http://www.videoweed.com/file/syltycewcov7y
part 2
http://www.videoweed.com/file/qvukhtf8c9qbp
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Becoming an Adult
This is one of the most confusing times I have ever encountered in my entire life. I am a week away from graduating college with an American Sign Language Studies/Deaf Cultural Studies degree. I have no clue what the rest of my life has in store for me. I have no job lined up. I am moving hundreds of miles away from my family.
But this is not what will define me. My life is gonna be great and I don't have to know what each day holds for me. I'll find a job and maybe even find a career because at this point in my life, I still have no clue what I want to be. And that's okay. And while I may be moving hundreds of miles away from my family...I'm gaining a new part to add to it. I'm recently engaged and I'm moving with my fiance to a new place where his family is. My sister is also moving in with us.
I am moving in nine days and I have yet to start packing up our apartment.
But this is not what will define me. My life is gonna be great and I don't have to know what each day holds for me. I'll find a job and maybe even find a career because at this point in my life, I still have no clue what I want to be. And that's okay. And while I may be moving hundreds of miles away from my family...I'm gaining a new part to add to it. I'm recently engaged and I'm moving with my fiance to a new place where his family is. My sister is also moving in with us.
I am moving in nine days and I have yet to start packing up our apartment.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Sometimes I wonder...
I don't know if anyone else has ever had to deal with anything like this, but the other day I was on campus with some of my friends and we were chatting. Keep in mind that we are all Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing...so we were using sign language. This woman had the audacity to come up to us and tell us, or rather demand that we don't pollute the gene pool any further. Being the only person that could really understand her, I told everyone else what she was saying. I asked her for her name and of course she said she wouldn't give me that. One of the guys that was there has four kids who are all can hear, but he is honestly one of the best Dad's I've ever known. So this incident (which happens more often than people would like to think) makes me wonder how you can have the balls to go up to a group of complete strangers that don't even speak your language and tell them to not have kids. The only thing we can't do aside from you WOMAN is hear!
All I really have to say to that woman is that more Hearing children start out with ASL or some form of baby sign than you can imagine. Just recently, I was helping a family friend with just this problem. My friend has two young daughters. They are 13 months apart, but the older Hailey had some problems with calcium deposits on her brain while she was in utero and now she is having developmental and physical delays. During the break for Christmas, I had about a month to work with her every day. The calcium deposits are heavy around her speech development and comprehension areas. She will be two in May and she hasn't spoken a single word. She also doesn't seem to understand what you tell to her. Her younger sister Brittany is 8 months old and is passing these milestones. So I told my friend to let me work with her and Hailey and I could see if there would be anything I could do to help.
I can speak clearly as I have lost my hearing over time so I started at first speaking and signing at the same time around her. In fact, if I said something, I also signed it just to get her exposed to my language being on my hands. She looked at my funny but nothing really clicked at first. After that first week, I really worked with her one on one for most of the day everyday. I did not speak to her during these times. Only signed. I played with her and if she wanted something, I would sign it and then we would play with it. Before we would feed her or offer her any drink, I would expose her to the sign for MILK or EAT or MORE. My next step was to get her to sign her first word. Just like Hearing children, her first sign will naturally be MOM or DAD. I would have her Mom walk to the kitchen and then come back. I would make a big to-do about Mommy coming back and we would sign and clap. We did the same thing with Daddy.
Even though she wasn't signing any words herself, I could see the change. Something was clicking inside that brain of hers. Before, if she was doing something she wasn't supposed to and you told her no, it didn't register for her. She would go back to doing the same thing because no held no meaning even after tapping her hands. After I started signing to her. If she was doing something wrong and I told her no, she immediately stopped. She would come over to me and I would just tell her she couldn't do that. After going through this routine for round two to two and a half weeks, we really got her temper under control. She is a very frustrated child and no one can blame her for that. She doesn't have the means for communicating even her most basic needs. Quite frankly, her Mom was on her last string of hope because they have seen doctor after doctor and specialists and therapists for speech and development. They offered no relief.
The day in her third week when she produced her first sign will forever be ingrained in my memory. I was playing with her and it was just before lunch time. My friend had come into the living room with a load of laundry she was going to fold nearly fell over. The laundry basket fell and the clothes went everywhere. Hailey had signed MOM and pointed. We had her up and she was getting her share of hugs and kisses. Her Dad came in from outside when he heard all the commotion and then he saw the clothes everywhere and asked what happened. He was under the impression that someone was hurt. Let's just say she got extra snacks that day after lunch. We reinforced the behavior and she was signing MOM whenever she wanted anything so we started to work on a basic vocabulary. After we got her understanding that she could communicate through her hands, she is learning more words every week.
