Vocational Options
Students have a wide range of vocational options. Courses at King Career Center which students often take include auto mechanics, carpentry, child care, printing, food service, and computer technology.
Community-based training for vocational and transition after high school has been popular and successful with ASSDHH Students. Placement into the Adult Continuity Education (ACE) program, and Adult Continuity Transition(ACT) is determined by the IEP team during the student's enrollment in high school.
Teachers, interpreters, and teacher assistants help students toward success in these courses. On-the-job work experience and after school jobs are a natural part of these vocational education options.
Transition Readiness
Transition readiness classes use the iTransition program, which is designed for deaf or hard of hearing students, ages 14 through adult. Students in transition classes will discover:
- more about their work skills and interests and how they relate to a career choice
- explore options for post secondary education
- survey what campus departments and service can assist you
- develop critical thinking skills in academics, career, and personal choices
- organize information in their own online transition portfolios
- improve self-advocacy skills through communicating with others
Residential Options
Students may request to live in student housing called Student Living Center administered by the ARC of Anchorage a non-profit organization. They provide an extended day for learning through increased communication using the student's native language-American Sign Language.
Independent living skills training and social activities are integral parts of the Student Living Centers. The Arc offers residential living for students attending the Alaska State School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ASSDHH) in Anchorage and facilitates their return to their families across the state for holiday and summer breaks.
These services are provided in a home setting, with individualized goals based on each child's academic and behavioral needs. There is a strong emphasis on integration into the local Deaf community.
Student Activities
Activities, both during and after the school day, are important for students to gain social skills and to be an integral part of school life. Student council, drama, football, hockey, soccer, swimming, cross-country skiing, wrestling, basketball, and Native Youth Organization, are activities in which students regularly participate.
Interpreters are provided for student activities.
Jr. National Association of the Deaf is a youth leadership development organization for secondary students, and its fundraising allows for funding to leadership camps for deaf children.
Least Restrictive Environment
In a effort to make each school site the least restrictive environment for students, sign language is taught to general education students so they may communicate with their deaf and hard of hearing peers.
At the elementary school level this takes place as mini-units in regular classes.
At the middle school and high school, American Sign Language classes are taught as a foreign language for credit.
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Parent Support
Sign Language classes are offered weekly, along with signing scouts, to parents and family members. Parent discussion groups meet monthly and school-wide family social activities are held throughout the year. Families from outside the Anchorage area are invited to attend their child's IEP meetings.
When parents come in to Anchorage, they are encouraged to take sign classes and special workshops developed for them. These classes range in subject from sign language to child development and behavior.
Speech-Auditory Services
Speech teachers provide evaluations, recommendations, and individual and group lessons. Classroom instruction and support are also provided.
Transportation
For out-of-Anchorage students, travel to and from Anchorage is provided through the ARC of Anchorage for the school year plus winter and spring vacations. Depending on a student's age, escorts are sometimes provided. Travel is also provided for parents to attend IEP meetings and special workshops. Bus transportation is also provided daily between Anchorage and Wasilla through an agreement between ASD and DEED (Department of Early Education and Development).
Academics
Anchorage School District curriculum is followed as we strive to met Alaska School Standards. The Ling curriculum is used for speech.
Progress monitoring allows staff to make better decisions regarding instruction and curricular use. While ASSDHH strives to consistently use ASD curricula and Alaska State standards; also, research is continuous for materials that meet the educational needs of deaf and hard of hearing students more closely.
Funding
Funding for ASSDHH come from both ASD (Anchorage School District) and DEED (Department of Education and Early Development). The funding for the SLC and early intervention services comes from a separate grant through Department of Health and Social Services. DEED contract funds provides for the residential services.
Eligibility
Any deaf or hard of hearing child in Alaska who utilizes American Sign Language as either their primary or secondary language, and who can participate in a Signing Language Community (multi-modal community), is eligible to attend ASSDHH.
Eligibility to attend ASSDHH is determined by the IEP team (which includes the ASDHH supervisor), to be the least restrictive placement.
Registration
Once the IEP team has determined ASSDHH for placement, an intake packet for ASSDHH is filled out with instructions for registration at the students' school site (Russian Jack elementary, Clark Middle School, East High School)
Referral
Students may be referred by teachers, school districts, and parents. Contact ASSDHH at 742-4243 for a referral packet.
Counseling
The ASSDHH school counselor is responsible for student counseling as needed per the student's IEP, short-term counseling as requested by the parent, and as needed, i.e. group counseling sessions covering a wide array of topics that are developmentally appropriate (relational issues, study skills training). The school counselor administers behavioral tests checklists, conducts educational testing, assists students with college planning, and facilitates parent education meetings.
Audiology
The ASD (Anchorage School District) audiologist (907- 742-4526) is responsible for entering information on the eligibility assessment form, trouble shooting equipment as needed and testing in the ASD office is available to families at no charge. The ASD audiologist is located in the ASD Headquarters building at 5530 E Northern Lights Blvd. |
