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DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — Drayden Ayers glanced toward his educational interpreter for a moment.
With a twinkle in his eye, the Carver Elementary School second-grader raised his hand in a small-group reading station to answer yet another question.
"It's awesome (going to school) because I get to do a lot of things," Drayden said.
The young student is one of more than 70 in the Dubuque Community School District with a form of hearing loss, the Telegraph Herald (http://bit.ly/1OJcneK ) reported.
"Our kids can do everything that anyone else can do, except for hear," said Megan Johannsen, a district teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing. "The big thing we push with them is they are different, but that is a good thing. Everyone is a little bit different, and this just happens to be how they are. We teach them to be proud of that."
Drayden has severe hearing loss and must wear hearing aids. He seamlessly transitions between sign language and spoken word.
"He is proud to have a hearing loss," Johannsen said.
A continuum of services is offered in the district through partnerships with Keystone Area Education Agency. Students might work with a Keystone audiologist or a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing at various points during school. Students who need daily services also might have a district educational interpreter.
When Drayden was 3 years old, he attended preschool at Carver and began to work with an interpreter. His mother, Jessie Ayers, said early intervention was key.
"His vocabulary is very extensive for a 7-year-old, and that's because he's had that experience early on," she said.
Many deaf and hard-of-hearing students who need daily services attend a "cluster school," where many of the services they need are readily available. In Dubuque, those are Carver, Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School and Hempstead High School.
Johannsen said students are in the general-education classroom as much as possible, with interventions provided when needed. For instance, Drayden works on spelling and phonics with Johannsen about 10 minutes per school day. The rest of his time is spent in a general education classroom with an educational interpreter.
"When he has both of hearing aids in, he is able to catch a lot of what is being spoken," Johannsen said. "In a classroom setting, there is a lot of background noise, and unfortunately, the hearing aids will amplify that as well. So, there's going to be things that he'll miss."
Those are the moments when Drayden will turn toward Sarah Delaney, his educational interpreter this school year.
"If I don't understand it, I can just look at the interpreter," Drayden said.
Delaney not only signs for Drayden and his classmate Breeanna Runde, but she also uses sign language when talking to other children in the classroom.
"The other kids in the classroom like it, and it gives them an opportunity to pick up on a sign," Delaney said.
Sign language is commonplace in Carver classrooms, with some interpreters teaching sign language to an entire class as part of a class treat.
In addition to working with an interpreter and reading lips, Drayden also uses an FM receiver that adults wear so their voice is transmitted directly to his hearing aids.
"It's really helpful to have hearing aids with the FM so then I can hear better because without my hearing aids, I can barely hear," Drayden said.
Dubuque Community Schools also offer a variety of opportunities for families of students who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Sign-language nights teach families those skills, and meet-and-greet events offer opportunities for families to meet others in their situation. Ayers has attended both activities. She said the meet-and-greets are a perfect opportunity to network with other parents who understand her concerns.
"It has been a very positive experience," Ayers said.
Drayden loves school and his friends. He said the only activity he can't participate in is the telephone game.
"I can't play because then I can't hear what they whisper," Drayden said. "It makes me feel OK since I don't even know why people like to play telephone. All you do is whisper something. That's literally all you do."
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Information from: Telegraph Herald, http://www.thonline.com
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