C E N T R A L I N S T I T U T E F O R T H E D E A F

Fall 2004

For alumni, faculty, staff,

students and friends of CID

voice 314.977.0000

tdd 314.977.0037

www.cid.wustl.edu

The CID Oral Schooland Outreach Center

is a financially independent affiliate of

CID at Washington UniversitySchool of Medicine, which

operates CID-developed research, adult clinic and professional

education programs to benefit children and adults

with hearing loss.

Planning for

the future.

Seasonal news.

page 2

Accomplishment

and commitment.

page 3

Rescuing readers.

A teaching

profession.

page 4

Technologies

from the past.

CID at WUSM.

page 5

Catching up

with 1930s alumni.

page 6

Historic influence.

50-year tradition.

page 7

Friends

and music.

page 8

needs of today’s hearing-im-paired children.”

“With cochlear implantsand digital hearing aids, severelyand profoundly deaf studentsare getting more auditory in-formation and improving theirlistening skills,” said CIDprincipal JoEllen Epstein.“This is allowing our teachersto focus more time teachingother critical skills such asearly literacy and social devel-opment in addition to speech,language and listening.”

The Dana Brown grantwill enable teachers to fullyintegrate and actively adaptmainstream early literacy pre-school curricula in combina-tion with CID’s proven lan-guage-rich preschool programthat helps hearing-impairedchildren acquire speech, lan-guage and listening skills.

After extensive exploration,the staff has chosen CuriosityCorner as a starting point.This mainstream preschool

s o u n d e f f e c t s

Studies demonstrate that earlyliteracy and language skills arethe foundation for children’s academic success. However,research also shows that chil-dren with hearing loss oftenexperience difficulty develop-ing language and learning toread. The Dana Brown Char-itable Trust has donated$100,000 to help address thischallenge by supporting aconcentrated focus on earlyliteracy for 3- to 5-year-oldsin the CID preschool-kinder-garten over the next three years.

“Hearing children typi-cally have the advantage oflearning to read a languagethey already speak,” saidCID executive director RobinFeder. “Deaf students mustlearn to decipher a visual codefor a language they do notyet completely understand.

“This generous gift willhelp CID develop an inten-sive emerging literacy cur-riculum that truly meets the

1914 Max Goldstein opensCID using methods helearned in Austria to teachdeaf children to talk. CIDrefines teaching methodsas technologies advance, building an international reputation as a researchand demonstration school.

1958 CID opens the firstparent-infant program forhearing-impaired babies, and becomes a model for pro- grams throughout the world.

1981 CID’s EPIC study proves that CID’s individualized, abil-ity grouped instruction signifi-cantly increases achievement of hearing-impaired students.

1995 CID introduces the SPICE, an auditory training curriculum now used in 33 countries and all states tohelp children with cochlear implants and hearing aids.

2000 The CID preschool-kindergarten incorporates elements of mainstream cur-ricula, including Circle Time.

2001 The CID primary-middle school begins to use the Scott Foresman 2000, a main-stream reading program.

2002 Teachers begin using SPIRE (see p. 3) to help at-risk students learn to read.

2003 CID SKILL program introduces hearing children to the preschool-kindergarten.

2004 With help from the Dana Brown Charitable Trust,CID launches an intensive project to develop an emerg-ing literacy curriculum.

Some curriculumhighlights

Left: Three-year-old Katie Ringering is anxious to

find out what happens next in her library book.

Dana Brown Charitable Trust donates $100,000to promote emerging literacy in deaf children

curriculum features daily focuson phonological awareness,print awareness, alphabetknowledge and pre-academicskills. Its emphasis on socialand interpersonal develop-ment dovetails with the recentintegration of normal-hearingchildren into the CID pro-gram to provide natural mod-els of language. The curricu-lum also incorporates program-ming in music, movement and art.

CID teachers have alreadybegun to adapt lesson plansspecifically to meet their stu-dents’ needs. Parent involve-ment and professional trainingare important project compo-nents, as are special classroomenhancements and materials.

With rigorous assessmentand adaptation of various curricula over time, the goal is to design a program thatwill put many more hearing-impaired children on the road to literacy.

Above: CID preschoolers participate in a reading

circle with teacher Nancy Linder.

2

Beyond our doors, a context for planning

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Along on a recent field trip toa St. Louis Symphony concert,I was struck by the students’reactions. As the orchestra be-gan to play, a few pointed totheir ears, drawing my atten-tion to grins widening acrosstheir faces. Others tappedtheir toes, slapped their kneesand bounced to the music.

