Sadie's hearing adventures are just beginning. Not only has she gotten her hearing aids, but we are now to the point that we need to decide on what direction her education is going to go in. Which is crazy to me that I need to start thinking about this because she is only 18 months, but at the same time I already feel behind in her education. With babies that can hear, they start learning language right away. With babies that can't hear, they start learning language when people start signing with them and teaching them what that sign means. With us being new to the "deaf" world, we haven't started signing with her, at least not enough or consistently. I feel guilty and horrible about this. Language/communication is extremely important. I tried not to put it on the back burner, but it sort of was. I was concentrating on figuring out her health issues. that I didn't make it a priority. But this is going to change, as of now (well technically a couple months ago).
I met with our hearing impaired representative that works with our Early On program through the state. She explained why so many hearing tests, why we are trying hearing aids, what services are available for her, what 2 schools we have for the deaf/hard of hearing (HOH) here in Kent County. She explained MANY things to me. Sometimes I feel like I am on planet Mars when it comes to this stuff. All her medical stuff is second nature to me, all her special needs stuff was like a foreign country, but I quickly adjusted to that, all this hearing stuff... completely new planet. I feel clueless. It's a totally different world.
Sadies hearing representative brought in the directors of both the HOH schools. The first was for the school that concentrates on helping kids to learn to listen, read lips, and speak. This program is called the Aural/oral approach. The second program concentrates on helping kids learn to listen, read lips, speak, and they teach sign language. This program is the total communication approach. Going into this meeting I was sure we were going to go with the total communication. However, after listening to both program options, I left that meeting slightly confused. They both sounded like excellent programs, and they both have there pros and cons. What do I do?! This is a huge decision. I cried and prayed for the next week that I would make the right decision for this little girl. This will impact the rest of her life. And I guess when I think about it now, it's not any bigger then any of the other decisions that I have to make when it comes to her life (or my other girls life) I was just seriously confused for about a week and it was stressing me out. However, I finally made the decision.
After debating it all, we decided to go with my first choice, the total communication program. This is why. I looked at all the children that I know that have PTCD (I met them through a support group on line). From what I gather all of them have been able to pick up on sign language and seem to be able to communicate well using this method. Some of them can hear fairly well too, but still have issues with speech, but will sign to communicate. So I took that all into consideration. I also thought about the fact that every single person in this world uses sign language everyday. It might not be American sign language (ASL), but at least they are signing. I also thought about the fact that it is going to change my families life style. Not only will Sadie have to learn sign language, but all of us will. This will make my children bilingual. I love that thought, especially since it's not a commonly learned language. One of my other reasons for choosing the total approach is that we are not sure of Sadie's cognitive ability. Sign language is used by all, at all ages no matter what the cognitive ability is. It could be as simple as a blink of the eye for yes, or a finger being raised for no. So she will learn to sign things based on her cognitive ability.
Those are some of my reasons for going with the total approach. I have many, many more reasons but I don't have all day to write. I will say that we are lucky that we live in a county that offers both programs. I am thankful that I was able to get this headache and stress. Many families are not able to choose because their counties or school districts do not offer both programs and many families can't just pick up and move. So Sadie is a very lucky little girl. And the best part about this decision is that if I choose wrong she can always switch programs without too much difficulty (but hopefully this is the right choice for her and our family).
I met with our hearing impaired representative that works with our Early On program through the state. She explained why so many hearing tests, why we are trying hearing aids, what services are available for her, what 2 schools we have for the deaf/hard of hearing (HOH) here in Kent County. She explained MANY things to me. Sometimes I feel like I am on planet Mars when it comes to this stuff. All her medical stuff is second nature to me, all her special needs stuff was like a foreign country, but I quickly adjusted to that, all this hearing stuff... completely new planet. I feel clueless. It's a totally different world.
Sadies hearing representative brought in the directors of both the HOH schools. The first was for the school that concentrates on helping kids to learn to listen, read lips, and speak. This program is called the Aural/oral approach. The second program concentrates on helping kids learn to listen, read lips, speak, and they teach sign language. This program is the total communication approach. Going into this meeting I was sure we were going to go with the total communication. However, after listening to both program options, I left that meeting slightly confused. They both sounded like excellent programs, and they both have there pros and cons. What do I do?! This is a huge decision. I cried and prayed for the next week that I would make the right decision for this little girl. This will impact the rest of her life. And I guess when I think about it now, it's not any bigger then any of the other decisions that I have to make when it comes to her life (or my other girls life) I was just seriously confused for about a week and it was stressing me out. However, I finally made the decision.
After debating it all, we decided to go with my first choice, the total communication program. This is why. I looked at all the children that I know that have PTCD (I met them through a support group on line). From what I gather all of them have been able to pick up on sign language and seem to be able to communicate well using this method. Some of them can hear fairly well too, but still have issues with speech, but will sign to communicate. So I took that all into consideration. I also thought about the fact that every single person in this world uses sign language everyday. It might not be American sign language (ASL), but at least they are signing. I also thought about the fact that it is going to change my families life style. Not only will Sadie have to learn sign language, but all of us will. This will make my children bilingual. I love that thought, especially since it's not a commonly learned language. One of my other reasons for choosing the total approach is that we are not sure of Sadie's cognitive ability. Sign language is used by all, at all ages no matter what the cognitive ability is. It could be as simple as a blink of the eye for yes, or a finger being raised for no. So she will learn to sign things based on her cognitive ability.
Those are some of my reasons for going with the total approach. I have many, many more reasons but I don't have all day to write. I will say that we are lucky that we live in a county that offers both programs. I am thankful that I was able to get this headache and stress. Many families are not able to choose because their counties or school districts do not offer both programs and many families can't just pick up and move. So Sadie is a very lucky little girl. And the best part about this decision is that if I choose wrong she can always switch programs without too much difficulty (but hopefully this is the right choice for her and our family).
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