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Home > Mainstream Center > Director's Welcome
Director's Welcome
When children can communicate with their classmates, understand classroom instruction, are treated with patience and respect, feel safe throughout the day, and have opportunities to contribute to the life of their class and school, we believe they are appropriately placed. For many, this kind of placement can be found in a mainstream school, while for others a special class or school works better. The staff of The Mainstream Center assists students, families, and schools around the country in establishing and maintaining this type of balance.Welcome to The Mainstream Center! We invite you to explore this area to learn about our program. You will see that although we do most of our work in the mainstream, our ultimate goal for all children is a placement where they can participate, not just observe, regardless of the type of school.In recent years, there has been significant growth in the understanding of hearing loss among professionals in mainstream schools. Combined with their already extensive knowledge of the learning styles of hearing children, they are seeing that the instructional techniques that work for children with hearing loss work well for all children. But working successfully with children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing is not something typically acquired in a single step. It takes more than obtaining information about hearing loss. It requires a realistic plan, organization of a good support team, frequent communication and coordination among team members, modern technology and often the assistance of an expert on hearing loss in setting appropriate expectations and evaluating performance. Understanding then comes in stages as team members work each day to help their student get the greatest benefit from the school program.Our staff is prepared to assist you in your efforts. We would be happy to discuss your situation and how we might be of help.
David Manning, Ed.D.
Director
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