|
| San Antonio Express-News |
 |
| Metro / South Texas Page 5D |
|
|
Deaf children get cowboy care
Event seen as boosting confidence |
| |
| Scott Huddleston EXPRESS-NEWS STAFF WRITER
|
| |
| Publication Date : February 16,
2002 |
| |
Friday was "cowboy day" at Sunshine
Cottage School for Deaf Children, where some little
wranglers, from preschool to third grade, befriended cuddly
farm animals and got a taste of the Old West.
A llama, cow, farm dog, and several goats and sheep - not
to mention a chicken perched on one goat's back - greeted
the youths, who were treated to biscuits and gravy at the
school's fifth annual cowboy breakfast.
The breakfast is a confidence-builder for the children,
said Dan Solcher, a board member at the school.
Friday's event also featured an exhibition of American Indian
dance and a demonstration of cowboy rope tricks.
"If they can meet the animals, and meet the cowboy, they
build confidence in themselves," said Solcher, 33, who attended
the school from ages 3 to 7 and uses a hearing aid to cope
with a 70 percent hearing loss.
The school didn't have computers and modern gear in the
1970s. But Solcher, a computer programmer at SBC Communications,
remembers it as the place where he learned to talk.
Now, deaf children can get a better start, since a 1999
state law requires hospitals and clinics to screen all newborns
for hearing loss.
Twin boys, age 3, attend Sunshine. One of the boys was diagnosed
with hearing loss at just a few months old, Principal Blane
Trautwein said.
"If you heard the twins talking, you wouldn't know which
one is deaf," he said. "And that's because of early detection."
Of the school's 130 students, about 30 can hear. The school
has a waiting list of children with hearing capability.
The mix is in keeping with the school's philosophy that
deaf children can go further in an environment that encourages
them to speak, rather than using sign language.
"The best thing you're seeing today is these children using
their voices," Trautwein said.
It wasn't a ba-a-a-a-d day for Justin, a 5-year-old boy
with hearing loss.
"The baby goat's called a kid," he happily proclaimed, as
his friends fed the goats and stretched their little arms
around the animals' necks.
Blaine Smith, a dealer of auditory equipment who has furnished
hearing aids to children in Mexico and Central and South
America, joined board member Marietta McCain in sponsoring
the breakfast.
Most of the school's hearing-impaired children receive some
tuition assistance. The school, which relies heavily on
foundation grants and corporate and individual donations,
estimates it costs more than $25,000 per year to educate
a deaf child.
After Sept. 11, the 55-year-old school saw a drop in donations
during its annual Christmas appeal, from $39,000 in late
2000 to $27,000 last year. But Christy Dulaney, director
of annual giving, said the financial outlook is still bright,
thanks in part to an endowment and other fund-raising efforts.
The school encourages Spanish-speaking families of deaf
students to learn English, and matches them with language
courses so the children are consistently exposed to English.
One student, an 11-year-old girl whose family moved here
from Mexico in 1984, has seen her mother become bilingual,
while she has learned her first language, Trautwein said.
"Her mom comes and talks to other moms now, about why she
learned English, and what the importance is," he said.
shuddleston@express-news.net |
|
|