Summer Plans

Sorry for the pause in entries, but Summer is almost upon us! Are you ready?? Every summer we are bombarded with things to do, places to see, and people to visit. Where are you going this summer?

As homeschoolers schooling doesn't stop just because it is June. We keep doing our school work, but we also take advantage of the summer reading programs and camps available. Most reading programs are free to participate in, as they should be. Here are a few:

Half Price Books

Pizza Hut Book It

Book Adventure

Barnes & Noble's

Borders Reading Challenge

And don't forget to check your local library. Last year my kids earned free tickets to the circus through our local library! It was exciting!

There are also many camps available during the summer. Check your state deaf school and see what they have going on in the summer. Here in Texas, TSD always has some fun up their sleeve!

We are blessed to be attending ASDC Conference in Oklahoma!! We are so very excited.

And don't forget all the things IP has planned! There is so much to do - don't miss out!

These are all great events to get our kids around positive deaf adults and deaf friends.

Bible Stories

One of the most important duties of a parent is to pass on our spiritual beliefs to our children. I want my children to love God with all their hearts. So how do we pass this on to our deaf children that miss out on so much verbage?

1. They are very good at asorbing information visually, so what are we telling them visually? Do they see us worshipping? Do they see us love and cherish them? Do they see us helping those in need? Do they see us honoring our authorities? My deaf daughter is the best at mimicing me and, sadly, she picks up on all my sinful habits. We need to be sure we do what we say!

2. A Bible notebook has been a fabulous idea at our house. Each of my children keep a Bible journal which we work on each morning after Breakfast. The younger ones draw pictures of whatever Bible story they are reading and copy a sentence from their Bible story books. My deaf daughter has been copying scripture for several years now. She doesn't know all that she is writing, but she is definately getting familiar with Bible reference.

3. We also enjoy acting, signing, and retelling of Bible stories. I get the video camera out and they enjoy acting out their favorite stories. Sometimes I read and sign a story - or sometimes I only sign the story. They all get a kick out of that.

4. We also take advantage of Bible coloring books. No Greater Joy has a new series of very detailed Bible coloring books that my kids have enjoyed. They also have a corresponding comic book Bible.

5. And my favorite is Deaf Missions Bible DVD's. They offer the whole Bible in ASL on DVD!! They have kids videos and a kids Bible study club! All awesome!

Communication around the Holiday Table

The holidays are upon us! What do you envision when you hear the words Thanksgiving?

A big oblong table covered in food?

A turkey and ham?

Visiting with friends and family?

Noise?

Football?

Now imagine the Thanksgiving table, but you can't hear anything. You see lots of people. You see lots of food. And you see lots of mouths moving and laughing. You don't know that there is music in the background. You didn't notice that Grandpa just said the dinner prayer. All of a sudden there is a line around the buffet table so you join in to get some food. All the kids jump up and run to the other room, but you don't know why. You carry your plate to the table and find yourself sitting among the adults. Hmm? Where did the kids go? You finish your food and go look for everyone and find them outside playing. You enjoy playing until they all run inside. Now what is happening? So you run inside too and find all in line for dessert! Yum! But by the time you get up there all the ice cream is gone and you have to settle for just a piece of pie. Everyone is laughing but you don't know what is so funny. You wander into the other room and watch the football game for a few minutes. Everyone is having a good time, but no one is talking to you. You can't follow any of the conversations because there are so many people talking at one time. You settle for playing outside or looking at a book until Mom says it's time to go home.

Holidays may be a fun time, but have we stopped to consider what our little special children are "seeing"? Here are some ideas to be sure our deaf children are included in the festivities:

1. If you can provide a round table, this is best for following a conversation.
2. Signing every conversation would be difficult and would probably bore your little one, but make a point to sign the funny things being said.
3. Pay attention to you child and make sure he/she is having fun and not being left out. Children are wonderful at getting around the language barrier. Let them play, just make sure your child is not being left out.
4. Give your child an opportunity to tell family members about his/her year.
5. And make sure that your child is aware when announcments are made - like when it is dessert time!!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

To be or not to be . . .

