DANVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — As we continue our Spotlight on Danville coverage, we look at one school that has been making a difference in the deaf community for 200 years.
Kentucky School for the Deaf sits on Second Street right in the center of Danville in Boyle County. First built in April 1823, the school was created by the general assembly. They welcome everyone in Kentucky who is deaf from the age of three to 21.
"So that means it's been 200 years now. 200 years of deaf history, deaf culture, deaf community and it's really amazing," signs Emma Riley, who works in the Office of Special Education and Early Learning with the Kentucky Department of Education.
John Blount was the first deaf teacher at the Kentucky School for the Deaf, and John Adamson Jacobs was a teacher and then the school principal for 44 years, leaving his position in 1869.
Back in the 1900s, KSD students were taught how to sew clothes, make shoes, and other basic life skills.
Riely attended KSD when she was in second grade at seven years old. She was with the school until she graduated, and now she works with the school. She says she would not be where she is today without the school.
Deaf students have many ways to communicate with each other. A big way is a visual support device where they can communicate with other deaf people or hearing people. An interpreter is also present when showing movies or shows on the screen.
Justin Padgett, the director of student life at KSD, says it operates like every public school. The biggest difference is immersing students in the ASL environment.
"We teach lots of independent skills. Life skills. We talk about safety, we talk about all of the things inside the dorm. We talk about things that we practice but we also take the kids into the community," explains Padgett. "We teach them how to go to a restaurant. How to order food in a restaurant, how to tip and those kinds of things."
The school has several other programs like agriculture, aviation and broadcasting to make sure students know their deafness doesn't limit their potential.
"So deafness is a spectrum. Deaf people aren't all the same. Some people use ASL, some sign really well and are fluent, some use cochlear implants, some do lip reading. You have all kinds of deafness and deaf people out there," signs Riley. "It's not- not everybody is in the same variety. So if you think oh I know once deaf person, so it's going to be the exact same that's not the case everyone's different."
