Oralingua
Oralingua
Mission
Non-profit, 501 (C)(3)
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Whittier
The other day, I got a call from my dentist, Dr. Sudick (who I had told about my WhittierRocks.com endeavor at my last visit), and he asked me if I could help him with a fundraiser that he was organizing for a local school called “Oralingua” with the goal of providing a new computer for each classroom. Of course I jumped right on board and what I learned in the course of writing about this very special school was amazing.
Oralingua is a non-profit organization, a school for the deaf and hard of hearing, serving children from newborn to 12 years of age. What makes Oralingua different from many other schools serving the deaf is that it does not use signing as a teaching method – the children at the school actually hear what is being taught with the help of cochlear implants and/or hearing aids. Oralingua is one of only three schools in the entire US that provide a self-contained auditory-oral program serving Infancy through upper Elementary School - this is extraordinary because it means that they not only teach the younger children, but give older children who are not yet ready to enroll and succeed in a mainstream program the opportunity to continue learning to listen and to speak.
Oralingua has been in the same Whittier location (located in the St. Matthias church) for the past 42 years – it started out when seven families with hearing impaired children got together because they were unable to find adequate resources to assist their children. One of the family members was a parishioner of St. Matthias church and the church let them use two rooms to start teaching. 42 years later, Oralingua now has 75 students and occupies a large portion of the church premises.
I had a chance to visit the classrooms and got to experience the great work that is done at this incredible school first-hand. Coming from a psychology and language background, I found the work immensely interesting and the results were astounding. The first classroom I visited was a group of very happy second and third graders who had no problems whatsoever telling me about what they had learned that day – from reading books, to doing a math paper, to checking the weather forecast online. I noticed that when the teacher, Nina Ceseña, would speak to one of the boys she would cover her mouth – I guessed that it was to keep him from reading her lips and later found out that indeed that was the case. The little boy had only been at the school since July and when he first started, he read lips and did not speak. Now, he was able to hear, process and understand speech and his language capabilities were amazing. Especially when you take into consideration that the Oralingua curriculum is the same as the one for public schools, so Oralingua follows state standards and the children are being taught the required academics PLUS how to listen and speak.
I also learned that computers are an integral part of Oralingua’s program – the students have significant hearing loss and miss a lot of information that children without hearing impairment pick up incidentally. Computers play an important role as they allow the teachers and students to access online video clips and clip art that facilitate the materials taught in class. Computers are also used for academic games which have been extremely helpful as many of the students experience academic delays due to late amplification.
Linda Dinow, principal at Whittier Oralingua, has been with the school from the beginning – she started 42 years ago as a student teacher and the school has become her passion. “It is amazing to see how over the years technology has helped so much in teaching our hearing impaired students. It has made such a difference and computers are a very important part of our program.”, says Dinow. The computers that Oralingua is using currently are 12 years old and don’t support some of the new programs they need to teach.
Most students are funded through their school districts, but that funding is minimal and only covers one third the cost of this
program. The rest of the funds come from grant writing, private donations and special fundraising events. With the current economy, many school districts have cut their rates and/or introduced furlough days, which means Oralingua now has to make up the difference because they will not compromise the services they provide, and due to the limited funds, there is no money for the much needed computer upgrades.
If you would like to help, please consider making a monetary contribution to assist the school in supporting the needs of their hearing impaired students by March 15, 2011. You can make contributions on Dr. John Sudick’s website or contact the school directly at 562-945-8391. Every amount, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated. If you would like to make a larger contribution, for $600 you will put a new Aspire computer, a 22” monitor and a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) into a classroom, along with a brass plaque featuring your name and/or business on the monitor. In addition to that, for every $600 of funds contributed, Dr. Sudick will personally contribute another $100 to upgrade the network capabilities (up to a total of $1,200).
It was such a pleasure getting to meet some of these incredible students and to see the great work that is being done at this school – giving these children the gift of understanding language and the ability to speak in order to live independent lives. I would like to personally thank those who took the time out of their of their busy day to talk to me: Tracie Cargill, Linda Dinow (principal), Nina Ceseña (2nd and 3rd grade teacher), Krista de Sant’Anna (1st grade teacher), and Kristin Dunton, for teaching me so much about the school as well as for sharing her personal story of being the mother of her deaf son, Bill, with me. I feel very honored to have had the chance to meet Bill and to learn about his story, such incredible accomplishments thanks to dedicated parents, a school like Oralingua and the caring people that work there.
Thank you all so very much for opening your doors to me.
See you around town,
Stephanie
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CONTRIBUTE NOW!!!
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Organizational Information
Oralingua School for the Hearing Impaired
7056 South Washington Ave
Whittier, CA 90602
Phone: 562-945-8391
Fax: 562-945-0361
If you are the parent of a hearing impaired child, please feel free to contact the school directly for more information.