{"id":22847,"date":"2013-04-29T02:13:35","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T07:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=22847"},"modified":"2013-04-29T02:16:10","modified_gmt":"2013-04-29T07:16:10","slug":"happy-hands-education-center-gives-a-voice-to-deaf-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/04\/29\/happy-hands-education-center-gives-a-voice-to-deaf-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Hands Education center gives a voice to deaf children"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"oklahoma<\/a><\/span>Happy Hands Education center gives a voice to deaf children<\/strong><\/p>\n

April 28, 2013<\/p>\n

By Lesa Jones
\nStaff Writer
\nlesaj@baledger.com<\/p>\n

In 1994, Happy Hands Education Center began with a mission to serve children from birth to age six who are deaf, hard of hearing or have communicative disorders according to Al Proo, CEO and Founder of Happy Hands, 8801 S. Garnett Rd.<\/p>\n

Proo has made it his mission to end illiteracy among the deaf population.<\/p>\n

Two percent of the total population is born deaf. The average reading level of a deaf adult is third grade. Yet, Happy Hands is the only agency in Oklahoma to serve deaf children from birth to age three.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, it should not be and that\u2019s why we are here,\u201d Proo said.<\/p>\n

Proo, a retired police officer, and his wife Judy served as pastors to a church for the deaf and as professional interpreters. For more than 20 years, he says the majority of their friends were deaf.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo wherever the deaf were, we were,\u201d Proo said. \u201cWe began to see the majority of deaf people we would work with were functionally illiterate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Communication must happen for reading to happen. Reading, writing and math are directly proportionate to the amount of language a child has according to Proo.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere are the statistics that really changed my mind as to why we need to have this school here,\u201d Proo said. \u201cWe learn 75 percent of language by the time we are two and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n

Often, parents don\u2019t find out their child has a hearing loss until a child is two and a half.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo parents are saying he\u2019s just maturing at his own rate, but by the time they figure it out, it\u2019s too late,\u201d Proo said.<\/p>\n

A faith-based year-round program, the goal is to make sure children get to first grade literate.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was happening prior to Happy Hands, is that children were getting to first grade functionally illiterate,\u201d Proo said. \u201cNo social skills, because these parents didn\u2019t know where to go, there was no place for them to go. There were no opportunities for language for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a pastor at a church for the deaf, Proo said he began to see the problem. Deaf people didn\u2019t bring their Bible to church. He began asking questions as to why they didn\u2019t want to bring their Bibles. \u201cThey said, \u2018Why bring it, if you can\u2019t read it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As pastors, Proo said they were there there to show the people they cared for them, not there to pity them. Their ministry began when the couple took a sign language class at their church.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe loved the people and wanted to see them successful and know the Lord,\u201d Proo said. \u201cWe wanted them to be able to have their own personal devotion time with the Bible. So, that\u2019s why we are here, I want to make a difference for these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Happy Hands, as one walks through halls of the school the children are happy, smiling and communicating with their teachers and fellow students. Toddlers are using sign language to say \u2018thank you\u2019 to their teachers for their snack.<\/p>\n

The school is tuition based, but scholarships are available. According to the brochure, \u201cHappy Hands never turns away a child with special needs for a lack of financial resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

After 19 years, Proo said Happy Hands graduates are now thriving in other schools because of the foundation they received in the program. \u201cNow, when they get to first grade, they can do first grade work,\u201d Proo said. \u201cThere\u2019s kids now at Wright Elementary and Edison High School that are now on the student council, unheard of before, because they couldn\u2019t do anything. They couldn\u2019t carry on a conversation or they couldn\u2019t use an interpreter. They are in marching bands now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happy Hands currently has 23 teachers on staff.<\/p>\n

For more information about the Happy Hands Education Center, go to http:\/\/www.happyhands.org<\/a> or call 918-893-4800.<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/baledger.com\/faith\/happy-hands-education-center-gives-a-voice-to-deaf-children\/article_84a0d222-addb-11e2-b7e7-0019bb2963f4.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy Hands Education center gives a voice to deaf children April 28, 2013 By Lesa Jones Staff Writer lesaj@baledger.com In 1994, Happy Hands Education Center began with a mission to serve children from birth to age six who are deaf,…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[18352,4621,87,94,24,18354,13779,18356,1412,18353,40,440,3555,191,18355],"class_list":["post-22847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-al-proo","tag-article","tag-children","tag-church","tag-deaf","tag-edison-high-school","tag-happy-hands","tag-happy-hands-education-center","tag-hard-of-hearing","tag-illiteracy","tag-interpreter","tag-oklahoma","tag-police-officer","tag-sign-language","tag-wright-elementary"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-5Wv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19833,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/09\/05\/guide-by-your-side-job-opportunity-austin\/","url_meta":{"origin":22847,"position":0},"title":"Guide By Your Side Job Opportunity – Austin","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"September 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Guide By Your Side Job Opportunity - Austin Guide By Your Side Program Coordinator Job opportunity for a parent of a deaf or hard of hearing child! 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