Kelly Springs Elementary focuses on hearing-impaired students

Isaac Stevenson demurs at first when asked to describe the book his class just read.

“You can do it, Mr. Raise-Your-Hand-All-The-Time,” Kellie Tate said.

With that bit of gentle prodding, Stevenson launched into a detailed description of the Halloween doings of Corduroy the Dog.

Stevenson, Brandi Madison and Lee Beaver had just finished listening to speech therapist Lindsey Lee read the book while deaf interpreter Tate signed along to help them better understand. The three students are part of Kelly Springs Elementary School’s program for hearing impaired students.

Kelly Springs serves Dothan’s hearing impaired elementary age students. The students are included in regular classes, but having other hearing impaired students around helps them feel more at home.

“If they’re the only one in school it’s a very isolating and frustrating experience,” Connie Capaldo, a teacher, said.

The program appears to be good for Stevenson, who seems engaged and active in school activities.

“I like to talk to my friends and I like to be a good citizen,” Stevenson said.

The Dothan City School system has about 17 hearing impaired students, and the system tries to cluster its hearing impaired students at one school per grade level because of limited personnel and resources.

Kelly Springs offers a variety of programs for its hearing impaired students. This includes deaf interpreters, who relate information to students in sign language.

Kelly Springs also has extensive technological equipment for its hearing impaired program, including a hearing testing booth and special speakers and portable amplifiers that help students make the most of their hearing ability.

Tate has worked as a deaf interpreter for the city schools for 11 years. Tate says that math is the easiest subject to teach hearing impaired children, because the concepts being taught are very concrete and easily explained visually. Vocabulary skills are more difficult.

“There are no pictures of ‘distribution,’” Capaldo said. “We have to work hard to teach that in a meaningful way.”

Tate said the secret of helping hearing impaired students learn was to give them plenty of visuals and to remember that her objective is a basic communication of the ideas being presented in class.

Thompson said finding certified deaf interpreters was difficult, especially for small rural systems. Tate said new state rules regarding certification has made it even more difficult for schools to recruit from the already limited pool of deaf interpreters.

“Even if you have the money to hire them, you can’t always find someone,” Gary Thompson, director of exceptional student services, said.