1. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

The Mustard Seed Program is a proposed three-year pilot program that

seeks to educate and minister to children, ages 2 to 6 years who are deaf or

hard of hearing using an auditory-oral language approach with signed

English support. The program design allows for education of students ages

2 years to 2 years 11 months in a weekly language-based playgroup,

education of students 3 to 6 years in a full-day pre-primary program 3 days

each week with daily individual or small group speech therapy, and ongoing

education and support for families. It is the hope and joy of the Mustard

Seed Program to minister to the educational needs of these children and

their families, and in that way to share the everlasting hope of Jesus Christ.

The center will be situated in the capital city, Kampala, where otolaryngology

and audiology services are being developed. At its inception, the pre-

primary program will be hosted in classrooms treated with sound proofing

materials to suit the auditory needs of the students. Children will be

grouped according to their ages and individual needs. Each year, the center

will enroll up to 20 children in the age range of 3 to 6 years in the preschool

classroom category with a maximum of 10 students with one teacher of the

deaf and one teaching assistant per classroom. An additional weekly

instructional playgroup will enroll up to 10 students with hearing loss in the

age range of 2 years to 2 years 11 months. These programs will follow an

academic calendar that runs from January to November. Program delivery

will be specially designed to offer diverse experiences that will address

specific educational and communication needs of the student population.

The pedagogy will emphasize an auditory oral approach but will additionally

integrate sign language and other visual supports. An additional component

of the program will be to provide support, instruction, and advocacy for

families of children with hearing loss in an effort to educate and, eventually,

counteract current social views of deafness in Uganda. Therefore, the

overall Mustard Seed School Program can be subdivided into the following

three focal areas for services offered by the center: an early intervention

program, a pre-primary program, and a parent support and outreach

program.

A. The Early Intervention Program

A teacher of the deaf or speech language pathologist will implement

auditory-oral language strategies with English sign support through

developmentally appropriate play. Group play experiences will focus on

beginning auditory tasks including detection and identification of

environmental sounds and speech sounds. Language elements will be

further encouraged through literacy activities, music and singing, gross

motor games, and structured tasks including arts and crafts or morning

meetings. In order to maximize auditory access, the play space will be

treated with acoustic wall and ceiling treatments and the teacher of the deaf

or speech language pathologist will utilize a sound field FM system to better

amplify her voice for the children. The toddler playgroup will provide initial

access to education for children with hearing loss, enabling them more

opportunity for success as they develop language at a young age. It will

serve to create relationships between the families and the school as well as

between families, providing a community for parents who have children with

hearing loss. Mustard Seed School staff will minister to children and families

during these weekly sessions, providing a safe space in which families are

welcomed to observe and participate in their child’s education.

Early Intervention Program Objectives

I. To demonstrate the love of Christ through the care and support of deaf

children and their families

II. To provide families with access to initial hearing and academic

assessment

III. To supply referrals and recommendations to families in order to

acquire hearing aids and maintain equipment

IV. To allow students opportunities to make use of residual hearing

through hearing aid technology in order to develop spoken language

and communication skills.

V. To provide opportunities for deaf children to interact with deaf peers in

an environment that develops pragmatic, language, and academic

skills.

VI. To foster development of initial communication strategies for deaf

toddlers using spoken language and sign language support

B. Pre-Primary School Program

The preschool program will admit students beginning at 3 years of age and

will group students in the classroom during primarily language lessons

according to student strengths and needs. A teacher of the deaf will

facilitate language acquisition through emphasis on developing auditory and

spoken language skills with use of sign as a visual support for representing

spoken English. Lessons will incorporate multiple curriculum areas to

encourage skills in areas such as language and literacy, math, science, and

social pragmatics. In order to maximize auditory access, the classrooms will

be treated with acoustic wall and ceiling treatments and the teacher of the

deaf will utilize a sound field FM system to better amplify her voice for the

children. Each day, students will receive specialized therapy in order to

further their development of language and articulation using Spoken English.

Facilitated by a speech language pathologist, therapy sessions will be

conducted in one-to-one or small group format with no more than 3 students

per group. The speech language pathologist will move through hierarchical

of development of auditory skills (detection, discrimination, identification,

comprehension), encourage appropriate receptive and expressive language

skills, and instruct students in proper articulation to aid in intelligibility of

spoken language. The preschool will provide a safe, caring environment in

which to minister to the needs of children with hearing loss. These children

will have a routine in which to thrive, and their increased ability to express

themselves and to communicate with others will lead to drastic improvement

in quality of life.