This experience is a dra-matic expression of how tech-nological advances have changedtoday’s population of hearing-impaired children. These chil-dren are being fitted with pow-erful digital hearing aids with-in a few months of birth, andwith cochlear implants as youngas 12 months. Combined withintensive auditory training, thesedevices are delivering more in-formation than ever to severelyand profoundly deaf children,who are not only discoveringmusic, but are also spendingless time in special education.

Since January of 2001 and2002, respectively, Missouriand Illinois children have beenroutinely identified with everydegree of hearing loss during

the first few months of life.As a result of affordable in-fant screening technology andstate hospital screening laws,we are seeing more youngerchildren. The number of 0-to 3-year-olds in the JoanneParrish Knight Family Cen-ter has doubled, while theschool population of olderchildren is declining.

Medical advances havealso changed the populationby enabling premature, “mi-racle babies” to survive. As a result, we are seeing morechildren in the family centerwith additional disabilities.

In addition to technologyand medicine, the educa-tional landscape also looksvery different than it did justa decade ago, when feweroptions were available. To-day, parents are becomingmore educated and demand-ing that their local schooldistricts initiate oral educa-tion programs.

At CID, we have begun aplanning process to addressfuture possibilities in light of

the opportunities and chal-lenges originating from be-yond our doors. Staff and aboard committee led by TomJayne have been meeting reg-ularly to rethink our approachto recruitment and to exploreways to best use our teachers’expertise to meet new needs as well as to bring help tounderserved populations.

Although infants are beingscreened for hearing loss, somestill receive no services untilthey are 2 or 3. Our planningis helping us focus on ways toreach these children and oth-ers who receive inadequateservices. In addition to bring-ing families to CID, we areexploring ways to reach outto school districts to help thembuild effective oral programs.Finally, we are discussing waysto possibly provide more ser-vices for children with someadditional disabilities. Ourgoal is the same as ever: toenable children with hearingloss and speech and languagedelays to communicate, learnand succeed. — RMF

Three-year-old Rachel Kubicek tookin the scent of one of the firstflowers produced by the ArenbergFamily Garden (below), recentlyinstalled outside the new mainentrance to the CID Oral Schooland Outreach Center, accessiblefrom Taylor Avenue. We are grate-ful for the Arenbergs’ generosity,and for that of Millennium Com-munications, who contributed agarden area named in honor ofDorothy Jones and located nearthe Silverman Plaza.

Four-year-old Connor Hale was one of eight preschool-kindergartenstudents to receive a language improvement award at the CID Hon-ors ceremony in late May. Board member Kim Miller presented arose to each child as he or she received a certificate of achievement.

Lynda Berkowitz, Lisa Davidson, Ellie Rice, Michelle Brinson, RobinFeder, Jennifer Johnson and Chris Clark were among CID repre-sentatives at the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deafand Hard of Hearing international convention in Anaheim, California, in July. The theme of the CID exhibit reflected the staff’s commit-ment to helping children with hearing loss achieve literacy: “Readwith Your Children and Watch Them Bloom.” The booth featured a colorful paper garden created by CID students.

So far, 110 Target guest cardholders have named CID toreceive a percentage of thepurchase price every time theyuse their cards. Wherever youlive, if you shop with a Targetcard, we encourage you to goto the Take Charge of Educa-tion link at target.com and des-ignate CID as your school. Thenuse your Target card when you

Shop ’til you drop: new ways to support CIDshop.The program has alreadydonated over $1,100 to CID.

YourFavoriteCharity.comis a referral partner web sitethat donates to charity allfees it receives for directingshoppers to retail sites. Shop-pers can go to YourFavoriteCharity.com, choose CentralInstitute for the Deaf, andshop online with a growingnumber of major retail mer-

chants. YourFavoriteCharity.com is easy to use and collectsno information from users.No membership is required.Shoppers pay no more forgoods and services, and CIDreceives direct donations as apercentage of their purchases.YourFavoriteCharity.com is a great way to make yourdollar go far in helping deafchildren learn to talk.

3

In fond memory

Nine-year-old CID studentArdian Pollo loves rock androll music and the St. Louisfootball Rams. He is also fas-cinated with space travel andelectricity. When he growsup, he wants to be a scientist.

When Ardian was 4 yearsold, his family brought himto Cardinal Glennon Hospi-tal because they saw that hisspeech was not developing.The audiologist diagnosed asevere-profound hearing loss.

“Ardian could say only‘bye bye’ — no other Englishwords,” according to his mom,Stavrulla. After four years at CID, she said, “Our sonspeaks now — only English!”

In fact, despite having lit-tle English spoken at home,Ardian has made significantprogress in his language skills.

Last year alone he progressedthe equivalent of 2 years, 4months in receptive vocabu-lary; and 4 years, 10 monthsin expressive vocabulary, asmeasured by standard testsfor normal-hearing children.

