Itinerant
Mission
It is the mission of the Mainstream Resource Center to provide diagnostic and educational services that allow children with hearing loss to learn and interact side by side with their hearing peers.
Success through Teamwork
Lake Drive School has been providing services to children in the mainstream classrooms for over 25 years. Their intervention program, "Success through Teamwork", unites the family, the school community, and students to meet the goal of successful mainstreaming.
Academic Support Specialists
A team of teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing dedicated to insuring that students meet with success in the mainstream travels the northern half of NJ working in students' home school districts. They receive consistent in-service education through the Lake Drive Program to keep abreast of the latest developments in amplification technology including cochlear implants, FM systems, speech-to-print transcription systems, and other special devices.
They work in collaboration with the CST, classroom teachers, and families to provide carefully orchestrated support services to ensure that their students learn optimally in the mainstream. They provide individualized educational services based on the demands of the district's curriculum.
These academic support specialists also provide faculty members with the information they need to help them understand the student's hearing loss as it impacts on functioning in the classroom. They also provide instruction in the student's classroom to sensitize peers to the special needs of the child with hearing loss.
Families are provided with information to help them understand how the child's hearing loss affects learning and with information about organizations and activities to foster social development outside of the school. Families are crucial partners in insuring that children hear optimally at all times and insuring that there is appropriate hearing aid care and maintenance.
Summary of Academic Support Specialist Services
- Parent information
- Academic support
- Sensitivity and awareness training for hearing students regarding hearing impairment
- Information regarding FM and other assistive devices
- Language and speech development activities that are curriculum based
- Consultative assistance in identifying the supports required for successful mainstreaming
- Auditory training and auditory learning activities
- Speech reading instruction
- In-service training for teachers of mainstreamed children
- Assistance in formulating instructional goals for the IEP
- Study skills and note taking