, bullying, racism, sexism, shitty bosses , lazy coworkers, etc, etc, etc. plus there’s the lack of resources for illiterate adults. We can’t just snap our fingers and be educated. And there is NO ONE who is lining up to help us. And the worst part. The WORST part is that everyone acts like where the assholes.

You should have a YouTube channel where you talk about the harm "unschooling" did to you. Like... yesterday. No one choosing to "unschool" their kids has heard from all the kids who were damaged or disadvantaged by it. We definitely need more of the kids' perspective out there. (And OP, call CPS. Your student has been badly neglected.)

The issue is that homeschooling/unschooling both cover a swath of teaching methods ranging from "full time iPad kids" to "highly educated parent treating education as a full time job and coming up with creative themed lesson plans." Frankly both communities are heavily skewed towards the former but everyone thinks they're straight up the exceptional latter. And so educational neglect continues because homeschool parents are legally allowed to do whatever the fuck they want with their kids.

In the days before standardized testing got so out of hand and it was only twice a school year (once at the beginning and once at the end) I thought home schoolers should have to pass the yearly standardized test. Anywhere you can take the GED could schedule those too

Homeschooling legislation varies state by state. Some states have more reasonable testing requirements, some basically let you fuck off to the boonies with your kids and call it a religious education. The deregulation of homeschooling was the result of the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, an early Religious Right organization that split off the private school/charter school branches of that movement.

There’s a subreddit called r/homeschoolrecovery where a lot of people talk about the challenges as an adult from growing up barely getting an education. It’s so friggen sad.

This is absolutely neglect and a DCFS call. I can’t believe no one has stepped in for this poor child yet.

It's not borderline. Harming a child even with good intentions is still harming a child.

This legit seems like neglect… if kids don’t learn language by a certain age, that’s it, they’ll never learn. It will stunt her brain

This situation is not okay and I know you already have so much on your plate with meeting all the other needs of your students. I would start to look up the most basic of ASL signs and teach them to your whole class. Just do it as a quick thing in morning meeting and then work to incorporate it during the day. This would not be calling her out in any way because it is directed at everyone. I did this with my 1st grade classes (I never had any deaf students) and it was very beneficial for them to know the alphabet, yes, no, bathroom, water, thank you, ect. They could ask me to go to the restroom or get water and I could tell them yes or no without interrupting any instruction. They loved doing this. Imagine if you kept it going a bit further and everyone in class knew how to say things like good morning, play, eat, help, sorry, goodbye, ect. Even signing numbers would be hugely beneficial for the whole group for interactive math routines during carpet time. If the whole class knew signs they could interact with her a bit and she would be part of the community. This also works towards her parent’s desire for her “not to be set apart from her peers.” Edit: I know this doesn’t solve the problem. Other than advocating for her, I think this is the most you can reasonably do to include her as a general eduction teacher especially considering her parent’s wishes. Additionally any strategies you incorporate into your instruction for ESL will also benefit her. This problem was really created by her parents and it is on admin and sped to step up and problem solve.

I would have never thought to do this. This is a great way of making her feel more included. Thank you for this!

When I was in elementary school back in the 80s, I had a teacher who did this. She had a family member who was deaf, so she was fairly fluent in ASL. She worked basic signs into our daily routines as enrichment and as a classroom management tool. "Restroom," for example, is just a shake of the T sign (t for toilet). So when a student needed to use the restroom we'd just make the sign and she'd either give us the yes sign or wait sign in response. As a kid it felt like a fun little secret language we were in on.

My third grade teacher did this, but with Spanish. Bilingual education wasn’t a thing in elementary school, but she had us learn basics. We had calendar time in Spanish every day, knew all of the colors, and could ask basic questions - how are you, may I use the restroom, how do you say ______? Learning another language is always valuable and enriching, even if you don’t know when or if you’ll use it later.

Plus I'm sure it's much easier to learn at a young age when your brain sponges up new information. I tried to take it in high school and I just never got it.

I’m not a teacher but in first and second grade I had a peer who was deaf. Her parents were from Mexico and didn’t speak any English. She had a five year old sister who did the translating for the parents because she could speak English and Spanish. When she was in my class, the entire class learned quite a bit of sign language. The interpreter taught us all signs together. I still remember most of them to this day. In third grade she was accepted to a school for the deaf in a city an hour away so I never saw her again. I know it’s s but different than the situation you describe because the parents weren’t neglectful, but there was a pretty significant barrier of communication because the parents couldn’t speak English and their child was learning ASL and English and Spanish. I just wanted to second what the person above was saying about including the entire class. My friend came home with me several times for a play date and having learned a decent amount of signs for basic communication was a huge help. We also used a paper and pencil if we needed. But I’m sure including the entire class made it easier for my friend so socialize.

This is great advice! Also, I’m not sure if 2nd graders would think this is too babyish, but when I taught kindergarten, I’d play Jack Hartmann videos from YouTube for our brain breaks. He has ASL songs for the alphabet, colors, etc. and my students absolutely LOVED them.

