James DeCaro interviews with TRIPOD program founders and parents

The TRIPOD Educational Model School was formed in 1982 by Megan Williams, Michael Shamberg, Herb Larson, and Carl Kirchner. The TRIPOD program-- an acronym for Toward Rehabilitation Involvement by Parents of the Deaf--was a nonprofit organization run by Executive Director Kirchner and its board of directors. The programs emphasis was on helping families who have both deaf and hearing members raise and educate their deaf and hearing impaired children by learning side-by side with hearing students. TRIPOD used what is called a total communication approach, which combines techniques to acquire language: listening, reading, sign language, lip reading, speech, gesture and mime. The Tripod program in cooperation with the Burbank Unified School District enrolled deaf and hearing students together, providing a model for "co-enrollment."

Among the positive statistics of the school program was that the longer students were co-enrolled at TRIPOD, the better they did compared to national averages of students who are deaf. Students with hearing loss were achieving at an academic level that would allow them to enter a four-year college program with comparable SAT scores. TRIPOD also provided a co-enrolled Montessori parent-infant/toddler and pre-school/kindergarten program for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families who live in the regional program service area.

The RIT/NTID Deaf Studies Archive acquired the TRIPOD Archive in 2011. This archive, consisting of videos, parenting materials, curricula, academic presentations, fundraising documents, governance guidelines, and more is housed at the RIT/NTID Deaf Studies Archive on the 3rd floor of the Wallace Center.

James DeCaro was born in 1947 and spent his childhood in Poughkeepsie, NY. In 1971, he moved to Rochester and worked for the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology (NTID/RIT) for 47 years. He passed away on October 23, 2019 at the age of 71. DeCaro is survived by his wife Patricia, his children, and grandchildren.

DeCaro received his “bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Ph.D. in instructional technology from Syracuse University.” Throughout his career at RIT, his positions included Dean of NTID, Interim Director, and Interim President. During his time with the University, he created the Civil Engineering Department, NTID Center on Access Technology and had a strong impact on the NTID community through his work to improve educational opportunities for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

DeCaro worked in various countries around the globe for research, education, and as a professor. In 2001, one of his greatest achievements was the Postsecondary Education Network - International (PEN-International), a network that would support postsecondary education for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. In 2008, he earned the “Contribution to Society Award from Japan’s Foundation for Encouragement of Social Contribution for his service to humanity.” The year after, RIT named DeCaro dean emeritus of RIT and included him in the 2010 inaugural class of RIT’s Innovation Hall of Fame.

sources:

https://www.rit.edu/ntid/decaro

https://www.rit.edu/news/rit-remembers-dean-emeritus-james-decaro

http://www.pen.ntid.rit.edu/newdownloads/events/exchanges/2008/summer-institute/bios/vita-JJD-2008-bio.pdf

https://harrisfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/3237/James-DeCaro/obituary.html