The Helen Keller School of Alabama had its origin in a program created in 1955 to serve children who were both deaf and blind at AIDB and was named for the Alabama native when programs for children with multiple disabilities were consolidated in 1980. Serving children, ages three to 21, HKS provides individualized quality education, service and care which focuses on the abilities and potential of each student. Our program is nationally recognized as a training center for teachers of children who are deaf or blind and multidisabled and we are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).
HKS takes a holistic approach to working with children with special needs involving staff and parents in the design of an education plan that may include language, math, Braille, music, art and other academics, in addition to independent living skills and physical therapy.
A creative arts program is designed to stimulate students through visual and tactile activities, motor development and expansion of expressive and receptive language. Students also have the opportunity to participate in Music Therapy and are trained in assistive technology.
As a residential school, educational opportunities continue in the HKS dormitories and through various field trips, Special Olympics, and horseback riding.
There is no tuition, room or board charged for students whose families are Alabama residents.
Student life
For residential students at the Helen Keller School, learning doesn't end with the school day but continues into dormitory life. All are supervised, with regular times set aside for study, mealtimes and recreation. Helen Keller students are learning all the time - how to take care of themselves, how to get along with others, how to create a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
The AIDB Foundation also makes many special opportunities available for children. Hawkins Chapel provides regular nondenominational worship services, and our chaplain offers spiritual growth opportunities. Volunteers help us offer Sunday School classes designed to match the students' developmental needs.
The Foundation also raised the funds to build the Compass Bank Fitness and Recreation Park, a special facility to help Helen Keller students develop into strong and healthy adults. Our Athletics program includes participation in many Special Olympics sports and after school, recreation offers informal opportunities to exercise and have fun. We have monthly birthday parties in each dormitory, complete with cake and ice cream. Student groups go on frequent outings to the park, restaurants, and cultural events. Helen Keller students have access to an indoor swimming pool, exercise room and gymnasium. There is scouting, dances and an annual competition for Miss Helen Keller School.
A nurse is on campus on weekdays, and comes to the dorms on weekends to distribute medications if they are needed. Dormitory staff are trained and certified in CPR and first aid. AIDB has an extensive program focusing on health and wellness for all our students. AIDB’s Health and Clinical Services department coordinates regular clinics for our students including low vision, audiology, seizures, psychiatric and ear-nose-throat clinics. Every student at the Helen Keller School has an Individualized Education Program or IEP. Because all our students come to us with very different needs, it takes an intensive team effort to build an appropriate IEP. Staff, teachers, parents and others examine a child's assessments, evaluations and school records, if any. Then, as a group, we discuss the child's potential. The parents' input at this stage is critical. We need to understand what the parents' expectations are for the child, and see how our resources can help achieve those goals.
Then we are able to match those needs with our ability to teach academic subjects and daily living skills. Some children will focus more on learning daily living skills at first: dressing, bathing, grooming. Others may be ready to tackle more conventional academic subjects. Classes are small and specialized: sometimes a teacher and an aid will have just four students; usually there are no more than five students for each teacher.
One skill which is crucial to all our students is communication. Learning how to express themselves is a major accomplishment, the cornerstone for all the achievements to come. Students who are deaf or hard of hearing may learn American Sign Language. Students who are blind or have vision loss will begin to learn how to get around safely in any environment using skills called orientation and mobility. Assistive technology helps overcome many difficulties faced by people who have vision or hearing loss, and these skills are taught when appropriate.
Academic subjects include the basics: reading, writing and math. For students who are blind or have vision loss, we can teach braille or they may learn to use large print. Math may focus on independent living needs, like how to tell time, balance a checkbook or draw up a household budget. More advanced academics are introduced as needed.
Some of our students go on to attend classes at Alabama School for the Blind or Alabama School for the Deaf. Some students graduate and return to live at home and participate in another program. Others leave and begin their adult life, finding a job and living independently, in a group home or with their families. All Helen Keller School graduates finish their time here with a strong sense of their own self-worth, equipped with an education uniquely designed to help them meet their full potential.
Special programs
Teachers at AIDB are consistently credoted for their creative and effective teaching skills. It's just not possible to reach every child with a single approach. Over the years, we have learned that every child can learn; it's simply a matter of finding the right way to present the material. Some of these different approaches include a creative arts program designed to stimulate students through visual and tactile activities, motor development and expansion of expressive and receptive language. Many of our students respond well to music therapy.
Our programs change frequently, as our students' needs change. We have offered horticulture classes in the past, teaching children and young adults how to raise plants either as a pleasant hobby or as a vocational skill. Students learn how to manage money and see how a small business succeeds through our school store, which offers small gift items and homemade snacks to people on campus.
Many of our students have physical challenges requiring physical therapy. Traditional physical therapy is offered on campus and at our Health and Clinical Services building, Dowling Hospital, on the Alabama School for the Deaf campus. The Hackney Play Therapy Center is a fun and innovative way for children to participate in therapy without even realizing it, as they wiggle through brightly colored tunnels, climb ropes and ladders and throw plastic balls like confetti up in the air.
Another highly successful alternative to traditional physical therapy is found at AIDB's Marianna Greene Henry Special Equestrians Program at the MGH Arena. Many of our students with multiple disabilities have learned how to relate to people by developing a relationship with a gentle, nonjudgmental animal first. Balance, posture, strength and flexibility are all positive gains with hippotherapy.
Awakenings
A unique program at Helen Keller School is targeted towards children whose level of functioning does not qualify for admissions in the regular school program. It is a residential program, housed in a special facility on the Helen Keller School campus. Because many of the children in the program are medically fragile, the Awakenings program is self-contained. Classrooms, living space and dining room are all under a single roof.
The curriculum emphasis is different than at any other AIDB program. Many of the Awakenings students will never live alone; the program focuses on sensory stimulation, communication and language, mobility, recreation and basic self-help skills. It is usually accomplished with a one-on-one approach. Awakenings students swim and do water therapy, play at the Hackney Play Therapy Center, ride horses with the Marianna Greene Henry Special Equestrians Program and participate in frequent field trips.
Independent living
Learning to live independently usually means acquiring some basic skills beyond self-care. Cooking or food preparation, safety, cleaning and laundry are a few. Budgeting, shopping and balancing a checkbook are more advanced skills. Learning to use public transportation is another useful ability. Work skills are needed by many of our students: learning to value promptness, listening to directions and getting along with coworkers are essential to finding and keeping a job. In two on campus facilities teachers help students acquire the independent living training they need for adult life.