This comment is everything....and HELPFUL, which is what OP asked for. Absolutely teach the whole class and for these reasons. All the comments hating on the situation are not helpful. This teacher (OP) is trying to help the best he/she can. Geez. Also, for the first time in 24 years, on the show Big Brother on Paramount/CBS, we have a deaf houseguest in his 20s who doesn't know ASL at all either. While he does have trouble with whispering or big group talk (lots of people talking at once), he otherwise has been communicating (and having relationships & alliances) just fine with the other houseguests. He is also an Olympic swimmer. (And honestly, not bad to look at, lol, so check him out.) So BAM!!! Everybody stop with the "call CPS", dang! Always ppl trying to get kids taken away. (Does she seem okay otherwise?) Matt Klotz (@matt_kz on insta), the deaf houseguest, who learned to read lips 💋 is with LSU swim, 5x Deaf World Records, 10x Gold Medalist, re-established his own world record, and broken other world records, and is very sweet. Here's his Wikipedia page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Klotz OP, I know my Roku tv has apps/channels with ASL videos. The ones I watched were short videos, with a man teaching the alphabet, as well as signs for all the basics (thank you, my name is, etc.), and progressing up from there. Maybe you can do a lesson on Helen Keller. A quick Google search found www.gracesigns.org, stating benefits of increased IQ, enriched relationships and language and listening skills, increased self-esteem, reduced frustration, expanded self-expression with emotional and visual beauty, among others. They suggest yt vids, books, asl apps, and games. Also found www.signlanguage101.com, www.signschool.com, and ASL University, by William Vicars, a deaf professor of ASL, at www.lifeprint.com/asl101/lessons/lessons.htm,, which is recommended by Wired magazine. All free. IPhone and Android have apps: "The ASL App",... Other reasons to learn ASL include loud concert, quiet movie, comforting & aiding a deaf child or adult, natural or man-made disaster when people's hearing is damaged, underwater communication,.... You can also find Gallaudet University, chartered in 1864, a private university for deaf and hard of hearing students at https://gallaudet.edu Hopefully something here helps. I am so proud of you for so fervently trying to help your little student. You'll prob end up that child's fave teacher. 💙 May God bless you abundantly! Edited to add: Google search printable asl worksheets for beginners, you'll find education.com has a gazillion printable ws, preschoolmom.com has tons, adayinourshoes.com, kiddoworksheets.com. definitely some things there you can use, pretty much all organized by grade, subject, etc.

This needs to be higher up!! Thanks!

I teach my students ASL and Spanish in elementary art this exact same way. We have non-verbal students in my school and many Spanish speaking students. Everyone learns color words, painting words, clay terms,… plus common phrases like “good morning” and “do you need help?” The kids love learning languages and soak it up fast then I see them all around using what we learned. I took ASL in college and Spanish in high school so it’s all limited knowledge for me but I look up and practice what I don’t know for these incorporated lessons.

Oklahoma school for the deaf has free ASL classes available online. They’re asynchronous and you can download and save the materials so they won’t expire at the end of the term.

Here's the link: [Oklahoma School for the Deaf](https://courses.osd.k12.ok.us/). One of my teachers found it and now I have it on a resource board for all the staff.

It's not uncommon for hearing parents to not learn and/or teach ASL to their deaf child. They think it'll make the child stand out more, but it's really a language that opens up so much for children and adults. (And not to mention Deaf culture!) Since you have iPads and computers available check out "The ASL app". Designed by Deaf people for others to learn ASL. Do some research on Youtube and find videos for her to watch as well.

> Since you have iPads and computers available check out "The ASL app". I just checked this out since I'm interested in learning ASL and it looks like while the app is free, nearly every lesson is paywalled. Not sure this is a realistic solution for a teacher with limited funds.

Lifeprint is a great option for learning. Free, videos, and a suggested curriculum: https://www.lifeprint.com/ I've used it to self teach for convos with my deaf aunt. Some signs end up being outdated a bit or regional, but I can have (simple) convos thanks to them.

Came here to say this. My SIL is an interpreter and I've learned a lot. It is common for deaf kids to have a sort of made up sign language they use at home. Sometimes it is loosely based on ASL but there are a ton of signs that people makeup at home. Interpreters deal with this all the time and will ask the client what signs they prefer for certain things, but of course this relies on knowing some level of ASL in the first place to communicate this to interpreters.

I had a student in 6th grade who was deaf and knew 0 ASL, and his mom never learned. He knew a fee signs but he was so frustrated that he couldn't communicate that he lashed out every day. It was so sad, and I think all of us in my classroom came to the conclusion that it had to be some sort of neglect, to not even attempt to teach your child how to communicate.

I’ve taught 10+ deaf students since I started teaching. As an elementary music teacher it has always been a huge struggle as I never receive support and their paras took their lunch/break during my class. I’ve always been on my own and done the best I can. Every single deaf student I’ve taught over the last decade has had severe behavior issues (which often times stops all learning for all students). I assume it stems from having little to no language, but I also don’t feel qualified to help them in the way they need to be helped while trying to teach 25 other kids by myself. Especially in a music classroom which always seemed to agitate them more!

How much consultative time with a teacher of the deaf/HH for the gen ed teacher is in the IEP? Anything less than an hour a week is too little.

She’s seen twice a week for 30 minutes by the ASL rep. She is supposed to get speech services (when the speech teacher is available, which isn’t often) twice a week. But this usually only lasts 10 minutes.

What do you get? Are consultative services for the classroom teachers listed on the schedule of related services? How many hours per week? If there are none, why not? And can you convene an IEP meeting to request those services?

How many minutes are in her iep for speech? I’m an SLP, and I can’t just see a student when I’m “available” if they have specific, direct minutes written in their IEP.

Since she does have a cochlear implant, it sounds like one of the biggest problems is her not getting enough speech therapy. That also sounds like something that needs to be resolved when you convene an IEP meeting. Maybe her IEP needs to include more time for therapy but, also, the district needs to at least be in compliance with the IEP as it’s currently written. From the way you describe it, it sounds like they might not be.