Five years ago we made the decision to give our daughter the Cochlear Implant. She was old enough to be a part of the decision making, but ultimately it was our decision. This article is not meant to be a debate. I'm not trying to fluff feathers, just relating our experience.

We saw the CI to be a tool. It was meant to give her access to the hearing world, but not to become hearing. Many believe that when she received the CI that she could miraculously hear. So all of a sudden we were faced with people constantly asking if she could hear now and would start talking like the rest of us "hearing' people.

My daughter is deaf! She will always be deaf. That is who she is and she likes being deaf. Only one time in her life has she asked for the doctors to fix her ears, but she has prayed repeatedly for a deaf brother and that her parents would become deaf!

My daughter signs and likes signing, but she also loves to talk! As she matures we ask her opinion on her deafness and education. We want to know what she is thinking and who she is. We were discussing communication options and I simply asked if she liked signing or talking more. She quickly responded with, "I like signing, but some people don't know sign." She listed several people that she is with regularly, mostly family, and then continued: "I want both. Sign and voice. I want to talk with my friends and family." I was very proud of my little girl. She understood that she lives in a hearing world. I have nothing wrong with a person who only signs. They get along just fine in this world through gestures, writing, and interpreters. But MY daughter wants to do both, so we are trying to give her that.

The CI is a wonderful technology, but it is not a quick "fix". When it works, it gives her good sound. She has been able to develop some good speech. She has been without the CI for about 2 months now due to equipment failure. At risk for sounding like a bad mom, I like her without it. She seems calmer without it and it requires all of us to sign to her. Will we get the CI fixed? Yes, of course we will. But it's just nice to know that with or without it, my daughter can still communicate.

To be . . . deaf is a part of who she is.
To not be . . . deaf, we would miss out on a whole other world.

Schedule Dilemma

A while back I wrote an article on the importance of scheduling with children, especially deaf children. You can check that out here.

I wanted to share how we are using schedules in our home. Shelby will be 10 years old in a couple of weeks! Wow! She is a busy little thing, but really likes having that schedule. She likes to know what to do next and what everyone else will be doing. I've tried all kinds of schedule charts that I spent hours trying to create. I've even made picture cards of each job for each child. That was cool, but so much work! Because I also had to remember to change the cards out every evening.

So I got the bright idea to let the kids make their own schedule. What a concept! Not only did they have fun drawing all the pictures of each job, they remember their schedule much better. I made it real simple, but you could make it more elaborate. I took a piece of printer paper and folded it until I had 16 blocks. They numbered the blocks so that they would know which order to go. Then I told them what to draw in each block. I went back and wrote in the task to help with reading skills. Since the blocks are small, I wrote it. (Their handwriting can get rather large.LOL)

Happy scheduling!

Using an Interpreter

Our daughter had her first experience with a professional interpreter. What an experience! We never go anywhere demanding more than "mom" as the interpreter. And we love all the volunteer interpreters at IP, but I've never had to request an interpreter for an event. Well . . . this summer all three of my children earned a free Ringling Brothers Circus ticket by reading 5 books. This was a really big deal for us! So I planned ahead and called the event center's office a month early, actually my husband called while I was in labor! It was so easy! They gave us no hassle and set it up within the week. We were all very excited, especially me! I didn't have to sign or answer questions during the show. The interpreter was awesome and Shelby loved it. She actually watched the interpreter for the two hours we were there! She tired a little at the end, but did great! She felt so special. I wanted to share this little story for those out there that might be a little unsure about requesting an interpreter. I've always been hesitant to ask when I know that I could do the job. But I also realize that my daughter needs to learn how use an interpreter, she needs to know that they are available for her. She even told the interpreter that her "mommy can't sign because she has to feed the baby." Wow! She really understands whats going on. She realized that I can't always do that for her.

Cochlear Implant

My daughter has a cochlear implant, which we use as a tool not a quick fix. Her friend just got his CI and his mom posted a great explanation of it. Please check it out at Gerlt House.