“This rate of progress isoutstanding — really quiteunusual for any child,” saidprimary-middle school coordinator Barb Lanfer.

“We have every reason toexpect Ardian will be readyfor the mainstream soonerthan might be indicated fora child getting such a latestart learning to talk. He’s abright and motivated boy.”

Originally from Albania,Ardian’s family came to thiscountry six years ago throughthe sponsorship of his grand-father, a U.S. citizen.

Ardian Pollo

CID studentmakes unusualprogress

Shirley Hirsh

versity of Southern Missis-sippi in 1962, died at age 82in November of 2003 at herhome in Hattiesburg.

Dr. DuBard studied withMildred McGinnis, the CIDteacher who developed theAssociation Method of work-ing with children with lan-guage disorders. Dr. DuBardpioneered the method’s usein Mississippi.

Joseph Hind, Jr., died in Julyof 2003. Dr. Hind workedin Hallowell Davis’ laborato-ry from 1952 to 1954, par-ticipating in research andlearning techniques for study-ing the physiology of theperipheral auditory system.

Hind went on to conductfurther research at the Uni-

We send our heartfelt con-dolences to CID directoremeritus, research directoremeritus and board mem-ber Ira J. Hirsh, PhD, whosepartner of 61 years, ShirleyHirsh, died in May at age83. Mrs. Hirsh had beenseriously ill for over a year.

From 1964 to 1983,Mrs. Hirsh worked in theCID Physiology Laboratory,where she assisted Hallo-well Davis with research onelectric brain potentials fordetermining hearing capa-bility. This work led to au-ditory brainstem response(ABR) technology, whichenabled hospitals to reliablytest the hearing of babies.

In addition to contribut-ing to this renowned research,Mrs. Hirsh co-authored and edited many articles andpublications, taught ABRtesting techniques to gradu-ate students and, with Davis,helped facilitate the use ofABR in hospitals.

Etoile DuBard, founder ofthe DuBard School for Lan-guage Disorders at the Uni-

versity of Wisconsin-Madison,from which he retired in1988. He is credited withdesigning the first computerused for biomedical research.

Former CID board member(1996–2002) Gloria Whitedied in September of 2003 at age 69. Mrs. White hadretired in 1997 as Vice Chan-cellor of Human Resources atWashington University. Herdistinguished volunteer ca-reer included serving on theexecutive committees of theUnited Way and St. LouisSymphony and on the boardsof the Repertory Theatre,KETC-Channel 9, the ArtMuseum, Opera Theatre ofSt. Louis, Girls Incorporatedand the Variety Club. She

served on the National Boardof Governors for the Ameri-can Red Cross and chairedthe Sheldon Arts Foundation.

Lois Kastendieck, grand-mother of former CID stu-dent Lauren Kastendieck,died in February of compli-cations from cancer at age81. We send condolences toMrs. Kastendieck’s family,and are grateful for theirwish that contributions bemade to CID in her memory.

We extend condolences tothe family of Fanya Worth,who died in March at age 87.Her late husband, Herbert,who died in 1974, was thenamesake of an endowedscholarship fund at CID.

CID executive director RobinFeder recently announced the establishment of twonew scholarship funds andthe CID Legacy Society,whose members have agreedto include CID in theirestate plans.

In August, endowedschool scholarship fundswere created by NatalieFreund in honor of MichaelH. Freund and by Ruth andAl Siteman.

“We appreciate the kind-ness and generosity of thesescholarship fund donors.Each has demonstrated anoutstanding commitment toensuring future opportuni-ties for children with hear-ing loss,” Feder said.

The founding membersof the CID Legacy Society

are also distinguished by ex-traordinary dedication to help-ing children with hearing loss:

AnonymousDoris W. BlanchardCarl D. BohlVirginia J. BrowningJean Utley LehmanEdwin B. Meissner, Jr.Faye Beth O’ByrneMarjorie M. RobinsWilliam Bixby and Kathryn

McGuigan SheldonMrs. Arline R. SimermanSuzanne SumnerMarcia TashJohn D. Weil“Each of these cherished

friends has chosen to give ofhis or her life’s work so thatdeaf children will continue tohave the opportunity to learnto listen and to talk,” Federsaid.

In addition to the LegacySociety’s founding members,we honor posthumously CarlBauman, Velma Neiman andMr. and Mrs. Otway RashIII, whose extraordinary be-quests have provided crucialsupport for CID programs in recent years.

Contributions are alwayswelcome to endowed CIDfunds. A full list can befound at www.cid.wustl.eduunder the “You Can Help”link. With a minimum giftof $10,000, a new namedfund can be established.

