"Big
Dramas for a Small Girl"
In
her first week away from her family, six-year-old Joyla Ingram struggles
with the transition of a new school and dorm life at Stark Elementary
School, part of the Missouri School of the Deaf campus. The isolation
of of being a new student is compounded by an almost total lack of language
skills. “Joyla has very little language,” Mary Ann Herring,
school supervisor said. “Her first day at recess she came up to
me and said, ‘Mama, Mama!’ and I kept telling her , no, Cristina
is your teacher. But when I took her in to see Cristina, oh, she was so
happy.”
Her week has been punctuated by frustration and small victories. Certainly she has not able to articulate all of her feelings or absorb everything. “I really don’t know what all goes through their mind in that first week other than that they want their moms,” Sandra Hudgens, 38, night watch resident advisor said. “I really feel for the little ones. They need their moms but mom isn’t here. Mom is down the road somewhere and I feel sorry for them but that is where we have to try to fill in.”
For many deaf children, boarding away from home is the only real option. Communication in with their family is often not possible and often there are no deaf education programs in their area. Consequently, their education is severely delayed. “Deafness is an isolating handicap. For the most part these kids who come to us have been by themselves and no one has done anything to teach them.” Mary Ann Herring, school supervisor said.
For Tonita Mosley, Joyla’s mother, in St. Louis, Mo., sending Joyla to board at Missouri School for the Deaf was a difficult decision. “I just wanted to do what was best for my daughter,” Mosley said. “Joyla is a very special girl. She love hugs and kisses.”
Her week has been punctuated by frustration and small victories. Certainly she has not able to articulate all of her feelings or absorb everything. “I really don’t know what all goes through their mind in that first week other than that they want their moms,” Sandra Hudgens, 38, night watch resident advisor said. “I really feel for the little ones. They need their moms but mom isn’t here. Mom is down the road somewhere and I feel sorry for them but that is where we have to try to fill in.”
For many deaf children, boarding away from home is the only real option. Communication in with their family is often not possible and often there are no deaf education programs in their area. Consequently, their education is severely delayed. “Deafness is an isolating handicap. For the most part these kids who come to us have been by themselves and no one has done anything to teach them.” Mary Ann Herring, school supervisor said.
For Tonita Mosley, Joyla’s mother, in St. Louis, Mo., sending Joyla to board at Missouri School for the Deaf was a difficult decision. “I just wanted to do what was best for my daughter,” Mosley said. “Joyla is a very special girl. She love hugs and kisses.”