Que Sera, Sera

We had another great IEP for FMO yesterday. It was such a positive experience to relate all FMO's wonderful progress since our last meeting. There are three components that seem most critical to FMO's learning progress; literacy, music, and sign language. He has come so far in those subjects, and in all other areas, primarily due to utilizing those three elements as teaching tools.

We collaborated with the team to update the goals, and resumed the dialogue about ASL (American Sign Language), and how we can obtain the services available through the county. Everyone at the table agreed that ASL is an invaluable tool for facilitating FMO's communication. Ideally, MAO and I would like to see him have regular weekly sessions with an ASL teacher to speed up and improve his rate of learning and using ASL. We not only use ASL as a tool for increasing his receptive understanding, but he also uses sign as a memory aide for his expressive communication.

The county SELPA representative is the identified roadblock to pursuing resources and support. She was resistant the last time she was approached over a year ago. She had "He's not Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing" tunnel vision, and we didn't push it then. The school Program Director is under the assumption that we need some sort of assessment to get him qualified for ASL services, but no one is quite sure what that entails or who administers the test. It is possible that his APD (Auditory Processing Disorder) diagnosis will be enough to qualify him. She and the Special Education Coordinator will discuss it with the SELPA rep. when they see her next. I anticipate more of the same type of resistance from her, but we will push the envelope further if we can this time. The law is on our side.

FMO might always experience difficulty understanding spoken language. My hope is to expand his understanding and use of ASL, creating opportunities for him to participate in a wider range of activities in the future. Dr. Camarata had stated at his assessment that he might not ever be the type of person to sit through a lecture style class. With the option to have an ASL interpreter, that and similar scenarios become more accessible. ASL fluency is the gateway to access an entire social and professional culture of "listening-challenged" people whose mode of communication transcends the need for verbal comprehension. I try never to write the future, whatever will be will be. I do feel it is crucial to look ahead with realistic expectations to discover ways to widen the path to success and fulfillment for FMO.