Peter is teething. I think I even see the teeth, right there below the gum. Thank goodness he isn't using me as a teether anymore, though! I think that in the next three weeks while Nana Bev, my Mother-in-Law, is here to visit, Peter will start to crawl AND get his first teeth. Things always seem to happen when more family is around....
Tonight Peter was up on all fours rocking back and forth. He even got one leg to move forward once before he rolled over. We applauded, he grinned, and tried it again. Babies have so many new things that just happen- like teeth, the desire to crawl, the strength to sit up. It made me wonder if that's how Peter will view hearing. My mom said she thought it would be like," ok, I'm one now, that's how old you are when your ears start working". Just like he must be saying to himself about the six month mark and food and teeth ;)
I saw a man and his adopted daughter at the Monterey Bay Aquarium today. I noticed them because an aquarium employee or volunteer was signing to the girl about the Open Ocean exhibit. Then I noticed the girl had two cochlear implants. I told the man that Peter was a candidate, and he said he thought the young ones did phenomenally.. His daughter was 21/2 when she was adopted- and no one told her adoptive parents she was deaf. Maybe the Chinese orphanage didn't know, but....In any case she was implanted a year ago at 5 1/2, and still relied heavily on sign. Her father said she was making progress, but that it was much harder being implanted after 5 (being without language for 2 1/2 years probably doesn't help either). He also said that being silent for so long made the noisy world harder to adjust to, and it seemed like his daughter turned her CIs off if it was too noisy. We said hi and introduced ourselves in ASL, then I had to run after My three year old!
I hope that hearing will be a gift, and not a drama. I also hope that Peter can see the silence as a gift, too, and enjoy both worlds. Also, I am tremendously thankful that insurance here covers CIs, and that our insurance has been so easy to deal with so far. In China most poor people can't afford to pay out of pocket for CIs, so often their best hope for a child born deaf is to drop them off at the orphanage, and hope they get adopted by someone who can sign and/or pay for a CI. My heart goes out to the deaf children in Chinese orphanages, and I have so much respect for the several families I know of who have adopted special needs kids abroad.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Fridays at CSD
I have said before how lucky I am to live within an hour of so many great resources for Peter. The California School for the Deaf, in Fremont, is one of those great resources, and I have really been enjoying my visits there. The people who work at CSD are great, and I feel like I have already learned a lot. My girls have been welcomed, too, and have enjoyed playing with the the deaf kids, and some hearing siblings of deaf children.
One Friday the parents had a workshop on ASL reading techniques. I was one of two hearing parents there. The speaker discussed how to embrace/ communicate both the language of the author and ASL. Finger spelling was really emphasized as a tool for kids learning to read. Also using the ASL sign, showing the written word, fingerspelling the word, and explaining in ASL- using all of these tools together were suggested. Changing signing size/space taken up is used as a technique to make things "louder" or "quieter"- e.g. signing BEAR from above your shoulders all the way to your waist could be the character in the book shouting "Bear!"
My ASL is not great, but working with one of the teachers to translate a storybook into ASL was so much fun! We did a book called "Thud!", and in just a few minutes I learned 5-10 signs. I wish we had had more time to finish the story. The way you use your kinesthetic mind and your eyes with ASL is such a great Yin to spoken English's Yang- I wish more hearing kids were taught ASL. I think kids who are very visual or who need to move to learn might really be helped by including ASL in "regular " schools. By the way, Peter was rolling around on a blanket screeching happily during this reading time- and no one was bothered ;)
Last Friday there was a special storytime at CSD, signed by the Superintendant of the school. We were a little late and missed most of the stories. Note to self: leave on time next week. Then there was Playtime and snack in the preschool class. I saw my girls get a little frustrated with 2-year-olds taking their food or crashing their buildings, but I was actually happy that they didn't find anything unusual about the little kids. We did work on the signs for SHARE, YOUR TURN, MY TURN afterwards.
