MARION -The School for the Hearing Impaired is open to students with auditory disabilities, but the sounds of children laughing and interacting ring loud and clear throughout the building.

Principal John Belcher walked from classroom to classroom Monday afternoon, with not a single student passing whose name and particular impairment he didn't know.

"I think what really makes it special is a lot of these kids would possibly be in their home school district with no one to communicate with," Belcher said. "They can all communicate with each other."

The school was opened in 1976 to meet the growing demand for more specialized education to a large number of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Today, the school tends to about 80 students from across the region, with a spread of varied hearing disabilities and communication disorders.

Bonnie Dugger, primary communication disorder teacher, pushed one of her autistic students in a small green wagon.

"Good talking," Dugger said as the student voiced his excitement.

The teacher said many of her students are not verbal and it is important to find things that prompt speech and to communicate positive reinforcement when they talk unprompted.

"Whenever they do use their voices, we say, 'Good job,' and use gestures," Dugger said. "These little guys need a whole different setup."

Dugger said she must teach the students a variety of social and other skills.

"I think there is a misconception about these kids," she said. "They tend to like adults or just one person. They are very lovable."

Teacher Pam Mabry grouped her small children into a common area and put several colored circles in two lines on the floor.

As the students picked their color, she introduced different ways to get from one line to the next.

"Are you ready?" she said. "One, two, three, jump - jump to your circle."

As the students went from circle to circle, several 3-year-olds were able to easily sign their colors and their actions to Mabry.

Mabry, a preschool teacher for 31 years, said she has helped many families cope with children's disabilities by offering classes on sign language and the use of gestures.

"When I got him, he was not doing much academically," Mabry said about one student as she watched him explain the stuffed animal he was holding had an umbrella because it was raining outside.

Mabry said the improvement in speech and the ability to put words together is part of the process of education that is specialized to the students with communication and hearing disabilities.

Deanna Brehm sat down with one of her students Monday afternoon as Sandy Stanton, teacher's aide, helped with a coloring and art assignment.

Blake Pritchett, a student in Brehm's class, was hard at work coloring a brown and black outfit onto two people he drew into an "I Love a Snowy Day" coloring page.

Pritchett has both hearing and visual impairments and Brehm said he also suffers from other health problems. He has specialized glasses and other medical instruments that help him function despite his disabilities. At the school he isn't different; he is among many students with special needs.

Belcher said having the students in one facility, where they are able to communicate with other students who have the same problems, makes the facility specialized but normal to students.

"I don't think any of our kids come in here and think of this as anything other than a school," he said. "The ability to communicate with other kids is good."

tara.fasol@thesouthern.com

351-5824