I only got a chance to work with her for four weeks, but I laid the ground for the basics when no one knew what to do. By the end of that fourth week, her vocabulary had expanded to five signs...MOM, DAD, EAT(hungry), MILK, and MORE. After we knew that this was working, we immediately started ordering the PBS Signing Time DVD's. I can honestly say that I have never felt better about anything in the world than the moment she first signed MOM. She didn't bite someone to get attention or hit her little sister.
It's been about a month since I left and I am told that she had expanded her library of words over 30 and can put simple sentences together like a child her age can. She calls her little sister BABY, but she can't spell yet so that's okay. I'm not a doctor, but sometimes it takes an outsider to look at a situation and say this is what you should be doing. Doctors try to find something to fix, but there may not be a fix for this. She just may never be able to understand what she is hearing. There is nothing wrong with that.
I am also happy to report that little Brittany has also started signing. Right now her vocabulary consists of MOM and DAD but as she develops motor skills I'm sure that will increase. I'm hoping to be able to visit them soon but I'm not sure I will have time.
All I really have to say to that woman is that more Hearing children start out with ASL or some form of baby sign than you can imagine. Just recently, I was helping a family friend with just this problem. My friend has two young daughters. They are 13 months apart, but the older Hailey had some problems with calcium deposits on her brain while she was in utero and now she is having developmental and physical delays. During the break for Christmas, I had about a month to work with her every day. The calcium deposits are heavy around her speech development and comprehension areas. She will be two in May and she hasn't spoken a single word. She also doesn't seem to understand what you tell to her. Her younger sister Brittany is 8 months old and is passing these milestones. So I told my friend to let me work with her and Hailey and I could see if there would be anything I could do to help.
I can speak clearly as I have lost my hearing over time so I started at first speaking and signing at the same time around her. In fact, if I said something, I also signed it just to get her exposed to my language being on my hands. She looked at my funny but nothing really clicked at first. After that first week, I really worked with her one on one for most of the day everyday. I did not speak to her during these times. Only signed. I played with her and if she wanted something, I would sign it and then we would play with it. Before we would feed her or offer her any drink, I would expose her to the sign for MILK or EAT or MORE. My next step was to get her to sign her first word. Just like Hearing children, her first sign will naturally be MOM or DAD. I would have her Mom walk to the kitchen and then come back. I would make a big to-do about Mommy coming back and we would sign and clap. We did the same thing with Daddy.
Even though she wasn't signing any words herself, I could see the change. Something was clicking inside that brain of hers. Before, if she was doing something she wasn't supposed to and you told her no, it didn't register for her. She would go back to doing the same thing because no held no meaning even after tapping her hands. After I started signing to her. If she was doing something wrong and I told her no, she immediately stopped. She would come over to me and I would just tell her she couldn't do that. After going through this routine for round two to two and a half weeks, we really got her temper under control. She is a very frustrated child and no one can blame her for that. She doesn't have the means for communicating even her most basic needs. Quite frankly, her Mom was on her last string of hope because they have seen doctor after doctor and specialists and therapists for speech and development. They offered no relief.
The day in her third week when she produced her first sign will forever be ingrained in my memory. I was playing with her and it was just before lunch time. My friend had come into the living room with a load of laundry she was going to fold nearly fell over. The laundry basket fell and the clothes went everywhere. Hailey had signed MOM and pointed. We had her up and she was getting her share of hugs and kisses. Her Dad came in from outside when he heard all the commotion and then he saw the clothes everywhere and asked what happened. He was under the impression that someone was hurt. Let's just say she got extra snacks that day after lunch. We reinforced the behavior and she was signing MOM whenever she wanted anything so we started to work on a basic vocabulary. After we got her understanding that she could communicate through her hands, she is learning more words every week.
I only got a chance to work with her for four weeks, but I laid the ground for the basics when no one knew what to do. By the end of that fourth week, her vocabulary had expanded to five signs...MOM, DAD, EAT(hungry), MILK, and MORE. After we knew that this was working, we immediately started ordering the PBS Signing Time DVD's. I can honestly say that I have never felt better about anything in the world than the moment she first signed MOM. She didn't bite someone to get attention or hit her little sister.
It's been about a month since I left and I am told that she had expanded her library of words over 30 and can put simple sentences together like a child her age can. She calls her little sister BABY, but she can't spell yet so that's okay. I'm not a doctor, but sometimes it takes an outsider to look at a situation and say this is what you should be doing. Doctors try to find something to fix, but there may not be a fix for this. She just may never be able to understand what she is hearing. There is nothing wrong with that.
I am also happy to report that little Brittany has also started signing. Right now her vocabulary consists of MOM and DAD but as she develops motor skills I'm sure that will increase. I'm hoping to be able to visit them soon but I'm not sure I will have time.
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