For information on es-tate planning and establish-ing scholarship funds, pleasecontact CID developmentcoordinator Mary Middle-ton at 314.977.0220 ormmiddleton@cid.wustl.edu.

CID launches LegacySociety and two new scholarship fundsFellow CID Legacy Society founding

members William Sheldon, John Weil

and Marjorie Robins

4

Two years ago, when CID stu-dent Michelle Beehner was 10,she tended to read by sound-ing out the first letter of a wordand then guessing. For exam-ple, she might read a wordstarting with “e” as “elephant.”Although she was successfullylearning to talk and had goodcomprehension skills, she wasreduced to guessing becauseshe had no skills to further de-code and comprehend writtenwords. Frustrated and defeat-ed, she shied away from read-ing both at home and at school.

Today, Michelle is brimmingwith confidence, not just inreading class, but in science,social studies and math, whereshe uses newly learned strat-egies to decode and pronouncewords like “embryo” and “geog-raphy.” Although she does notread at grade level yet, Michellehas been transformed from anonreader to a reader throughthe hard work and disciplineof a newly adapted curriculum at CID called the SpecializedProgram in IndividualizingReading Excellence or SPIRE.

SPIRE is an at-risk readingintervention program provid-ing explicit instruction in pho-nological processing, begin-ning with the systematic teach-ing of phonemic awareness —the foremost predictor of read-ing success in children. Stu-dents learn to recognize speechsounds as differentiated withinwords and to blend the soundsto create syllables and words.

Vocabulary building andreading comprehension arealso stressed.

By associating learned pho-nemes with their visual coun-terparts, students discoverconnections between soundsand groups of letters and learnstrategies for putting soundstogether.

“We are taking advantageof the auditory skills of kids with cochlear implantsand digital hearing aids, andenhancing their speech skills,”reading teacher Debra My-rick said. Instruction is ex-plicitly designed to build oneach child’s successes and to leave no opportunity forguessing or failure.

SPIRE has many compo-nents, including specializedworkbooks and letter combi-nation cards. One distinctivefeature is a metal tray con-taining a growing collectionof colored magnetic letter-tiles specific to each child ashe or she learns to recognizeand blend letters and lettercombinations to make words.One at a time, sounds aresubstituted at the beginning,middle and end of eachlearned word to form newwords. Through structuredteaching and repetition, thestudents learn sound blend-ing through both phonicsand phonemic awareness.

SPIRE is becoming an important part of CID’scommitment to ensuring that all hearing-impaired stu-

dents learn to read. Teachersof 3- to 5-year-olds in thepreschool-kindergarten areadapting Curiosity Corner, amainstream curriculum thatemphasizes emerging literacyskills. With 6- to 12-year-olds, CID primary-middleschool teachers use the ScottForesman Reading 2000curriculum, a staple in main-stream education.

Using SPIRE with mem-bers of both groups who areidentified as at-risk readersis enabling CID teachers totailor instruction to meetindividual needs. In twoyears, eight children havetaken part in the SPIRE pro-gram at CID. So far, twohave returned to their regu-lar programs after attaining sufficient reading strategies.

“It’s exciting to see theconfidence and self-esteemthat blossom in these chil-dren who have been strug-gling for so long to read andlearn,” Myrick said. “Nowthey love to read becausethey know they can. OtherCID teachers come to us allthe time describing benefitsin speech and listening, aswell as throughout the aca-demic curriculum.”

SPIRE is a mainstreamcurriculum used to help nor-mal-hearing children learnto read. For informationabout its use with hearing-impaired students, contactCID coordinating teacherBarb Lanfer at 314.977.0139.

Twenty-four professionals from 10 states attendeda two-day cochlear implant workshop at CID inApril. A three-day workshop that includes a dayon early intervention will occur November 10–12.

In August, CID school audiologist Lisa David-son, PhD received a 2004 Career AdvancementAward from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Davidson, also aresearch faculty member at CID at WashingtonUniversity School of Medicine, will use the awardto visit other audiologic centers and gather infor-mation pertinent to her research development.

Lisa Davidson, PhD presented

research on programming digital

hearing aids and cochlear implants

at the recent international con-

vention of the Alexander Graham

Bell Association for the Deaf and

Hard of Hearing.

It was standing room only at the AlexanderGraham Bell Association convention when JoanneParrish Knight Family Center coordinator ChrisClark and preschool-kindergarten coordinatorLynda Berkowitz presented a talk about youngchildren with hearing loss and other disabilities.

Twelve-year-old

Michelle Beeh-

ner (far left)

and 8-year-old

Molly Parker

are among CID

students mak-

ing amazing

progress learn-

ing to read.