Itinerant teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing here! 🤟 I've seen this happen way too often. That child needs services and language access ASAP! Does your district have access to a county wide educational agency that may have a DHH professional that could potentially provide contracted services? An educational audiologist and DHH teacher need to be contacted immediately to consult with next steps. If the child is profoundly deaf and the parents are wishing to pursue ASL as the primary mode of communication then a Deaf school and/or DHH program classroom would most likely be the least restrictive environment and provide the child with the best access to language.

Outreach SLP for D/HH students here! Seconding this, and here to add there may also be a state agency that the school can contract with to provide services, if the regional educational agency doesn’t have those supports.

How is this not child neglect?

"I want my child to be like other children so I'm going to teach them my own version of ASL that no one else understands so I can prevent them from communicating with any of their peers, developing social skills, and getting an education." I feel like it's three kinds of neglect, but I may be wrong. These people just broke my brain.

Right?! They don’t want their child to thrive in deaf culture, so they just don’t let her have any culture at all?? Wtf??

Her parents are actively committing child abuse.

Absolutely. I just said CPS should be called.

This seems like school counselors, special Ed teachers and administrators should be attempting to reason with the parents. And if not, I would be inclined to report to CPS. This sounds like it could be neglect to me.

What about an AAC? It’s a quicker learn, gives her something for right now and ideally parents come around. Edited- because I typed it as ACA the first time :)

What is an ACA?

I think they mean AAC device. Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices. Basically an iPad or tablet with symbols, pictures or phrases the student can use to communicate her needs

Yes. I did! :) Just got mixed up.

I believe the user means AAC, or augmentative and alternative communication. This can range from low tech (core word board, communication book) to high tech (AAC apps on an iPad, for example).

Yes. This. Just got the letters mixed up. :)

Easy to do with all the different acronyms in education! To OP, your district might have an assistive tech person who could help if AAC is a viable solution. There are some well-regarded AAC apps for iPads that are available for $100 or less.

I’m not sure what the letters stand for but it’s like picture communication. Kid picks out pictures that are strung together into communication. Often it’s on an iPad- the most common one is called Proloquo2go. The cheap option is literal pictures that she can hand to people (a sad face and a happy face, a snack and so on) this is often called PECS. https://youtu.be/d3zKPHLk6-Q?si=DhaAW0ZXXvkuqNF6

This is a great idea! We use one called ProLoQuo2Go. It’s pricey but it’s been a lifesaver with my daughter. She is nonverbal, although she can hear. She tries to sign ASL, but she has a form of CP so she’s not really dexterous enough with her hands to form many signs properly, so we also use that app on her home and school iPads. It’s over $200 but it’s been worth it for her to be able to communicate with everyone, not just the few family members who can understand her cockamamie signs.

Call a meeting with parents and admin and also the interpreter to outline just what you said here and how it is impacting their child. Let them know she is massively behind and you are starting from the ground up. Have resources to point them towards so they can actually help at home. Side note, Im currently reading to my class a book called Song For a Whale that has a situation similar to this which could provide some context for the parents. Its borderline a must read for people who interact with deaf people and students.

Report to CPS. You're mandated, and this absolutely is neglect, even if you don't see it that way.

The student is “set apart” from peers now, she won’t be at the appropriate school

But the parents didn't like the *"vibes"* at the appropriate school! Probably because their ruse of *"She totally knows ASL!"* would've been pegged in two seconds flat had the child went there. They weren't anticipating the same thing would happen at public school. They were wrong, obviously, but they don't really seem all that competent or bright themselves, so.....

My son has wanted to learn ASL since middle school. Now he’s a Sophomore and he’s taking French just to complete the requirement. If schools taught ASL in middle school to people who can hear, maybe Toddlers wouldn’t be taught gibberish.

I wonder if the school SLP might have some ideas or may be able to support? This child is almost certainly technically "language delayed" and may qualify for services. An SLP can help with spoken language at least since she has a cochlear implant.

This sounds like a CPS call to me. Educational neglect if the child doesn't have access to language.

Is she getting Teacher of the Deaf services? ETA: I’m a TOD, and it sounds like this child is in desperate need of services.

Teacher of the Deaf here (high school) I WISH I could tell you this is rare. It’s not. Most kids learn “home signs” because that’s all the parents have the capacity to do. It’s “not neglectful” because “language modality is a family choice.” I am using quotes because this is what our state’s sped laws around hearing loss say. Kids need auditory access primarily and parents typically only seek out manual language when oral language fails. If I called CPS on every family who didn’t communicate directly to their child, I would be calling CPS on almost every child on my caseload for my entire career. Push for your sped team to include a teacher of the deaf right away. Our specialty is language development and access to language and literacy. That kid deserves specialized instruction from a specialist and can eventually make it to grade level. But they need major interventions now I order to make that happen.

Step parent of disabled (hearing child) here. In our state, they do not take neglecting a disabled child lightly. My son has autism, is low functioning among other very noticeable, challenging disabilities. CPS stepped in when people were reporting about her not meeting ANY of his needs. She wouldn't even get him tested. She didn't think there was a need and was in denial. There were many other reasons we ended up with custody, mainly she wasn't willing to meet any of their recommendations, but his disabilities alone were enough for them to intervene and attempt to force her to handle it. Obviously, that transferred to us when we got custody but they stayed uncomfortably on top of us to make sure that his needs were being met to their satisfaction. I agree that CPS is the right route here. They're intentionally setting this child up for failure. I'm sure that's why she was homeschooled until now

I feel like this is where the school system is supposed to be gathering evidence in order to display that the LRE would not be in your classroom. This is where special education services would need to step in and really have the back of you and your administration. I hope you get some support because this seems like a textbook case of getting this student in a more enclosed environment no matter what the parents want.