My girls really like the teachers at CSD. I really like the teachers, too, and the whole energy of the preschool. They have really interesting art all over and fun projects and interactive posters for the kids in the preschool. It is bright and cheerful and comfortable. I don't know if we could put Peter there for some Preschool, and an Oral environment for part-time as well....we will see in a couple years what makes the most sense. For now we are just going with what seems to be the best for Peter at this point. Peter was happiest checking everyone out, of course. Lots of people signed to Peter. He loved it. I even managed to have a couple conversations in ASL with no interpreter. Maybe what I took away is not exactly what was said, but I tried;) Even better, I met a couple moms who want to set up play dates, and have offered to help me with my ASL!
My hope is that Peter gets a strong foundation for language with ASL, and that he enjoys ASL enough to continue using it as he grows up. I hope having peers, mentors, and positive experiences now will encourage the ASL use long-term, even if his hearing and speech are great. CSD is like a small private school, but it is public and free (for deaf students). It could be a good alternative to our local public schools if the classes there keep getting bigger and the money keeps getting siphoned off by the state. But that is a ways off ;)
One Friday the parents had a workshop on ASL reading techniques. I was one of two hearing parents there. The speaker discussed how to embrace/ communicate both the language of the author and ASL. Finger spelling was really emphasized as a tool for kids learning to read. Also using the ASL sign, showing the written word, fingerspelling the word, and explaining in ASL- using all of these tools together were suggested. Changing signing size/space taken up is used as a technique to make things "louder" or "quieter"- e.g. signing BEAR from above your shoulders all the way to your waist could be the character in the book shouting "Bear!"
My ASL is not great, but working with one of the teachers to translate a storybook into ASL was so much fun! We did a book called "Thud!", and in just a few minutes I learned 5-10 signs. I wish we had had more time to finish the story. The way you use your kinesthetic mind and your eyes with ASL is such a great Yin to spoken English's Yang- I wish more hearing kids were taught ASL. I think kids who are very visual or who need to move to learn might really be helped by including ASL in "regular " schools. By the way, Peter was rolling around on a blanket screeching happily during this reading time- and no one was bothered ;)
Last Friday there was a special storytime at CSD, signed by the Superintendant of the school. We were a little late and missed most of the stories. Note to self: leave on time next week. Then there was Playtime and snack in the preschool class. I saw my girls get a little frustrated with 2-year-olds taking their food or crashing their buildings, but I was actually happy that they didn't find anything unusual about the little kids. We did work on the signs for SHARE, YOUR TURN, MY TURN afterwards.
My girls really like the teachers at CSD. I really like the teachers, too, and the whole energy of the preschool. They have really interesting art all over and fun projects and interactive posters for the kids in the preschool. It is bright and cheerful and comfortable. I don't know if we could put Peter there for some Preschool, and an Oral environment for part-time as well....we will see in a couple years what makes the most sense. For now we are just going with what seems to be the best for Peter at this point. Peter was happiest checking everyone out, of course. Lots of people signed to Peter. He loved it. I even managed to have a couple conversations in ASL with no interpreter. Maybe what I took away is not exactly what was said, but I tried;) Even better, I met a couple moms who want to set up play dates, and have offered to help me with my ASL!
My hope is that Peter gets a strong foundation for language with ASL, and that he enjoys ASL enough to continue using it as he grows up. I hope having peers, mentors, and positive experiences now will encourage the ASL use long-term, even if his hearing and speech are great. CSD is like a small private school, but it is public and free (for deaf students). It could be a good alternative to our local public schools if the classes there keep getting bigger and the money keeps getting siphoned off by the state. But that is a ways off ;)
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Deaf Community Center
This past month I have taken Peter to three ASL-using events. There was a special Pumpkin-themed event at the Deaf Community Center, and two Fridays at the California School for the Deaf, in Fremont. Across the board, the people were very friendly and welcoming. The people at the events did initiate conversations with me, even though my signing leaves so much to be desired, and they all gave Peter loads of good vibes.
