Re: Miss Kat's Brain

As we were collecting everything to head out the door to go to school this morning, I turned and saw Miss Kat staring off into space. She had a little, sort of, frown on her face. I called to her, she didn't turn, so I asked "Are you ok, honey?" and at the same time Hubby asked "What's wrong?". Miss Kat finally looked up and said "What?" So, again, Hubby asked "Everything ok? You looked sad." And Miss Kat answered, "No, I was watching a movie in my brain."

Just thought I would share.

Raising and Educating a Deaf Child

This is really great site. They answer questions submitted by individuals based on research and facts, rather than biases. They have many great professionals whose expertise is in different areas of Deaf education, so no matter what your situation is, you can get specific advice.

Check out this link:

http://www.rit.edu/ntid/educatingdeafchildren/?cat=12

Who does this first story sound like? And did you read the response??? Woooo Hoooo

Parents...What was the best decision you made?

I was talking with Hubby today about all the decisions we have had to make for Miss Kat, and there have been A LOT! Communication methods, IFSP goals, school placements, speech therapists, IEP goals, language choices, school choices, and on and on. But out of all of those decisions, two have stood out as the most important choices we have made for her.

1. Making ASL her primary language.

2. Giving her a cochlear implant.

The first wasn't a difficult choice, we just sort of fell into it. We started as a TC family, but it slowly evolved to ASL. She understood ASL better than English word order, and she always signed ASL herself. We eventually went voice off because the voicing wasn't adding anything and her spoken language wasn't developing so we just, sort of, stopped emphasising it in daily life. Once she was an ASL user, the rest of the choices sorted themselves out. Her school placement was a given. Her goals were easy. We even had no choice in what speech therapist we saw because there was only one who signed!

We made that choice and it was an amazing choice. She thrived and had great language skills. She did wonderfully! It was the right choice and it has served her well!

Second, we chose to give her a cochlear implant. This was a more difficult choice. It took a little more time and research and deliberation. When we did decide to implant her, we thought it was simply going to end her hearing loss progression and restore the (very little) benefit she received from her hearing aids in the past. Boy were we off the mark!!

When we made the decision to implant her, we had no idea that it would have the profound effect on her life that it did. We just thought we were upgrading her hearing device, not changing our life course!

Since implantation Miss Kat has developed open set spoken language understanding. That means that she understands the running speech of strangers and does not have to rely on lipreading or guessing. She is able to discriminate ALL the sounds of spoken English and can hold conversations from other rooms, downstairs or the backseat of the car. She is hearing very well.

We have made many decisions based on the success of the decision to implant. Our choice to move her from the bi-bi school, the choice to emphasis spoken language, even the choice to move here. Unlike the choices that followed ASL, each of these decisions have been equally tough. Our path continues to be full of worry and unknowns, but the joy on this journey is equal to that which we experienced on our former path.

So, parents of deaf kids out there....What was the BEST decision you made for your little one??

Little Updates

I haven't blogged in awhile, nothing much has been happening. Miss Kat was on Spring Break this week, but is heading back to school tomorrow.

Here are a few things that have happened in the last few weeks:

• Miss Kat was on the way to school awhile ago, when she said "When I grow up, I'll have a deaf baby. My baby will go to (her oral school)." That made us feel really good. She is clearly happy, and likes school enough to want her future babies to go there.
• We have been attending a "support group" for parents of deaf children at a Deaf community center. It is a sort of ASL class plus some games with the kiddos. Miss Kat seems to like it. She is able to play with some ASL using kids, so she can continue to keep her skills up.
• In regards to going to that group one day, Miss Kat said "I am deaf. Some deaf people talk. They have hearing aids and implants. Some deaf people sign. They don't. I can talk and sign. They are different but the same too. They are deaf." Yep, exactly right....they are.
• Some people have approached me about starting a Hands & Voices chapter in our state. I accepted and I am starting to try to get the word out!
• Miss Kat came home from school and was singing "5 Little Ducks". It was adorable! It was the first time she has learned a song. The words weren't all right, but she understood it. She knew it had a tune, and that it repeated. Maybe I will tape it and put it up.
• Miss Kat and I went to a Deaf expo yesterday. I got some contacts for H&V and she got some candy. Good time all around!

Everything is great out here. We had a great IEP, and as soon as I get a copy, I'll make sure to post the goals. I am having issues with audiology, but that will be another post!