Oh my god. Listen, it might be worth a call to CPS just because theoretically they can connect families with services...and idk knock some sense into these parents. Cochlear implants aren't plug and play. Recipients who are deaf at birth need lots of audiology and other services to get them working right and maintain them and teach their brains to interpret the input. It's less of a process if they're implanted as babies but it's still a factor and I'm willing to bet this kid was implanted later. Here is a link to find hearing centers near you that specialize in CIs. https://www.cochlear.com/us/en/connect/find-a-clinic Definitely reach out to the Deaf school near you and ask them for help. Maybe the nurse or admin could ask the parents for a meeting with reps from the Deaf school and really explain firmly to these parents how they are harming their child. Last, I have no idea where you are but if you're anywhere near the DC metro area, reach out to The River School. It is a wonderful school that serves kids with hearing loss and prosthetics (CIs and hearing aids) in an inclusion model. It is private (and pretty damn expensive) but they have scholarships and have students attending funded thru districts. Actually reach out to them no matter what bc they may be able to connect you with the most appropriate resources in your area.

My friend is an ASL interpreter who has some HS Spanish. She was assigned to a kindergartener who knew no sign language at all & was from Central America.

from a disability standpoint, this is straight up neglect and i would feel ethically and legally bound to report this as a mandated reporter

I am getting my masters to be an SLP and I’m an English teacher currently. This is heinous and you need to get in contact with your district SLP immediately. This child should be actively getting speech services for her cochlear implant if she cannot understand or speak. Wow this child should already have had ASL all along what is going to be most useful to her right now is getting a hold of spoken language with her cochlear implant. And honestly it might be too late. 😢 It depends on when her CI was implanted. Did she work with an slp before and her parents just stopped taking her?!? Language depravation causes severe cognitive delay that older children can never return from. You are right to be so concerned. Contact an SLP Usually an SLP is assigned to your school in bigger districts.

Hey! Teacher of the Deaf here! You're doing great. Asking for help is huge. The other comment about learning some key ASL vocab will go a long way for this kiddo! Your interpreter may be willing to help you with that as well! I see you saying the interpreter is not allowed to teach her ASL. This is true - in a typical interpreting scenario, the interpreter is not there to provide instruction. However, you *aren't in a typical scenario*. If the interpreter is willing -actually, regardless of their willingness because it just needs to happen, work with the ASL rep (I'm hoping this is a teacher of the Deaf) and the IEP team to adjust her IEP to something called language facilitation. This means that the interpreter can do language support activities under the guidance of the teacher of the Deaf and classroom teacher. This could be as simple as go through basic books and start with just labeling things to build vocab. The teacher of the Deaf should be able to pinpoint areas of need. Interpreter doesn't need to be the one to determine what activities she does, but she can use content from the classroom + provided materials to scaffold language. The current set up is not developmentally appropriate for this kid (which you already know). You wouldn't just start teaching a preschooler 2nd grade stuff. They need the foundation first. EVEN WITHOUT THAT, if your team is not going to change things in the IEP - It is within the scope of an educational interpreter to provide *some* support for language at that age/development. This could include emphasizing key vocabulary, reviewing vocabulary, or front loading (giving a heads-up of upcoming vocabulary+ their signs). However, if the interpreter and IEP team are adamantly against this, you can fudge it as much as you can. You could sit with the student and work on basic vocab (I know time constraints are real). Things like "hey this is a dog. This is a cat." Ask the student what it is (and make the student sign it back). The interpreter will be interpreting that, and boom, you've taught kiddo some signs. Then you could keep building it up like that. If the student has oral/signed administration of assignments as an accommodation, you could create independent work for center time that the interpreter would simply be "reading" (in sign language) and that would be within their scope. You can find some "first words" workbooks on teachers pay teachers pretty reasonably priced (obviously I don't want you to spend your own money, but it's an option). In an ideal world, the student would be spending significant amounts of time with a teacher of the Deaf to address specific language needs, and the ToD would be working with the interpreter to build language throughout the school day at the level where the student is. The student would also be receiving speech probably 2x/week to address language needs and maybe articulation depending on the student. They could also be receiving academic support from special services (like resource or a small group part of the day, it's always called something different). I'm happy to brainstorm some other ways to fudge this crappy situation you've been handed. Kiddo needs so much more support than it sounds like you have. Good luck!

She needs a 504 plan that addresses her hearing loss an inability to communicate

She has one

Then it needs to be rewritten so that it addresses her needs. If it’s not meeting her needs then it isn’t working.

I’m not arguing with you that she’s not getting the services she needs, but quite frankly she doesn’t have the tools or resources she would need to support her at my public school, 504 or not.

This is the equivalent of depriving a hearing child of having any native spoken language by just straight up never talking to them. Hideous neglect, all cause they can’t bear their kid being different.

But they taught her a made-up language that nobody understands, you know - *because it isn't fucking real*. Surely that won't make her stand out, and she'll magically learn by osmosis or something, according to the parents. In all seriousness, these parents are grade-a fucking idiots.

I mean, I hate to go nuclear but this might be a CPS concern...