Professional activities

CID teachers use SPIRE to help at-risk readers

5

C I D AT WA S H I N G TO N U N I V E R S I T Y

S C H O O L O F M E D I C I N EResearch summary

CID recently donated 17 an-tique audiometers to the JohnQ. Adams Center for the His-tory of Otolaryngology–Headand Neck Surgery at the Amer-ican Academy of Otolaryn-gology–Head and Neck Sur-gery in Alexandria, Virginia.

The audiometer collec-tion, started by CID founderMax Goldstein, includes de-vices from a variety of man-ufacturers from the 1920sthrough the 1970s, includingMaico, Ontarion, Audivoxand Western Electric. Thedonation includes the “crownjewel” of this collection, pic-tured above, an original Wes-tern 1-A audiometer used to test the hearing of CIDchildren during the 1920s.

The Western 1-A was the world’s first well-designedelectroacoustic productionaudiometer, but in 1923 theprice tag of $2,500 discour-aged its popularity. Only 251-As were produced, so theCID device is likely one offew, if any, existing examples.

“We’re happy knowingthat this audiometer and theothers in our collection havefound a fine home at theJohn Q. Adams Center forthe History of Otolaryngol-ogy–Head and Neck Sur-gery,” CID executive direc-tor Robin Feder said.

“We are pleased to be able to add this outstandingcollection to our museum,”Adams museum director

Tracy Sullivan said. “It is a wonderful record of thedevelopment of methodsfor testing hearing.”

The Adams Center isdedicated to documentingand preserving the historyof otolaryngology, themedical specialty devotedto the treatment of ear,nose, and throat disorders.

The Center houses theRosalind N. and DavidMyers Hearing Aid Col-lection; surgical instru-ments relating to medicalprocedures; medical illus-trations; oral histories, andrare books and manuscripts,including 1,300 mono-graphs ranging from the17th century to the present.

Collections includeAAO–HNS records; papersof Alexander Burton Ran-dall; papers and medicalillustrations of Adam Po-litzer, Chevalier Q. Jacksonand Chevalier L. Jackson,and an extensive archive oncochlear implants, includingpapers of William F. Houseand Charles A. Graser, Jr.

The Center’s collectionof more than 1,000 arti-facts will soon be enhancedby research microscope andpresentation slides fromMax Goldstein and Hallo-well Davis, which will alsobe donated by CID.

Part of the Adams col-lection can be viewed at:www.entnet.org/museum/.

Scientists continue to garnerNational Institutes of Health(NIH) funding for work instate-of-the-art biologicallaboratories of the HaroldW. Siebens Hearing ResearchCenter as well as in otherlaboratories now composingCID at Washington Uni-versity School of Medicine.

Work in the Fay andCarl Simons Center for Biol-ogy of Hearing and Deafnessincludes research on age-re-lated hearing loss by JianxinBao, PhD, who is exploringpossible stem cell therapiesfor hearing loss, underlyingmolecular mechanisms forand drugs that may delayage-related hearing loss. Baorecently received his thirdNIH grant, this one for $1.5million. An article appearsin Nature Neuroscience.

Kevin Ohlemiller, PhDstudies the mechanisms ofcochlear injury and age-re-lated hearing loss. His recentNIH-funded work indicatesthat strains of mice resistantto age-related hearing lossmay be better research mod-els than mice typically usedas models of age-related loss.Ohlemiller also collaborateswith St. Louis University sci-

entists examining geneticmutations affecting hearing.An article appears in the Jour-nal of Comparative Neurology.

Mark Warchol, PhD con-tinues work to identify cellu-lar mechanisms regulating survival and regeneration ofsensory hair cells in the innerear. Warchol’s focus is on re-growing damaged hair cells, aprocess that takes place in birds.

Also with NIH funding,Dwayne Simmons, PhDstudies synaptic activity inthe inner ear, particularly asit develops and in responseto exposure to noise.

By virtue of the recentagreement between the Uni-versity and CID, SiebensCenter scientists have joinedscientists doing auditory andvestibular work at other lo-cations in the department ofotolaryngology, together com-posing CID at WashingtonUniversity School of Medicine.

