Michelle Hutton-Joseph

So in one year [Jonathan] has made amazing progress. I think that just how much ASL is going on in the classroom has really made all the difference. So he is exposed to it all day.

Our daughter’s first language is ASL. It’s very important she understand ASL.

I asked my mother to send me here. It was a big decision for her because I lived 8 hours away from here. My mother made the right choice to send me here. It was worth it.

I can tell he just feels like a whole new world has been open to him in how to communicate with his hands and he has already made soooooo much progress….I’ve always felt like I had to micromanage everything for him and like nobody else understood what he needed and it’s just so nice now to just know he is in good hands and around people who understand him in a way even I don’t and we are all just amazed at how much even a month has affected him. He wakes up begging to go to school.

It is very crucial that the children have access to language development. A natural acquisition of language right from the very beginning.

He would start telling me ‘I just want to read at recess. I don’t want anybody to talk to me,’ and I’m like ‘no’. He’s outgoing. That’s not in his spirit. We started looking at different schools and was wowed by this school because of the socialization at recess and lunch and in the classroom is amazing.

Every deaf child can learn just the same as hearing children can. I think that one problem is that often there are misconceptions about deaf children’s abilities.

A strong language foundation is very important for their success in life. Research shows that deaf students who have American Sign Language skills are then more successful in English.

[We] came to the school. She fell in love with it. The teachers, the one-on-one, the bi-lingual, the support for speech, for occupational therapy Gabby had at that time. There was a plethora of resources for us. And my husband and I had children. They are our responsibility. We want the best for her. We want her to succeed in the world. Here she goes.

Before I got to WSD, I didn’t sign well. I used a little bit of gesturing. When I got here, I got better and better.

With ASL I could learn everything. I’ve made so much progress since I came here. I’m grateful to my parents for sending me to WSD. In my opinion, you’ll want to come here.

I like that I can look directly at my teacher. I don’t have to look at the interpreter. I can get the teaching directly from the teacher.

I’ve seen a lot of changes because the communication was there to be able to interact, socialize, boost her self-esteem. The teachers, the staff, very positive reinforcements here.

I am very thankful for all the support given to us as a family, for every word of encouragement and time dedicated. Since day one we had a very warm welcoming and we felt the passion and dedication that everyone has, of teaching with a smile. Thank you as well for all your patience with [her] throughout this new learning experience.

Once Nicolas started coming here, he blossomed and bloomed. I’m happy to say he walks, talks, runs, reads and plays basketball and does all the things they said he would never do.

We know that learning is a social activity. It’s social in nature. People learn from each other all the time. Children learn the fastest from their peers.

ASL is their language. That gives them the self-esteem and they have a foundation then to support their English development.