Blogs
Advocacy Notes: Due Process
Question from the field: We keep going around and around in the IEP process, not agreeing. What are our options? We have had 4 amendment meetings since our daughter’s last IEP meeting. We are not in agreement, and at every meeting we seem to be going in circles. We...
Advocacy Notes: Addressing Reading and Literacy in the IEP
Question from the field: My child’s IEP team shared that he is “a good reader,” but I know that he is not understanding what he reads. He struggles with vocabulary and comprehension, but because he is getting good grades and reads the words, I am having trouble...
Advocacy Notes: Eligibility for Fully Mainstreamed, High Functioning Students with Hearing Loss
Question from the field: “I have several students with hearing loss who are high functioning, fully mainstreamed, and get good grades. My administrators feel like the students can be dismissed from the IEP process, but I know there are still areas of need for me to...
Advocacy Notes: How do I start the process of getting services for my child?
Author: Melinda Gillinger, Advocacy Consultant 2 questions from the field - same answer: “My child was just diagnosed with hearing loss. How and where do I even start the process of getting services with our school district?” “ Our child was attending a private...
Advocacy Notes: Who should be the “DHH expert” on the student’s team?
Who should be the “DHH expert” on the student’s team? Melinda Gillinger, Advocacy Consultant Our question from the field: “We recently had a student move into our district. She has bilateral cochlear implants and uses spoken language to communicate. Her...
The Power of an Appropriate Program of Special Education Support
The special education pendulum has swung away from segregated settings where students with special needs minimally mixed with ‘regular’ students in the 1980s to the current full inclusion model, where direct 1:1 instructional services are becoming rare. Students with...
Can You Guess the Big 5?
I am often asked, if I had to choose, which would be the most important assessments for teachers of the deaf/hard of hearing to routinely use during initial or triennial assessments. Assessments that reflect unique needs of our students Assessments to tease out...
Advocacy Notes – Early October 2018
Can a 504 Plan be ENOUGH Support? Many more students with hearing loss are being denied eligibility for specialized instruction and provided 504 Plans to meet their accommodation needs. The US Department of Education provides extensive answers to 47 FAQs on Section...
Advocacy Notes – August 2018
Assessment of Students with Hearing Loss MUST Consider Their Full Range of Needs Speech Language Results and Observation Alone are Insufficient S.P. v. East Whittier City School District, Pasadena, California One June 1, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals...
Advocacy Notes
Grade Retention Question from the field: I was wondering if there was any research or insight on retaining kids who are Deaf/HH for one school year. There have been a few small cases where student who were able to repeat one grade level helped to close that wide gap...
Advocacy Notes
The Power of an Appropriate Program of Special Education Support The special education pendulum has swung away from segregated settings where students with special needs minimally mixed with ‘regular’ students in the 1980s to the current full inclusion model, where...
Self-Advocacy Instruction – Necessary for Full Participation
The ‘bread and butter’ of itinerant support to students with hearing loss is often considered to be ensuring communication access, supporting language development, and self-advocacy skills training. While access relates to ADA requirements, and supporting language is...
