Read why the Bilingual/Bicultural program is important to Savannah Sparks.
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Send your story and a picture to contact@hellobibi.org.
I was born with very minimal hearing. I had hearing aids up until age 3 but because they were not working as well for me to hear, I received a cochlear implant at age 3. I have been using a cochlear implant since then. I have also used ASL (American Sign Language) and English to communicate since birth.
I learned ASL through a program USDB offers called PIP (Parent Infant Program). PIP is a program for children that are Deaf/Hard of Hearing and is designed to help parents and infants to learn ASL. The program works in collaboration with Utah’s Baby Watch Early Intervention system. The PIP program is a home-based service for children and families and is usually free through USDB. PIP offers several other services like toddler groups, playgroup, listening time, ASL resources and story time. This program offers both ASL and LSL (Listening and Spoken Language) approaches. They offer both languages because they want to give children “all of the tools in the toolbox”.
For preschool, I went to Riverside preschool, a preschool designed for children with special needs or developmental delays. The program helps children from ages 3-5. They use the “We Can” curriculum and believe that every child is able to learn valuable pre-kindergarten skills. They use teachers that have skills and education degrees to teach those children. I had a teacher that taught in ASL and English while attending Riverside. During those years of attending riverside preschool, I also attended a special education program at Wilson Elementary to help me prepare for elementary school.
I’ve also attended speech therapy through the LSL Program at USU. I attended that program for many years until I officially graduated when I started middle school.
Once I was of an age to start elementary school, I attended Wilson Elementary with an ASL Interpreter from kindergarten to 2nd grade. Then I transferred to Greenville Elementary with an ASL Interpreter and attended there from 3rd grade to 5th grade.
After elementary school I attended Cedar Ridge Middle School from grades 6-7. For junior high school, I attended North Cache for grade 8-9, then to Sky View High School for grade 10-12 with the same ASL Interpreter I’d had since Elementary School.
After graduating from high school, I attended USU and earned a Bachelor of Arts. During my college years I had several ASL interpreters provided for various classes. As a student at USU, I became more involved with the Signing Aggies Club, and the Deaf Culture/Community.
My future goals are to become a Deaf Advocate and a Deaf Educator. I want to teach families with Deaf/Hard of Hearing children in both ASL and English, as well as teach them about Deaf Culture and how it fits into the majority Hearing and mainstream American Culture. Every child deserves to have all the tools they need to succeed in the world. Not all Deaf/Hard of Hearing children have access to everything that I had as a child.
To achieve that goal of becoming a Deaf Advocate and a Deaf Educator, I have been planning to enroll in a graduate-level Bi/Bi Program like the one USU had. This program really is a one-of-a-kind program designed to help students become teachers for Deaf/Hard of Hearing children. There are not very many collegiate programs out there that are of the same caliber as the one that has been offered at USU. USU is the only university/college in Utah that has offered such a program.
Hello Bibi 