One of my best friends emailed me because she has a new student in her religious school class who has a cochlear implant. She and her sister are in the 4th class together despite the person with the cochlear implant is in 7th. Here’s how my thoughtful friend explained the situation:
“She doesn’t us American Sign Language – something different and she is also a special needs student (don’t know the details here). She can read and write. I think we will need to write more on the board to help communicate with her and take some of the pressure off her sister. Any thoughts? I want them to feel welcome and since she is so much older and doesn’t speak it will make it harder for her to participate.”
Apparently, things are not going well at home either with divorced parents and Dad having primary custody. Mother refused to allow the kids to get baptized and they’re behind in their studies.
Obviously, there’s more to the story, but I am not going to make assumptions. I told my friend that they need to relieve the younger sister (4th grader) of responsibility in helping her older sister. My friend is going to call the dad to find out how to best work with her.
I hope this story gets better and that the girl learns to communicate the way that it works best for her.