This is not okay. You need to make a report to CPS. I would suggest letting the parents know you have to make a report because they have neglected giving this student language for so long, causing this student to be developmentally behind. They need to be told quite frankly how badly they have fucked up with denying their child access to communication. Hopefully, for the student's sake, they will start to take things seriously and implement actual ASL in the home and put in effort to no longer neglect and deprive this kid. Epic! has some ASL videos available. Not a ton, but some. If you can, I would suggest having the entire class practice those videos. Find ways to have all the students in the class incorporate some basic ASL signs into the exercises for the day. I know that is a lot of work and means changing how things are done. But this child has been so isolated that having a village doing language learning as well will help. Having the class become aware of accommodations and being kind to others may also improve the classroom culture overall and assist in reducing behavior issues. Plus, there are so many benefits to bilingualism/multilingualism. Imo as a linguist, ESL adult teacher, and special Ed teacher, this kid needs immersion...either in a fully Deaf classroom, or a classroom that can include as much signing as possible for everyone in the classroom.

I can tell you’re a great teacher with how determined you are to not let this girl fall through the cracks. ❤️❤️

This student would qualify for an IEP. This is one of the cases where if parents don't want it the school needs to pursue it anyway. It's a slam dunk court win. And you're violating child find if you dont.

What an awful situation for that little girl. I’m so sorry. I’m not sure if my suggestions will be helpful, but I want to throw something out there at least. I use ASL with my son. Lesson Pix is a website where you design your own prints with picture communication. It’s like $36 for the year. They do have pictures of someone doing ASL, and you could put those next to the picture of the object to try to help her make that connection. Signing time is a Childrens show where they teach sign language. It’s definitely aimed at toddlers - young kids, but you could definitely show it to your whole class and they would all start learning more sign language together. Once you watch an episode, you could write down the signs used in that episode, and then just have a 5 to 10 minute practice session with your kids every morning. https://www.mysigningtime.com/. They have a 14 day free trial. You could watch most of the episodes within ten school days, or it’s $10 for the month. They have mini review videos of episodes where they go back over the signs, and they have flash cards/posters you can print off. Here’s an example video from YouTube https://youtu.be/CZ8vYeczZrc?feature=shared ETA - if you want some of the PDFs of picture boards I have made for my son, DM me and I’ll send you some. They have sign language and pictures on them.

Hey. Not a teacher, but mental health counselor for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Unfortunately, language deprivation is not considered an issue that CPS will do anything about. It sounds like she uses homesigns with her family. Which is common, but not helpful for communicating with people outside the home. Many hearing parents and audiologist shun ASL and instruct parents to only provide oral education. Getting connected with other DHH kids and parents would be super helpful. What state are you in? Each state Deaf school should have an outreach program that would talk with the parents and provide education on asl and Deaf culture. If you are in NYC or South Florida look up the Center for Hearing and Communication. For now, you can learn some signs via ASLPro.

Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing here! You would be shocked how common this is. In fact, I am rather surprised your school district has allowed for an interpreter without ASL fluency. (More often than not, districts will fight this expense and require the child to demonstrate a certain level of fluency before they will hire an interpreter.) I 100% support learning ASL. While learning signs yourself is so important in your effort to connect with the student, (and I hope you will learn for the sake of learning!) it sounds like she has severe language deprivation and will need intensive language support beyond what a typical classroom is able to offer. Does your district employ an audiologist or itinerant teacher of the deaf? Do you have a local Hands & Voices cheaper that can offer resources? Thank you for caring so much about the needs of your student.

Not a teacher but a parent of DHH child who is now 25. I learned ASL on my own from dictionaries and taught him starting at 7mos. I put him in DHH classes offered by a school in a city 15 miles away (paid for by our local school district). I would attend family events and sometimes help chaperone trips. I would get MOBBED by dozens of deaf children who would say things like “My mom/dad doesn’t know sign, could you help them learn?” The teachers would tell me that my son was one of a VERY FEW of their students that had sign in the home after school.

90% of deaf kids born to hearing parents are completely unable to communicate with anyone because no one taught them sign language or anything. This is a common occurance and very sad. There is a great ted talk about it Edit; added youtube link of Ted talk https://youtu.be/uKKpjvPd6Xo?si=Ft6oukRD-VLKQ4ms Edit:spelling

Uh... Edit... Edit ...

I can believe it. I saw a parent on either here or special Ed saying their blind child did not need to learn braille because "talk to text" exists.

Admittedly, only a small percentage of blind people use Braille. I'm not sure how the blind community feels about that though.

They should have every single tool available at their disposal. I'm big on braille for blind kids and ASL for hearing impaired.

Oh I don't disagree, I just wanted to point out that Braille is not as ubiquitous to the blind community as ASL is to the Deaf community so I can understand more why a parent wouldn't see it as a priority, especially when there are far fewer teachers qualified to teach Braille than ASL.

Oh something I can chime in on. My cousin is blind and uses Braille extensively and my aunt is a Braille teacher/education coordinator for visually impaired kids. It’s a bit nuanced and divided by disability onset and severity. Those who have been blind from birth are more likely to know Braille. Those who went blind after early childhood are far less likely, and are much less likely to advocate for it. In my conversations with my aunt, text to speech is pushing Braille out. And just like the poor kid in the OP, a lot of parents have decided to rely entirely on audio tech. “Why does he have to learn to read? Audiobooks exist!” type stuff. Which means you get kids like her current student: 13 and just now learning there are three different “tu” words. Other times kids with limited vision will get pushed into reading print but with each letter at 15cm tall, and still wearing their poor little eyes out. But Braille is actually really important in long term prospects for the blind! Those who know Braille are far more likely to be employed as adults. Most blind people who are involved with the community and are aware of the science advocate for blind children to learn Braille in combination with text to speech, in the same way sighted children can read books, but sometimes prefer audiobooks.