Scientists include depart-ment chair Richard Chole,PhD, MD (destructive dis-eases of the middle ear);Barbara Bohne, PhD andGary Harding, MSE (anato-my, physiology and patholo-gy of the inner ear); MaryPashia Basse, MS (bacterial

biofilms in cholesteatomas);Judith Cho-Lieu, MD (uni-lateral hearing loss in chil-dren); Randall Clary, PhD(neonatal auditory screening);Brian Faddis, PhD (mecha-nisms of tissue destruction inmiddle ear disease); Joel Goebel,MD (posture and vestibulo-ocular motor control); Ste-phen Highstein, MD, PhDand Pablo Blazquez, PhD(vestibulo-ocular reflex andmotor learning);TimothyHolden, BSE (data analysisand research design); LauraHolden (optimizing cochlearimplant recipients’ ability tounderstand speech); TimothyHullar, MD (vestibular phys-iology); J. Gail Neely, PhD(middle ear transducer); JayPiccirillo, MD (clinical epi-demiology and outcomes);Alex Salt, MD (inner ear fluidinteractions); Margaret Skin-ner, PhD (cochlear implanta-tion and rehabilitation); Ruedi-ger Thalmann, MD and IsoldeThalmann, PhD (inner earbiochemistry and molecularbiology), and MichaelValente, PhD (hearing aids).

Also with NIH funds, several CID Center for Child-hood Deafness and AdultAural Rehabilitation scientistscontinue to work on the CIDcampus as members of theCID at WUSM group, oftenin concert with the school.Watch for updates on ongo-ing studies of Lisa Davidson,PhD, Johanna Nicholas, PhD,Nancy Tye Murray, PhD and Rosalie Uchanski, PhD.

CID scientists join Washington University powerhouse of hearing research

Department of Otolaryngology

CID donates audiometers to John Q. Adams Museum

Jianxin Bao, PhD

is among 11 CID

scientists who

have joined

other hearing

researchers at

CID at Washing-

ton University

School of Medi-

cine. Bao stud-

ies age-related

hearing loss.

All CID at WUSM scientists listedhave faculty appointments.

6

1934 graduate fondlyremembers CID

SCHOOL ALUMNI — Please go to the CID web site,www.cid.wustl.edu, and fill out the five-minute online survey.Your answers will help us improve our school. Thank you.

ST. LOUIS ALUMNI — Need an interpreter? Deaf Services isno longer a part of CID. Their new number is 314.229.2922.

College alumni association adds to Coates’ honorsCID school alumna EleanorSmith Coates was recentlyrecognized with the highestaward from the alumni associ-ation of her alma mater, Grin-nell College, in Grinnell, Iowa.

Coates, who attended CIDfrom 1929 to 1936, has beenactive in a variety of organi-zations in her home town ofPonca City, Oklahoma. Shehas served as Cub Scout denmother, treasurer of the PTAand deacon at her church. Shehas also served as treasurer ofher local chapter of Daughtersof the American Revolutionand the Red Rose GardenClub, and has volunteeredwith the Retired SeniorVolunteer Program and theNorth Central OklahomaHistorical Association.

In bestowing the award,the Grinnell Alumni Associ-ation noted that Coates hasmade a strong impression onothers by her personal achieve-ments and her activism on be-half of the deaf community.

Coates and her husband,Carl, a fellow CID student(1929 to 1935), were the firstpeople in Oklahoma to receivea hearing dog. The couple hasworked to promote Dogs forthe Deaf, Inc. of Medford,Oregon by interviewing Okla-homa applicants, helping re-

cipients establish workingpartnerships with their newdogs. They have also demon-strated for school childrenand civic organizations howHearing Dogs assist the deaf.

Carl continues volunteerwork he began in Ponca Cityat Oklahoma UniversityMedical Center in OklahomaCity, near the couple’s retire-ment home. In 2000, he received the Service to Man-kind award from the PoncaCity Sertoma Club. Heworked much of his life atthe Ponca City News.

The Coates have twogrown hearing sons, Victorand Dick. In a recent letterto CID, Victor wrote: “CIDnot only had a profoundeffect on their lives, but also,of course, on the lives of mybrother and myself. ...

“Our environment grow-ing up was greatly enhancedby the training received by my parents at CID. Theyare both highly respected intheir community and, mostimportant, they are happy.”

Coates is a former vicepresident of the CID Alum-ni Association (CIDAA).She has written about herlife in an autobiography, I Won’t Stay Silent.

Eleanor and

Carl Coates

Enid Denbo Wizig was 7 yearsold in 1930 when she cameto St. Louis from Chicago tobecome a residential studentat CID. Recently, we caughtup with her at the interna-tional convention of the Alex-ander Graham Bell Associa-tion for the Deaf and Hard ofHearing, where she was vol-unteering for the No LimitsTheatre Group for Deaf andHard of Hearing Children.

Wizig, now 81, said shehas fond memories of thegirls in her CID dormitory— Marcia Benderoff, EvelynLipshulz, Sylvia Grossmanand Gertrude Yawitt — aswell as of their housemother,Mrs. Cox, and of being theonly girl in Mrs. Humphreys’class. She also rememberedMs. Connery, the principal,and Max Goldstein, CIDfounder and director. She and her friends roller skated,rode bikes, jumped rope andplayed volleyball and hop-scotch in the fenced-in roof-top playground in the schoolat 818 South Euclid Avenue.

