Anyone have experience with Fairfax County PS deaf/hard-of-hearing preschool programs?

[Anonymous]

First time poster here on DCUM so my apologies in advance if I am not following proper posting etiquette!

We are considering enrolling our 3 year old DS in the cued-speech pre-school class at Camelot elementary (per the recommendation of our IEP team). He is language and speech delayed due to moderate hearing loss in both ears (discovered 6 months ago), but he does not have any other learning disabilities or developmental delays. He is adjusting very well to his hearing aids and is getting weekly private speech therapy. Does anyone have any experience with the Fairfax County preschool programs for deaf & hard-of-hearing kids? Or any general advice from other D/HOH parents as we consider the pros and cons of moving him from his current preschool - a private Montessori preschool where he has great speech and language models, but very limited audiological support - to a Fairfax county public school program?

[Anonymous]

Are you close to Dolley Madison preschool in McLean?

[Anonymous]

OP here - we haven't yet looked at Dolley Madison. We have toured the River School in DC, which looks to be a fantastic program, but somewhat cost prohibitive. From their website it looks like Dolley Madison focuses on children with speech and language needs, but not exclusive to deaf/hard of hearing. Definitely a place we will consider -thanks!

[Anonymous]

former fcps preschool teacher here (not the hard of hearing program though) - I currently work elsewhere in the field. I do not think he would get anything out of the Dolley Madison program that he is not currently getting at his preschool, other than the fact that they have SLP support - I was there a few months ago for an observation w/ a family. I would do a visit to the classroom(s) at Camelot. I did a few days worth of an observation there myself a few years ago and they were really impressive. I think the make up of the classroom(s) is probably quite varied year to year, in terms of the needs of the children who attend, but the fcps preschool programs in general are fantastic. If he has a current IEP and the team recommended it, I'd definitely take a look. Good luck with things!

[Anonymous]

With a moderate hl, I would look into auditory only programs versus TC programs. Also, request an AVT rather than an SLP and get that into his IFSP/IEP. Check out the John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles, too. They have great distance learning resources for children with hearing loss.

[Anonymous]

I am not from FX county, but my child has mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears and got hearing aids at age 4, (he was on the borderline).
He didn't even have anything in his IEP until he got the hearing aids about hearing loss. That being said, he went to a MCPS preschool
for kids with physical disabilities and their typical peers at age 3 and did fine. At age 4, he got summer school with the MCPS system
to help him adjust to his (new) hearing aids. And at age 4 he went to both the preschool for kids with physical disabilities and a regular typical preschool (morning program and afternoon program). So he did fine. He gets to see a DHOH teacher once a month. He didn't talk until he was 3, but he has more issues than just hearing loss.

We could have gone to the MCPS preschool for kids with hearing loss, but that was not his major issue and we were happy with the school he was in.

In MC you can get transient services, so is that a possiblitiy in a regular preschool?

[Anonymous]

Stay away from River School. Better to stay at Camelot. They will be merging with two other schools to provide a well-rounded education for children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

[Anonymous]

I have a 16-month old baby with mild hearing loss and is wearing hearing aids. Since you also have a child with hearing loss, I wanted to ask if there's any lessons learned that you can share along your journey, things you wish you knew earlier or did differently with your child, and websites you'd suggest that I check out?

Does anyone know if there are any DHH preschool programs in any private schools, including Montessori schools, in Fairfax County, VA or have any recommendations?

Can someone confirm if Camelot ES is the only FCPS with a DHH preschool program?

How was your child's experience in the DHH Preschool program at Camelot?

[Anonymous]

Before sharing my experience I need to say that my kid is different situation. He has normal hearing in one ear and sever loss in the other. For several reasons we didn't know that he can benifit from hearing aid till a year ago and now he us 5 in K. We did the pre school special ed in Fairfax for 18th month in combination to a regural day care. We weren't offered special hard of hearing/deaf school because they and us felt with accommodation he can do fine in a regural school. What I want to caution you about that in FCPS they didn't understand the impact of his hearing loss on his development. He was showing behavioral issues and they felt its ADHD. I was sure it was not and after a year on hearing aid, my gut feeling was confirmed. It was his hearing loss that caused it. He get service from hard if heating teacher and I don't know how helpful that is. Maybe in the selfe advocacy, other than that, I don't feel he learned much. So my advice for you is to keep using the hearing aid. My kid grew so much in a year since we got it. Also always question the opinion when teachers tell you that some issues are not related to the hearing loss. I do think there is still little understanding of how much hard of hearing affect children and because my kid hear fine, his teachers tend to undermine the impact it has on him. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for sharing! I appreciate your time and advice! What kind of service did your son get from the hard of hearing teacher? What do you mean by self advocacy? Does your child have an IEP? Use the FM system? Use ITC’s services? Was preschool special ed in Fairfax free? So he attended when he was 18 months old?

[Anonymous]

I know that one of the PS teachers at Camelot has been there for years and is WONDERFUL. My brother was in the program years amd years ago. He is still friends with a few friends from the program and the program even back then really focused on getting kids ready to advocate for themselves and function normally in a gen ed classroom down the line. My brother had no other issues besides moderate hearing loss and is now a successful adult . Camelot is a great community.

[Anonymous]

That’s great to hear. Thanks for the feedback. Is anyone a minority with hearing loss? I wonder what the ethnicity diversity is in the DHH Preschool program at Camelot.