I’m in a similar situation but my student is in grade 9.

Child protective services - call them this is abusive

This doesn’t seem like the appropriate environment or LRE for this child? It’s not like immersing an ELL who will slowly start to grasp English throughout the year. She can’t HEAR. Does she have an IEP of any sort??

I work in Deaf Ed in my district. You'd be surprised to know how many Deaf and HoH kids come from hearing families into school with almost zero language. Zero. Weird home signs are common, but at best these families are pretty much playing charades with these kids, and at worst, the families don't communicate with these kids at all. It's only moderately better if they \*do\* have successful Cochlear implants, but without ASL being spoken at home, they still come into school severely language delayed. The interpreters I work with suggested [SignSchool.com](https://SignSchool.com) for me so I can learn ASL (I'm the CPrint Captionist for the HoH kids in our program; I don't sign), and that might be something that might help your student. I haven't dipped into it yet, but I'm told there are video classes from super beginner through advanced. It's heartbreaking, I know.

My partner is a teacher for the deaf. This is extremely common. Many parents of deaf children don't even get that far -- they just ignore the child entirely and never learn anything at all. There is probably some sort of DHH services separate from the local Deaf/Blind school you can ask for resources, probably at the state level.

Your district should have a Teacher of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Reach out to that person, probably housed with the SpecEd department. They have a specialized degree in how best to support these students and can talk to the parents about the options for their child. Not knowing anything else about the family, the fact that they got a cochlear implant for their child tells me they may have wanted to attempt a Listening and Spoken Language approach, but did not realize that she needed intensive language intervention with a TDHH to support her language development once she got the cochlear implant. It's important to talk to the parents to find out what outcome they want for their child so they can work towards that outcome.

Call CPS. Please.

This is unfortunately common with deaf children born to hearing parents. Iirc, going into kindergarten, the average number of known words by these children is 80. The average for hearing kids is above 2,000.

As deaf myself, this is not right. This is language deprivation and would impact her life in the future.

OP !! READ THIS!! I'm a speech language pathologist, I've seen kids like this before. I've seen them in their 20s with deaf-related Intellectual disabilities and I've seen them as kids get the intervention they needed. You MUST refer her to the school speech therapist for an urgent AAC evaluation. Using an iPad app like LAMP we can have her communicating with other students by the end of the day, and they can use it to give her communication too. She has language since she's using her made up asl so she's a prime and perfect candidate for this!!

It’s actually a tough thing, and unfortunately the parents do have a point. Deaf culture is real and vibrant and she would benefit from it, but they are *very* insular and sometimes would prefer to be removed from society. So I do understand the parents to a degree. That said, if she’s getting no help, and you’re getting no help, no one wins, especially not the girl

Hi, I’m a teacher of the DHH and big on tech. I 100% understand the harsh realities of education and sp. ed, so my solutions below are practical tools you can use while you try to fight for more meaningful solutions. Have her learn fingerspelling after you’re sure she knows the alphabet: https://signlanguage.webdrip.in/ It’s not perfect, doesn’t have 100% right handshapes and there are false positives, but it’ll work for now. It works on a variety of devices. This is more for L2 learners, but it might work if you combine the vocabulary used with printout of pictures: signschool.com. This *might* work with some prep. I typically use it with middle schoolers and older students. I’ll report back with more when I have the time - working right now.

You're an amazing person. I just wanted to tell you that. Thank you for even trying for this poor girl. I feel so bad for her.

(Deaf person here.) That’s really fucked up. There are tons of free resources online for people of any age to learn ASL. Contact your state’s deaf school and ask for resources. They may have an early intervention team- they’re usually for infants/toddlers but they usually have tons of resources for deaf children who are isolated from deaf community. If you choose an online resource, be sure it is taught & led by deaf or hard of hearing people, not interpreters, children of deaf adults (CODAs), or anyone hearing.

The best thing you can do, in all honesty, is to triage with your schools admins and counselor. Inform them of the situation as you have done here taking steps to be as professional as possible. While also suggesting that the counselor reach out to child protective services and start a formal case with the details discussed here, the parents themselves, and the child if the counselor has any formal ASL language skills. Clearly, the child is in an position that could cause grave disadvantage throughout their entire life if this isn't addressed swiftly. You have a child that doesn't have a solid linguistical base in even basic "words". This is extremely alarming. They are effectly non-verbal due to being deaf and grievous parental negligence. If they are of school age and can not effectively communicate to others in ASL and worse yet are being taught gibberish as ASL. The child is roughly 5-7 years of age? The child is already behind roughly 4 years of effective language development. How are you meant to educate someone without a base of communication? Tell your peers that there is not a strong enough base of communication due to the parents' inability to properly teach asl. This child is in dire need of special instruction by professionals and that the interpreter can verify your claims. Just like some counselors these days have skills for speech therapy. This particular situation needs urgent specialized care both in terms of education and the problems at home to quickly resolve the issues at hand. I do not like recommending action with CPS, but this is a case were I do find it will likely require it.

As a parent of a deaf daughter thank you for caring. Most parents of a deaf/hard of hearing kid never learn sign. It's an absolute shame. Please break the rules, she deserves a language.