In an auditorium on thesecond floor of the building,Wizig remembers placing herhands on a piano to feel thevibrations while the teacherplayed. When she graduatedfrom CID, on Goldstein’sadvice, she received her firsthearing aid. She is now pro-foundly deaf and wears twohearing aids, but still retainsthe lipreading skills shelearned 70 years ago as achild.

After Wizig graduatedfrom CID in 1934, her fam-ily moved to San Francisco,

Early 1930s photograph of Enid Denbo Wizig (middle) with class-

mates Jimmy, Albert, Kenneth and John. Miss Humphreys (far right,

in the back) was “a wonderful teacher.”

Enid Denbo Wizig

then to Los Angeles, whereshe attended junior highschool and high schoolwith the help of a dramaticcoach from MGM studiosto help her with her speech.

Wizig studied art at L.A.City College, then took ajob at Leon Schlessinger’sLooney Tunes, first as apainter, then as an assistantanimator. She married herhusband, Bernard, in 1949,and began a rich family liferaising two children. Home-making, PTA meetings andserving as den mother andassistant Girl Scout leaderfilled her time.

Wizig has also served inher community, as vice pres-ident of the Women’s Guildof Hope for Hearing and,

for the past 29 years, as avolunteer at Echo HorizonSchool. Eight years ago,she became involved withNo Limits Theatre Groupand the Language andSpeech Center for Deafand Hard of HearingChildren, where she stillvolunteers. She has fourgrandchildren.

“I feel I’m a role modelfor the hearing-impairedchildren,” Wizig said.

“Once, one of the stu-dents saw my hearing aidsand seemed pleased whenI showed them to him.The next day, he saw metalking to his teacher. Ithink he made a connec-tion about getting olderand learning to talk.”

Graduates from the CID/Washington Univer-sity class of 2004 welcomed members of theclass of 1954 to their year-end festivities inMay. The visiting alumni included: E.V.E.Ballman, David Levine and Kay North (frontrow) and Sonya Rudy, Jeannine Owen andSylvia Mathews (back row).

7

How CID staff, parents and graduates have influenced federal laws and programs

During the latter half of the20th century, federal laws af-fecting disabled people great-ly expanded opportunities forhearing-impaired children andadults. CID/Washington Uni-versity graduates and CIDstaff, parents and school alumwere often at the center ofthese efforts, leading the waywith significant influence onthe development and operationof federal laws and programs.

Throughout the 1960s,former CID director S. Rich-ard Silverman, PhD served as the director of the NationalAdvisory Committee on Edu-cation of the Deaf. He andcolleagues from other disa-bility groups worked to con-solidate special educationprograms under one agency.

Due to their efforts, theU.S. created the Bureau ofEducation for the Handi-capped (BEH) in 1967. FrankWithrow, PhD, a 1951 grad-uate of CID’s deaf educationprogram and a 1963 PhDgraduate, then a U.S. Depart-ment of Education (DOE)specialist in professional devel-opment for teachers of thedeaf, was named director ofthe division of educationalservices at the BEH. Soon,Donald Calvert, PhD joinedhim as branch chief for earlychildhood, learning disabilityand deaf-blind programs.

Melvin Ladson, one of the first African AmericanCID professional educationgraduates (1958), joined theBEH in 1969 to work onminority programs for handi-capped children. Soon after,Jane DeWeerd (1951), becamehead of the early childhood

program. DeWeerd went onto lead U.S. Head Start pro-grams for disabled children.

When Calvert becameCID director in 1972, LoisElliot, PhD, a former researchassociate at CID, replaced himas branch chief at the BEH.Together, Withrow, Calvertand Elliot established federalearly childhood programs forhandicapped children. Elliotwent on to head a NationalInstitutes of Health program.During the Nixon Adminis-tration, she and Withrow pro-posed a program of geneticeducation to reduce deafness.

“We did not want to tellanyone not to marry or havechildren,” said Withrow, whosebrother and nephews are allhereditarily deaf, “but felt wehad sufficient genetic infor-mation to inform high-riskcouples of the probabilities.”

Withrow also made manyless-controversial contributions.He conducted an importantstudy of postsecondary educa-tion for deaf youth and wrotelegislative language creatingtax-supported centers for deaflearners, including the ModelSecondary School for the Deaf(MSSD) at Gallaudet Collegein Washington, DC and Na-tional Technical Institute forthe Deaf (NTID) at the Roch-ester Institute of Technologyin New York. He was the exe-cutive director of the NationalAdvisory Committee on theHandicapped when PublicLaw 94-142, the Educationfor All Handicapped Child-ren Act, was passed in 1975.