I can be a shy person, so driving more than an hour on a Saturday morning with just Peter (possibly screaming the whole way) to attend an event at the Deaf Community Center where I wouldn't know anyone, and could barely understand the language, was daunting. I sweetened the deal for myself by arranging to have lunch with one of my longest-standing friends afterward. Nicole lives closer to where the event was, so it wasn't too hard for her to meet me there. I got to the event, and after misspelling Peter's name (I used P at the start and end) I decided I REALLY need to master my finger spelling! I learned the sign for Pumpkin, and watched the parents talk about colors and painting and pumpkins. I could understand something directed to a two-year-old if I knew the context ;). The adult conversation was beyond me- I felt bad when I couldn't even understand LIVE (where do you?). But I watched and tried to absorb some of it. There were interpreters, so I did know what was going on in the larger context. Peter loved it. He didn't want to stop watching to nurse or sleep.
I feel like the one thing I misspoke on was asking a hearing mom when her child had gotten his CI's. the answer was 23 mos. and 36 mos., but it kind of opened a can of worms with the other 2 people near us. I think the mom was using the Total Communication approach, and I can understand why as the little boy maybe had cerebral palsy, as he was in a wheelchair and didn't have very good hand control either, so neither mode (oral or signing) of communication was easy for him, and using both ASL and speech was what worked for them. The deaf woman running the event seemed a bit taken aback that I had brought up the CI's and just cautioned me to research carefully, as there were a lot of people for whom the oral route didn't work. She told an anecdote about a meeting where the speaker asked the deaf/hoh crowd who had felt like a failure in the Oral Education track, and most people had raised their hands, and when asked who had felt like a failure with ASL education no one had raised their hands. I get it. And I also figure that maybe not as many people who felt successful in the Oral world would have been at a meeting conducted in ASL.
I will attend as many Deaf Community Center events as I can - there are only 8 a year or so, and some are too far away, as they rotate around the SF Bay Area. The ASL immersion is great for Peter, and he loves it. Lunch with my friend is an added bonus. I just have to remember to stay away from Deaf politics.
I can be a shy person, so driving more than an hour on a Saturday morning with just Peter (possibly screaming the whole way) to attend an event at the Deaf Community Center where I wouldn't know anyone, and could barely understand the language, was daunting. I sweetened the deal for myself by arranging to have lunch with one of my longest-standing friends afterward. Nicole lives closer to where the event was, so it wasn't too hard for her to meet me there. I got to the event, and after misspelling Peter's name (I used P at the start and end) I decided I REALLY need to master my finger spelling! I learned the sign for Pumpkin, and watched the parents talk about colors and painting and pumpkins. I could understand something directed to a two-year-old if I knew the context ;). The adult conversation was beyond me- I felt bad when I couldn't even understand LIVE (where do you?). But I watched and tried to absorb some of it. There were interpreters, so I did know what was going on in the larger context. Peter loved it. He didn't want to stop watching to nurse or sleep.
I feel like the one thing I misspoke on was asking a hearing mom when her child had gotten his CI's. the answer was 23 mos. and 36 mos., but it kind of opened a can of worms with the other 2 people near us. I think the mom was using the Total Communication approach, and I can understand why as the little boy maybe had cerebral palsy, as he was in a wheelchair and didn't have very good hand control either, so neither mode (oral or signing) of communication was easy for him, and using both ASL and speech was what worked for them. The deaf woman running the event seemed a bit taken aback that I had brought up the CI's and just cautioned me to research carefully, as there were a lot of people for whom the oral route didn't work. She told an anecdote about a meeting where the speaker asked the deaf/hoh crowd who had felt like a failure in the Oral Education track, and most people had raised their hands, and when asked who had felt like a failure with ASL education no one had raised their hands. I get it. And I also figure that maybe not as many people who felt successful in the Oral world would have been at a meeting conducted in ASL.
I will attend as many Deaf Community Center events as I can - there are only 8 a year or so, and some are too far away, as they rotate around the SF Bay Area. The ASL immersion is great for Peter, and he loves it. Lunch with my friend is an added bonus. I just have to remember to stay away from Deaf politics.
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