Hiwote's Deafness Education Fund
Donation protected
Hiwote is our beautiful and happy daughter who has a love for learning and finds joy in every little thing in life. At the age of 2, she was diagnosed with deafness and started taking classes that would accommodate her needs. However, when she turned 7 years old, she was re-evaluated by the school psychologist and misdiagnosed with Mental Retardation (MR) and was therefore put in classes that caused her learning to lag very far behind. The misdiagnosis and placement into classes that were not suitable for her needs all happened without our (her parents’) consent.
When we found out about this, we immediately set up a meeting with her school’s principle to address the issue. For the following two years, my husband and I had to attend numerous meetings with multiple school staff and convinced them to change her placement and wait for an IEP that took time to complete.
Because her school claimed she suffered from seizures, trips to out of state to see neurologists (all of whom confirmed she did not), After Hiwote, our young daughter, lost two precious years of learning, the school finally realized and determined she was simply deaf and did not have MR.
When she got to high school, Hiwote had to go through the same ordeal … again without our consent. I guess it must have been easy for the schools to put her in a classified program than to make sure appropriate accommodations for her as a deaf student. As a result of what Hiwote had to go through at the hands of the public school’s treatment of her deafness, her math and reading skills are at less than 2nd grade level. Her ability to understand what is happening around her and make decisions is not at her age level either.
After several attempts, this year, we have been blessed with the opportunity for Hiwote to attend 12th grade at Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD) located at Gallaudet University which has been incredible for her academic progress, social skills and emotional happiness. However, after this year, she will be done with high school and will therefore have to start paying $10,000 per year at English Language Institute (ELI) at Gallaudet University to continue her education for their 3-year post-high school program. This is the only hope we have to give our daughter Hiwote to get back what she lost for so long due to her misdiagnosis. We do not want our inability to provide the financial means for her schooling to affect her future.
We will be forever grateful for any contributions you make to help us in our dream come true by give her the education and life skills she need to be an independent and successful member of society which we know she can and desired so deeply.
When we found out about this, we immediately set up a meeting with her school’s principle to address the issue. For the following two years, my husband and I had to attend numerous meetings with multiple school staff and convinced them to change her placement and wait for an IEP that took time to complete.
Because her school claimed she suffered from seizures, trips to out of state to see neurologists (all of whom confirmed she did not), After Hiwote, our young daughter, lost two precious years of learning, the school finally realized and determined she was simply deaf and did not have MR.
When she got to high school, Hiwote had to go through the same ordeal … again without our consent. I guess it must have been easy for the schools to put her in a classified program than to make sure appropriate accommodations for her as a deaf student. As a result of what Hiwote had to go through at the hands of the public school’s treatment of her deafness, her math and reading skills are at less than 2nd grade level. Her ability to understand what is happening around her and make decisions is not at her age level either.
After several attempts, this year, we have been blessed with the opportunity for Hiwote to attend 12th grade at Model Secondary School for the Deaf (MSSD) located at Gallaudet University which has been incredible for her academic progress, social skills and emotional happiness. However, after this year, she will be done with high school and will therefore have to start paying $10,000 per year at English Language Institute (ELI) at Gallaudet University to continue her education for their 3-year post-high school program. This is the only hope we have to give our daughter Hiwote to get back what she lost for so long due to her misdiagnosis. We do not want our inability to provide the financial means for her schooling to affect her future.
We will be forever grateful for any contributions you make to help us in our dream come true by give her the education and life skills she need to be an independent and successful member of society which we know she can and desired so deeply.
Organizer and beneficiary
Deborah Dawit
Organizer
Alexandria, VA
Konjit Beyene
Beneficiary