Other CID professionaleducation graduates who haveinfluenced deaf education in-

A legacy of national impact

clude Joseph Rosenstein, PhD(1959), who directed researchat MSSD before joining theBEH in 1967 as a specialist inprofessional development forteachers of the deaf. MargaretSchram Withrow (1957), di-rected professional developmentat MSSD from 1969 to 1974.In the 1980s, Congress namedDennis Gjerdingen (1969),former head of the CID schooland president of Clarke Schoolfor the Deaf, to serve on theCommission on Education ofthe Deaf. In 2004, 1956 CIDschool graduate T. Alan Hur-witz, PhD, became vice presi-dent of Rochester Institute of Technology for NTID.

CID influence on the fed-eral level has not been limitedto deaf education. In the1970s, Paul Andereck, PhD,a parent of CID graduates,served as a program officer forCaptioned Films for the Deafat the BEH, the Regional Me-dia Centers for the Deaf andthe Special Education Instruc-tional Media Centers. He alsomanaged demonstration proj-ects for the national telephonerelay system. CID schoolgraduate Paul Taylor (1952),an engineer at NTID, alsomade major contributions tothe national relay system.

After serving as a principalwitness in the Supreme Courtcase that led to mandatorycaption decoders in televisions(1973), Withrow became achief technologist for the DOE,where he worked to ensurethat federally supported tele-vision programs, including“Sesame Street,” featured dis-abled characters and carriedclosed captions.

JOIN US AT THE 11TH ANNUAL CID ULTIMATE PICNIC!

Mark your calendar to attend the Ultimate Kentucky Derby Picnic Saturday, May 7, 2005. For information, contact

development coordinator Mary Middleton: 314.977.0220.

CID at Washington University School of MedicineSchool of Medicine. Larry Shapiro, MD, dean

shapirol@wustl.edu 314.362.6827

Dept. of Otolaryngology, Harold W. Siebens Hearing

Research Center. Richard Chole, MD, PhD,

department head rchole@wustl.edu 314.362.7395

Division of Adult Audiology, Spencer T. Olin Hearing

Clinic. Michael Valente, PhD, director

valentem@wustl.edu 314.362.7457

Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences.

William Clark, PhD, program director

clarkw@wustl.edu 314.747.0101

CID Oral School and Outreach Center

Address change. Courtney Ancel, development associate

courtneya@cid.wustl.edu 314.977.0163

Administration. Robin Feder, MS, CFRE, executive

director rfeder@cid.wustl.edu 314.977.0223

CID Oral School and Outreach Center.

JoEllen Epstein, MAEd, CED, principal

jepstein@cid.wustl.edu 314.977.0132

Development. Mary Middleton, development coordinator

mmiddleton@cid.wustl.edu 314.977.0220

Publications/workshops. Dianne Gushleff, publication

sales dgushleff@cid.wustl.edu 314.977.0133

sound effects. Kim Readmond, communications

kreadmond@cid.wustl.edu 314.977.0243

Our thanks to Frank B. Withrow, PhD, who submitted the text from

which most the following article was derived. We know that, parti-

cularly in more recent years, additional CID staff, parents and alumni

have contributed to federal legislation and programs. In a future

issue of sound effects, we will endeavor to complete the story.

Please contact Kim Readmond at CID if you have information to add.

Friends forever: Local CID alumni and contemporaries Amber Rush (2000),

Carrie Lynn St. Cyr (1995), Tiara Mason (2002), Britney Tresch (2001) and

Luke Ross (1999) took a day out of their summer vacation to visit CID and

tour the school before returning to their high schools to start classes.

Dorie Shapiro (1998), a high

school student in Scottsdale,

Arizona, was among alumni

who visited the CID booth at

the Alexander Graham Bell

Association for the Deaf and

Hard of Hearing conference

in Anaheim, California.

CID alumna Mary Sambo Bergeron (1980) (far left) and Jody and Augustin

Pacheco with sons Wayne, Tino (2003) and Anthony, were among friends

who stopped to say hello at the Deaf History Celebration at the Missouri

History Museum in August. CID alumnus and board member William Sheldon

(1954) chaired the Missouri Association for the Deaf event, where CID and

40 other organizations sponsored exhibits. Sheldon is shown below (left)

with CID executive director Robin Feder and board member Paul Arenberg

and his wife, Ann. The Arenbergs are the parents of John (1968).

Familiar faces

In October, CID students and staff were special guests of clarinetist

Jim Meyer (below, upper right) and his wife, CID school nurse Virginia

Meyer, for a St. Louis Symphony children’s performance. After the con-

cert, the Meyers treated the group to lunch and a tour of Powell Hall.