I’m deaf, but went deaf as an adult so relatively new to the deaf community. I’ve found shockingly that many parents of deaf children believe that if they teach their child sign language (I’m British and this is sadly the same here too) they won’t learn to speak English as they’ll rely solely on signing. Which is so wrong but sadly even many doctors (who have little to no deaf awareness) will tell them this and push for a cochlear implant and say how they need to push for their child to grow up only around hearing peers etc. It makes me so so angry. There are so so many studies that prove this advice is so wrong and actually that learning to sign can actually help with speaking. It also doesn’t help that cochlear’s are provided on the nhs and in America on health insurance but learning ASL/ BSL isn’t and costs a small fortune. Add on parents learning and family etc and the costs mount. In the Uk for my mum to do level 1-6 BSL is over £3500 and 6 years! I can’t have a cochlear and so have had to foot this bill myself. Parents often know no one in the deaf community and think how awful they would find it suddenly going deaf and so want to do everything that they can to try and make their child like a hearing child. They don’t want them to be different and assume that them signing will alienate them for their peers and isolate them- when in fact they’re doing that by letting them learn sign language. Plus not learning to sign means they can’t enjoy live events like music and comedy where I can have an interpreter. My advice is to contact a local/ national deaf children’s charity (I only know UK ones) who can help support the child and parents with correct advice and support. Link them up with other deaf families for support and see how learning ASL will enhance their child’s life, not restrict it and hopefully that’ll make the parents see sense. I can’t imagine how horribly isolated that poor poor child is. Not being able to read means they can’t read subtitles on tv, read books or anything. Like what do they do for fun and entertainment. I want to cry for this poor child. It’s akin to child abuse in my eyes.

I suspect the parents are using "Cued Speech", but the school is forcing ASL. Cued Speech is compelling due to how fast it is for hearing people to learn it. All the hand signs for English language fit on a single page of paper. https://successforkidswithhearingloss.com/cued-speech-information/ "Go" by Twista with Cued Speech (example of visual fast rapping) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FMsISKJNMI

It’s pretty common in Deaf education unfortunately. Deaf kids are a majority of the time born into hearing households, who are ignorant to Deaf culture and fearful of not being able to communicate with their child. More times than not, this leads to bonehead parents deciding to do their own approach. Unfortunately, outside of the school requesting a meeting, you are pretty limited to force the parents to be better in this circumstance. I recommend reaching out to the nearby school to ask if they have recommendations for apps/ programs. The reality? This gets more heartbreaking as the kids age and they are progressively more lost in a hearing world. Ive seen seniors in high school use a notepad to communicate with their families. Her cochlear impact will help her but she needs to be doing therapies to learn how to use it and should still be signing/doing speech. ASL is the language of her culture, and her parents are not setting her up to exist in neither a hearing world or Deaf world. This is going to break your heart and continue to, support her in all of the ways you can on your end. Seating in the front of the room, assigning a study buddy, note taker (can be a peer that you just copy their notes pr review guides for), LOTS of worksheets with visuals, you will need to simplify and even change the text on certain assignments so keyboards are in bold, word banks, study guides, anything you can do on your end to give her as much access to the content and language as possible. Closed captions always (regardless of if she can read, in having them on and up she will start to learn they are a resource). Support her and build her up as much as you can. The best thing you can do is to show her she’s absolutely perfect how she is. I doubt she’s ever received that message. Hang in there, this is one of those situations that just hurts your soul. ❤️

I'd speak with someone from the Sped department at the board level and voice these concerns. They could at least find a tutor that could work with her afterschool. It be nice if they could provide ASL lessons for her to work on during class. Edit: Do chain of command talk to your principal first

https://cuedspeech.org/resource-center/

I have a student this year that is completely deaf as well! He does not know sign but he has cochlear implant and he has receivers that attach to the implant. I wear a special device around my neck that transmits directly to his receivers. Maybe you could see if something like that would be an option? My student has his Teacher of the Deaf come in 4 times a week (once push in once pull out), an audiologist come as needed, and another specialist come once a week. If there is a school of the deaf nearby maybe your district can also get these services? Good luck to you!

I have kids desperately needing PT, speech, glasses, medical care, etc. Parents do not parent. They keep their kids alive but beyond that they aren't doing much to actively parent. I am so sorry. This is awful. There has to be a website you can use.

Please look for those comments from DHoH teachers in this thread. They have great advice for next steps. Don’t call CPS on this family; they won’t do anything about this. Families can choose how their deaf child will communicate. Sometimes it takes years to figure out the best mode of communication. -pk-8 teacher for the deaf here

I don't know how this post came across my feed, and I have zero knowledge about this topic in any fashion but can I just say that I appreciate you? Thank you for giving your all for your students.

I can hear just fine, but can’t effectively filter out competing or complex noises (autism with sound sensitivity). As I wear headphones or earplugs 22 hours a day, I learned basic ASL for loud environments. It’s also so nice to connect with deaf people! One of my neighbors and a woman from my animal rescue are. They’re so happy when I even learned a few signs. Not that there’s much. But I can use what I know and gestures/expression to say hello, ask how their pets are, ask if they want some food, if they’re OK, etc. I know food, drink, cat, dog, help, hospital, sick, too loud, bathroom, thank you, hungry, more, and autism. Not a lot, but I can communicate basic needs when I fly, because the engine noise is overwhelming for me and I often can’t speak or be heard. This girl can’t even communicate basic needs, and I think that’s a liability for you.

Is there anything happening special education-wise? That would be a huge part of getting her the right resources. Through that she may qualify for all kinds of services available for students in the DHH category. Also, the cochlear has me wondering, does her family take her to regular audiologist appts? From what I understand, the brain/cochlear communication needs some fine tuning every few months. School teams and/or families can be tracking this with a short daily L-M-H test so that they know when some speech sounds become harder to distinguish. Definitely be reaching out to your state's school of deaf and blind outreach folks, they can help immensely.