Pre-Primary School Program Objectives

I. To demonstrate the love of Christ through the care and support of deaf

children and their families

II. To encourage consistent use of hearing aid technology in order to gain

access to educational curriculum

III. To promote education for deaf and hard of hearing students from ages

3 to 6 years in the following areas: English, Literacy, Mathematics,

Social Sciences, Sciences, Religious Studies

IV. To provide access to speech and language therapy in order to

encourage development of spoken language abilities

V. To facilitate student interaction with peers in order to develop

appropriate communication and social pragmatic strategies

VI. To engage students in whole language development through use of

spoken language with sign supported English

VII. To demonstrate and develop advocacy skills for deaf and hard of

hearing students

VIII. To enable older students to manage and care for hearing aid

equipment properly

Auditory, Speech, and Language Therapy Objectives

I. To demonstrate the love of Christ through the care and support of deaf

children and their families

II. To encourage auditory development through detection, discrimination,

identification and comprehension tasks (auditory hierarchy

progression)

III. To enable students to improve receptive language skills by recognizing

various language elements including nouns/pronouns, verbs,

adjectives/adverbs, prepositions when presented through spoken

language or through spoken language with sign support

IV. To enable students to improve expressive language skills by using

various language elements including nouns/pronouns, verbs,

adjectives/adverbs, prepositions

V. To instruct students in articulation of vowels in isolation, reduplicated

and differentiated syllables, and within words

VI. To instruct students in articulation of consonants in isolation, on the

syllable level, on the word level in all word positions, and in phrases

C. Parent Support and Outreach Program

Parent support is an integral component to the ministry of the Mustard Seed

Program. With implementation of parent education, families will be given

information regarding hearing loss, instruction on how to communicate with

their children, lessons for learning sign support of spoken English, workshop

opportunities to continue language and academic education in the home,

technical advice about caring for equipment, and practical information for

managing behavior in a positive way. Through parent and community

education, the Mustard Seed School Program hopes to counteract persistent

social views regarding deafness to promote long-term change for deaf

individuals in Uganda.

Parent Support and Outreach Program Objectives

I. To demonstrate the love of Christ through the care and support of deaf

children and their families

II. To promote and offer support to parents and families of deaf and hard

of hearing children

III To work to demystify the cultural stigma and beliefs associated with

deafness by empowering the parents with information regarding

hearing loss.

IV. To provide monthly parent workshops in order to deepen

understanding of their child’s audiology, language, and academic

needs

V. To instruct parents in ongoing development of skills in use of Signing

Exact English

VI. To empower parents to advocate for themselves and their children in

the community

VII. To cultivate relationships with area churches in order to develop

awareness of deafness and needs associated with hearing loss

D. Additional

In order to maintain progress in program areas, it is additionally necessary

to provide encouragement and training for staff members working in the

Mustard Seed School Program. The following goals have been developed to

ensure the ongoing support and development of staff skills:

Staff Training and Mentoring Objectives

I. To maintain spiritual support of staff members through prayer and

Scriptural studies as a group

II. To provide daily collaboration time for all staff members to

brief/debrief ongoing program and student goals

III. To provide opportunities for mentorship to staff members who are not

specifically trained in working with deaf and hard of hearing students

so they can attend to language, academic, and equipment needs of

students

IV. To seek continuing education in the field of deaf education for all staff

2. ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

At the end of three years, the Mustard Seed School Program seeks to

achieve the following:

I. presentation of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to children who are

deaf and their families

II. Establish fully fledged early intervention and pre-primary program for

deaf or hard of hearing children in Uganda under the age of 6 years

old

III. Create firm support system and network for families of children with

hearing loss

IV. Provision of accessible auditory-oral therapy with English sign support

for communication

V. Referrals for audiology services, including acquisition of hearing aids to

students with hearing loss

VI. Advocacy for the welfare of deaf and hard of hearing children in

Uganda

VII. Awareness for abilities and needs of children with hearing loss to

transform social perceptions of deafness

VIII. Build moral and social support system for children who are deaf

through Encouragement and advocacy of parents