Lexington School and Center for the Deaf comprises the Lexington School for the Deaf, the Lexington Hearing and Speech Center, Lexington Vocational Services, and the Lexington Center for Mental Health in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, aimed at serving the

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

and

hard of hearing Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spoken l ...

community.

Lexington School for the Deaf

The Lexington School for the Deaf was founded in 1865. It is the oldest school for the deaf in New York. According to ''The Encyclopedia of Special Education'', the school was "a pioneer in

oral education Oralism is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech.Through Deaf Eyes. Diane Garey, Lawrence R. Hott. DVD, PBS (Direct), 2007. Oralism ca ...

", as other schools for the deaf in the United States relied solely on

sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...

at the time. It has become a "world-renowned leader" for its work with infants, children and adolescents. The school takes students from birth to 21 years of age. The student body is racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse. Many have other disabilities, such as mobility and mental impairments, and most live below the

poverty threshold The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

set by New York City. The school's focus is on, in addition to assisting students in living with their disabilities, preparing them for

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...

with an academic curriculum compliant with the

New York State Education Department The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration o ...

standards from

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

to its fully

accredited Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body (such as certification body, inspection body or laboratory) against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. The school utilizes a "mediated learning experience" (MLE) approach which provides training for parents and teachers as part of its emphasis on the importance of adult mediators to education. The school uses

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

(abbreviated ''ASL'') and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

for instruction. In 1994, the school was subject to a community protest following the appointment of a hearing chairman of the board without what protesters felt was adequate representation of the deaf community in the selection process. Following

picket line A picket line is a horizontal rope along which horses are tied at intervals. The rope can be on the ground, at chest height (above the knees, below the neck) or overhead. The overhead form is usually called a high line. A variant of a high l ...

s and other protest measures,

Phil Bravin Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root ter ...

was placed in the position; Bravin had become the first deaf chair of the

Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first sc ...

Board following a similar protest in 1988.

Lexington Hearing & Speech Center

The Lexington Hearing & Speech Center is a medical center that provides clinical services in hearing and speech to people in New York City's five boroughs, including infants, children, adults, and seniors. Beyond attempting to determine the cause of speech and language difficulty, the center focuses on medical and rehabilitative care, with a specialty in

hearing aid A hearing aid is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations. Small audio amplifiers su ...

s. They operate a Mobile Hearing Evaluation Unit which visits seniors and residences throughout the New York City metropolitan area to conduct

hearing test A hearing test provides an evaluation of the sensitivity of a person's sense of hearing and is most often performed by an audiologist using an audiometer. An audiometer is used to determine a person's hearing sensitivity at different frequencies ...

s and evaluate and analyze hearing aids already in use.

Lexington Vocational Services Center

The Lexington Vocational Services Center, which has offices in New York and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, is intended to help deaf adults prepare for and obtain employment and also to help employers maintain deaf-friendly workplaces. They also host ASL classes for the community and employers.

Lexington Center for Mental Health Services

The Lexington Center for Mental Health Services provides

mental health Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. It likewise determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making. Mental health ...

services to deaf adults and children, including evaluation, medication and treatment for those with mental illness and counseling for deaf parents of hearing children and hearing parents of deaf children.

References

External links