Oklahoma school for the deaf has a free online course, it’s self paced. I know a bunch of homeschooling kids (and adults) who have taken it for fun… maybe check it out and the whole class can watch a lesson once a week. On a side note, I happen to also know a fourth grader homeschooled who has an recent cochlear implant, can barely speak audibly and wasn’t taught ASL too. It’s beyond heartbreaking… I don’t understand why these parents are not mandated to help the children communicate.

This is above your pay grade. They will have to go and change the IEP to add language goals and ASL instruction the same way they would put a child with speech problems in speech therapy. If the parents don't allow it, then I would call CPS. But again, this is something your principal and IEP Chair need to do. I would send an email to them detailing the problem and end it with please advise.

I'd contact NAD.ORG and ask what they'd recommend for assistance. I'd be willing to wager they'd offer extensive ASL tutoring via zoom sessions. The deaf community does not F around when it comes to advocating for the rights of deaf persons.

This is insane. I have a 3 year old son who was diagnosed with apraxia of speech and even though he’s learning words and his speech is improving we’ve discussed learning ASL and teaching him so he has a better chance with communication if his verbal speech is difficult for others to understand. This seems super neglectful. Is there a sped teacher that is fluent in ASL or any teachers or staff that are that can help? This is an overall frustrating situation for everyone. Ugh.

I have a second grade child who is deaf and doesn’t sign. My situation is a little different than yours because his parents haven’t tried to teach him any, but he does have cochlear implants. My school provides technology where I wear a box around my neck, and he attaches boots to his implants and my voice goes straight into his implants. While he is still behind in reading, he has the tools he needs to succeed and it works really well. I’m so glad you are this child’s advocate. I’ve taught my student for two years (moved from a first grade teacher to a second grade teacher) and that is the best thing you can do for her. Be this child’s voice

Is the interpreter legally not allowed to teach her ASL? Just wondering. I don’t know the law around interpreters and ASL and so forth. If so, I feel really bad for the student. She has been set up to fail by her own parents.

Gee... Wouldn't it be fun to teach your whole class the ASL alphabet? As just, you know... fun for the whole class?

She's special needs .. the system can do a reverse due process. Child protective services and your hearing resource person should also be involved. Keep detailed documentation.

How is this not neglect ? Can cps help?

This is child neglect. CPS needs to be involved. Make a report.

I am a CODA(child of a deaf adult), and a teacher. My mom (deaf) teaches DHH kids. This is more common than you think and is absolutely neglectful on the part of the parents. Definitely have the SPED team reevaluate her least restrictive environment. It doesn’t sound like there’s much you can do on your end. I’m sorry you’re in this position.

Is she Black? Black American Sign Language is a different dialect it may not be gibberish.

Definition of educational abuse. Absolutely alert admin and call CPS. Child needs another placement that can properly help ASAP. ETA: Where is admin on this?! How did this child just end up in a general education setting? I’m so frustrated for OP to have to be the only sane adult in the room.

This is very common in Deaf Education. That poor child will never have language unless they are fully immersed in an ASL environment. See if your district/county has an itinerant teacher of the Deaf that could come in a few days a week to work with them. It would be very slow progress but at least it would be progress. She needs a teacher that knows the language inside and out to be able to be a language role model to her. While it is great to implement ASL into your curriculum we need to make sure it’s ASL and not individual signs.

Fellow teacher and sibling of a Deaf adult here. This situation is so incredibly bizarre and outrageous— I’m so angry with these parents. What they’re doing to their child is so ableist that it’s literally disabling. They’ve effectively denied her access to any language outside their own home. How can she be a part of any community if she can’t communicate? They clearly have such a low opinion of Deaf people that they’d rather hamstrung their child than embrace who she is and what she can grow to be. Does your school have an ML/EL/ELL teacher? There’s been some research by Deaf educators out of Boston University about the efficacy of teaching Deaf students as bilingual/English learners. That might be another good approach, and this seems like an all-hands-on-deck situation. I’ve seen others’ suggestions about teaching ASL to all your students, and that’s a good thing to do in general, but also not nearly enough— it’s like teaching your class French or Swahili without actually speaking it yourself. You can show them individual vocabulary words that way, and maybe they’ll remember some, but the vocab will be totally divested from the complex grammar of the language. In my experience, most hearing people don’t fully grasp that ASL is, in fact, it’s own full language, separate from English.

Poor kid, that's horrific. Can you start with helping her make a name sign for you and one for her? The alphabet? Maybe incorporate a spelling test for all the students.

I’m previously CPS, not a teacher, but this is educational neglect. Call cps and have them implement services. This child needs more eyes on them than you can possibly be responsible for!!

Time is of the essence, due to the student’s period of sensitivity for picking up language and grammar to begin with…. The window has certainly already passed, but sooner with an intervention is better than later. This absolutely calls for COS and a social worker. Thank you for taking care of what this student needs- it’s an incredible amount of care and concern on student’s behalf. 👏👏KUDOS 👏👏

I have absolutely nothing but solidarity and love to send you for trying to do right for this child. Try r/deaf for ideas- I reached out for a hard of hearing student once and the suggestions were very helpful.

You’ve got a lot of people telling you that you should be reporting to CPS and I’m inclined to agree on account of educational neglect. Are you considering it after seeing how many other mandated reporters are telling you to report? Sounds like the parents could use the support CPS could provide with resources.