The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf feat. Marybeth Lauderdale

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About the Hearing Matters Podcast
 
The Hearing Matters Podcast discusses hearing technology (more commonly known as hearing aids), best practices, and a growing national epidemic - Hearing Loss. The show is hosted by father and son, Blaise Delfino, M.S. – HIS, and Dr. Gregory Delfino, Au.D., CCC-A, who treat patients at Audiology Services in Bethlehem, Nazareth, and East Stroudsburg, PA. 

On this episode, Blaise Delfino talks with Marybeth Lauderdale, chief engagement and collaboration officer at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf (WPSD) in Pittsburgh.

A Focus on Children

Marybeth knew from the time she was in junior high school that she wanted to be a teacher. She talked to her history teacher, who had a deaf daughter, and she suggested Marybeth teach the deaf. She decided to do exactly that. She taught for many years and has been in her current position for two years. She works with the faculty and students’ parents on programs at the school in Pittsburgh and throughout the state. She came from Illinois, where she was the superintendent of the School for the Deaf and Visually Impaired there.

A Varied Day

Marybeth loves working with children because it’s so varied. About 25 percent of the students have cochlear implants, so there is a continuum of communication modes at the school. Along with American Sign Language, the school also may use spoken English or a combination of the two. 

Students of all Ages

There are children at WPSD as young as 5, and there are residential students, who come to school on Monday morning and leave on Friday at noon. Marybeth works with the staff to ensure the acoustics in the classroom are the best to optimize students’ residual hearing. There are five speech and language pathologists, an audiologist, psychologists, and counselors. Together they work on American Sign Language, speech, and audition to maximize every type of communication there is. During COVID, students learned via Zoom. Often the parents would sit in on the Zoom classes as well. The school use spoken English, sign language and captioning to teach during that time. 

Only about five percent of the students’ have deaf parents. The rest have hearing parents, which is a unique situation. Often the deaf child is the parents’ first baby. These parents, who are usually shocked and upset, take time to grieve. They have experienced a loss. But they are told that getting intervention for their child as soon as possible will be invaluable. Parents are also strongly encouraged to learn sign language, and to include the child in family activities as a participant, not as an observer.

Plans for Every Student

WPSD has a Zero to Three-Years Old program. Every baby has a Family Service Plan, and every student has an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that sets up goals. There is also a transition program for high school students to help them transition into the working world. A team works with them on soft skills, work skills and academic skills. Students go to work placements while they’re in school. Eventually they go to college, get jobs and live lives like everyone else. Schools like WPSD help deaf and hard of hearing people achieve all their goals, even with hearing loss. 

Sign Language for All

Blaise Del

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