Friendly Town for Hearing Impaired Child (Wayland: sales, house, purchase)

[do-i-move?]

I'm looking for a town in Massachusetts that has a good school system with experience in dealing with a hearing impaired child. My daughter will be wearing hearing aids and will require an FM system. She is currently 1 year old now, but I would like to start researching to find which towns are progressive with hearing impaired children.

We currently live in Southeastern, MA. Thank you for your help!

[do-i-move?]

Just want to make sure here that people realize that I already live in MA, and am not just coming here for the "benefits" shall we say. I've lived here my whole life and have been working (at least PT) since I was 14 years old. Just looking for someone who has experience with a hearing impaired child and specific school system experiences.

Thank you.

[scarletfire]

Hi, I'm not sure what an FM system is but I know the Loker School in Wayland has an amplification system for hearing impaired students.

Loker Elementary School

[do-i-move?]

Thank you! I was beginning to wonder if anyone was out there. I"ll look in to that town. An FM system bascially connects the child and the teacher together via the child's hearing aids.

Thank you again, I really appreciate it!

[cocoaday]

I can't really offer any advice but this organization might be able to help connect you to similar parents out here in MA:

New England Center Deafblind Project

Best of luck, you are a good parent for being so proactive.

[smarty]

Don't know much about it... but... I find MA Department of Education is always a good resource...

Deaf and Hard of Hearing - Special Education

[surf50]

Clarke school for the deaf or Horace Mann school for the deaf start there.

[AprilCostello]

I live in Middleboro, and the READS Collaborative has a "Hard of Hearing" program in both our public schools, and their collaborative right here in town. I can't answer as to how good it is, though. I have more experience with the Special Education people who deal in Autism, As I have 2 kids that are on the spectrum.

[Sue Bell]

Hi - Our son is now out of college but I went from a fabulous town in CT to having the nightmare from hell when I moved to Massachusetts. Basically, as soon as I inquired about services for my son..who was also using an FM system...I was immediately asked whether we had a signed purchase and sales agreement. If I didn't, they would not speak with me...I learned to lie.

I found that speaking to audiologists was the best way to get a "beat" on a town. You must have an audiologist who can refer you to another audiologist in the area you are moving to. That audiologist may be able to give you the name and phone numbers of parents of hearing impaired children who live in your new area. In other words, you have to network.

We ended up in the Wachusett Regional School System in Central MA. At that time, they did not have a hearing impaired child but they did have children with challenges (our son was 10 yoa), so I knew that they were accustom and the other children were accustom to children with differences. Also, candidly, I felt confident in myself to handle any situation that came up. Our son had attended the CREC hearing impaired program in Wethersfield, CT, now known as Soundbridge. The staff were great advocates for our children and the parents learned a lot.

Once I knew the exact school that I wanted him in, I found a house in that school district and then contacted the school district. Kinda of backwards but you have to do what you have to do because these school systems see your daughter as a long term cost for the school system.

One other thing, two of the towns that I looked at did not believe in raising a hearing impaired child orally and they were ready to sent him to a school that signed. Our son has a 60db loss in both ears...he is an Eagle Scout, college grad and has an excellent job and attending grad school. Good Luck!

[do-i-move?]

Originally Posted by Sue Bell

Hi - Our son is now out of college but I went from a fabulous town in CT to having the nightmare from hell when I moved to Massachusetts. Basically, as soon as I inquired about services for my son..who was also using an FM system...I was immediately asked whether we had a signed purchase and sales agreement. If I didn't, they would not speak with me...I learned to lie.

I found that speaking to audiologists was the best way to get a "beat" on a town. You must have an audiologist who can refer you to another audiologist in the area you are moving to. That audiologist may be able to give you the name and phone numbers of parents of hearing impaired children who live in your new area. In other words, you have to network.

We ended up in the Wachusett Regional School System in Central MA. At that time, they did not have a hearing impaired child but they did have children with challenges (our son was 10 yoa), so I knew that they were accustom and the other children were accustom to children with differences. Also, candidly, I felt confident in myself to handle any situation that came up. Our son had attended the CREC hearing impaired program in Wethersfield, CT, now known as Soundbridge. The staff were great advocates for our children and the parents learned a lot.

Once I knew the exact school that I wanted him in, I found a house in that school district and then contacted the school district. Kinda of backwards but you have to do what you have to do because these school systems see your daughter as a long term cost for the school system.

One other thing, two of the towns that I looked at did not believe in raising a hearing impaired child orally and they were ready to sent him to a school that signed. Our son has a 60db loss in both ears...he is an Eagle Scout, college grad and has an excellent job and attending grad school. Good Luck!

Hi Sue: Here I am a year later visiting the same subject. Just wondering what town it was in CT that you loved so much. Thanks! Colleen