Special School Changes Life Of One Mill Basin Youngster

Benny and Beth Teitelbaum Neil S. Friedman At the age of one, Benjamin Teitelbaum, the youngest child of Beth and Daniel Teitelbaum of Mill Basin, had yet to speak. For a child of his age, such reticence is not uncommon, but his mother, Beth, could not help but worry.

Unlike children his age, the baby everyone called Benny made almost no noise at all, except for crying. He would occasionally coo or murmur but "mama" and "dadda" never crossed his lips.

"He was just cute," Teitelbaum said.

She said everyone was telling her not to worry, but based on her experience as a teacher, Teitelbaum decided to have Benny evaluated, just after his first birthday, by the New York City Department of Education, which diagnosed a speech delay, an as-yet unexplained inability to verbalize.

Meeting the four year old recently at his Avenue T home, where he sported a New York Giants yarmulke, a stranger would find no clues to the youngster's quieter days. Instead, today Benny possesses an unbridled volubility akin to an auctioneer.

Teitelbaum thanks the "giving people" at StrivRight, for changing her son's life. "He's going to be a normal little boy who can say all the nice things he wants to his sister," she said with a laugh.

StrivRight, an early intervention program of the Auditory Oral School of New York (AOSNY) based out of Temple Hillel on Ralph Avenue, offers classes and therapy to children with hearing and speech impairments. Pnina and Sam Bravmann, audiologists and teachers themselves, founded the school because they could not find suitable treatment for their own hearing-impaired child.

Because of the dedication of the Bravmanns, the school's faculty and staff, AOSNY has achieved a 98 percent success rate in mainstreaming its students - meaning the students can move on from the school, which serves infants through children 5 years old, into regular classrooms. They would otherwise be placed in special education classes in public schools and forever treated and educated differently, AOSNY Development Coordinator Sarah Ovitz said.

This is precisely why parents, like the Teitelbaums, seek out the AOSNY, looking for special treatment that gives their children the opportunity to live and learn without being constrained by learning preconceptions and bias.

"Today's world that we live in, everybody automatically labels children," Ovitz said. "I don't believe every child should even have a label. If they have a learning disability, they can get through it. We live in the year 2006. There are so many things out there to help kids, so I was very against labeling."

The AOSNY takes a dynamic, individualized approach to education and therapy. Children attend regular preschool classes for part of their day, but trained teachers help students listen attentively and speak clearly. They are aided by such special technology as FM headsets that help students focus.

The rest of the day is spent with therapists, who work with students on their hearing and speech. There are also therapists who teach social skills the children were slow to develop due to their impairments.

In Benny's case, because he could not verbalize his needs, he would simply grab what he wanted from others or pull at them when he needed assistance. Thanks to the AOSNY, he is now as well behaved as any typical four year old.

The school's pioneering methods have set the standards for audio-oral education in the state. "We had to teach the Department of Education what is needed for these children," she said.

Another big component of education at AOSNY is parental involvement.

Parents meet weekly with teachers and therapists and a notebook travels home every day to inform parents what the child has learned and accomplished that day so parents can work on those same topics with their child.

Though operating in Mill Basin, AOSNY serves children from all five boroughs, regardless of social or economic background. The school teaches in at least six languages and charges no tuition, though some parents feel compelled to pay for what they deem an amazing service.

Beth Teitelbaum and other parents have been so impressed that they have championed a campaign to raise money for new facilities because the current ones are cramped and serve 250 children annually.

Though she has given back to the AOSNY through her fundraising, Teitelbaum still struggles with how to truly thank the school when Benny graduates.

"You feel like a family," she said. "I'm leaving in August and I don't even know what to say to these people at the end of the year. I don't know what to do."

One of Teitelbaum's proudest moments came before a family vacation last summer when Benny turned to a neighbor and said, "I'm going (pause) to the Pennsylvania Hotel."

Ariel Teitelbaum, Benny's older sister, appreciates what the school has done for her brother. "When you pick him up from school, you see a smile on his face," she said.

Before leaving, Benny said he'd be going to a new school in the fall and took a photo of the Courier's reporter with his cell phone.

As he danced around the family dining room it became apparent Benny is not a special ed student - but he is, indeed, special.

To learn more about the school or to contribute to the building fund, visit the AOSNY Web site at audiooral.org.