"I spy with my little eye.."

Miss Kat has been making stupendous progress in the last few weeks (snow days not withstanding...) Her language is expanding every single day. The school is doing their job, believe me! Also, the weight of having to be all things at all times, has lifted. I know that she is getting great language, by great professionals, as well as overall a great education. It is a load off for all of us. Back in Utah, Miss Kat would spend all day at school, go straight to therapy, after that we would have to do at least an hour of homework, and then have to do supplemental work to "fill the gaps" that the school had simply moved past.  It was really a nightmare. She was working all the time, she didn't have a chance to relax and just be a kid. It lead to a stressed out kid with a stressed out mom, and that lead to a lot of fighting. It is completely different here. The school acknowledges that the kids are working hard all day at school and they want home to be peaceful and happy. They do have homework but it is always something that will not be frustrating and that the child can complete independently. They also are working on "filling the holes" all the time. They have done a great job identify things that Miss Kat missed out on (either because we, as new signers, didn't have the vocabulary to explain it, or because she joined spoken language so late that it was assumed that she already knew it) and they are helping us make sure she gains all that knowledge. And you know what, it certainly is working!

Now, for a cute story! We were playing "I spy" in the car the other night. I said "I spy with my little eye something that is yellow". Miss Kat immediately responded with "Daddy's teeth!" We laughed and said no, so her next guess, "Inside my ears!"....nope, but way too cute!

Interpreter?

Alright, so we are all settled in and everything is going great! Miss Kat loves her school, and she is doing very well. They group kids by their language and academic levels, rather than strictly by grade. It is a wonderful system and Miss Kat is already showing great progress. It is also very very clear that this school has much higher standards and expectations for the children both in language and in academics...we couldn't be happier!

It has been a huge burden lifted from us, knowing that Miss Kat's education is finally in the hands of excellent professionals. In fact, I don't even know what to do with myself! I can't believe that I don't have to fight anymore! I know that she is getting appropriate services, by qualified people, who actually understand and can work with a deaf child with cochlear implants. I don't have to worry whether or not her CI is on the right program (yeah, that was an actual issue with that at the old oral school. Can you believe that? What kind of  oral program can't work a hearing device?) I know that she is working for two hours a day just on literacy, that she is getting speech and language therapy...it's amazing. You know what the school wants me to do? BE A MOM, not a therapist! It's great!

Anyway, back to the point of my post.....we are having some trouble, but this time it is at church, not at school. As I have mentioned, we have attended a Deaf church since Miss Kat was around 2. Well, here, it isn't quite the same (good bye Utah, hello mission field!) We actually ARE still in the ward that serves the Deaf community (and that is just by "accident"...or someone elses plan!) but currently there are no Deaf people other than Miss Kat. So, we walked into the meeting and they had the "interpreter" ready for us. She did her thing, and Miss Kat followed along...for about 20 minutes, and then she started to color and do other things. (Uh, she is 7!) So, the "interpreter" decided to go and sit down....yep, no more interpreting. Then, when it was time for Miss Kat to go to class, she told me she was busy and that I should go with Miss Kat....

So, today I received a call from this "interpreter" again. She said she was sorry that we hadn't had the chance to formally talk on Sunday, and if there was anything that she could do for us. I said yes. I told her that I thought that Miss Kat could use the services of an interpreter during the children's classes. I said that they have lessons and sing songs and that I felt like she needed support during that time. She said, "yeah, I'm not going to do that.." In fact, she AGAIN asked me to go in, when I said that I didn't feel comfortable interpreting that meeting (church ASL and music are very different from the everyday conversational ASL that I use) she suggested that I just go with Miss Kat and have her "lipread" me.....SIGH! Until now I had always felt like church had been a place that was super supportive and understanding of Miss Kat's deafness and accommodated her and been a "Deaf place". If this IS the Deaf church, what on earth would it be like if we had gone to the hearing one???