The School for the Deaf

We have been trying to figure things out this week. School things. Financial things.

Bette’s school told us that we do not qualify for financial aid. Which left us completely dumbfounded. Because it is astronomically expensive – as expensive as a private college – except that it is a preschool.

But according to them and their screwed up financial aid formula, we can afford it. Because apparently, we have loads of money laying around. Except that we don’t, I assure you.

So we are trying to figure out what we are going to do. We are making calls and talking to our service coordinators and insurance company. And we are researching other educational options for Bette, which may or may not work out.

We visited a new school for her today. The school is not close to our house. It is in the sticks and the commute would absolutely be terrible. But it is a full day, specialized preschool program for the deaf and hard of hearing in the public school system. And the big kicker is that it would be free.

We took a tour. We walked around. We talked to the special education teachers. It was all very well done.

But none of that was as important as hearing some of the children speak. We had to hear a child speak, because that was the sticking point for us. If the children spoke well, fantastic. But if after all those days and hours in school, the children still had a deaf sound in their speech, then it was not going to be the place for us.

Because the point of all this therapy and all this running around and all this mayhem in our lives is so Bette learns to speak clearly. She has cochlear implants and can now hear clearly. So she should be able to learn to speak clearly. And we need her with teachers who can successfully teach her how to do that.

We sat in on a class so we could listen to the kids. We listened while they completed their exercises. We listened as they spoke to the teachers. We listened to their speech therapy exercises.

And they all spoke beautifully. The Pre-K kids hit every sound in every frequency. And there was no trace of the deaf sound in their speech.

Afterwards, we met the principal, who showed us a few highlights of the school. The girls ran wild in the cafeteria and were amazed by the media center. Then we said good-bye and many, many thank you’s and started the trek home.

We are filled with relief; relief that the school was not a dead end; relief that we have options; and relief that what is best for Bette will really and truly will work out.

Because God knows what she needs. She is on a path He has set for her. And there is never a moment when His attention is distracted from her. There is never a moment when His eye is off of her. And there is never a moment when His love and care for her falters. He is there, always, in the middle of it all, and He always will be.