MOMMY, finally!

   

Last night Peter finally signed MOMMY!  It was a hand wiggle with his thumb on the side of his chin, but he was looking at a picture of me :D. He has sort of made signs for Sydney and Samantha, and DADDY and GRANDMA, and BABY, so we are slowly getting all the family members. I still rated after DOG, CAT, and FISH, though! He even signed GRASS  last Friday before he signed MOMMY. I hope he says "mama" before those other words to make up for it!

DADDY

Peter's sign for his Daddy is also the sign for DONKEY

Coincidence?

I heard from another mom who went to a CI conference that the professionals were recommending not introducing any new signs after a child gets an implant, at least until spoken language is established. IF I wanted to stick hard and fast to those guidelines I could still talk to Peter when his CIs are off, BUT only because I exposed Peter to so many signs that even if I don't teach him any new ones, he has hundreds that we could still use!. One small study touting benefits of early signing showed CI kids with deaf parents did better learning spoken language than CI kids with hearing parents- the assumption being that the signing from birth gave them early access to language, which ported over to spoken language. This study is pretty old, before the FDA lowered the implant age guidelines, and it doesn't have any hearing parents who signed. Another old (1996) study showed that continued development in sign did not have a negative effect on spoken language, and possibly had a positive effect. The authors of the study also point out that people who posit that signing is detrimental tend to be monolingual, where most of the world is bi-, or multi-lingual, and that they develop just fine!  I keep this information in the back of mind when I feel pressure to drop signing.  I also know that signing is not for every family- we had a head start because I had used it with my girls. People who have late diagnosed kids, or whose children lose their hearing suddenly may not even have time to think about learning sign before their child has CI's and they are focusing on talking talking talking! And if the FDA lowers the age guidelines to 9 months for CI surgery then there will be even less time to focus on sign- but that doesn't mean it wouldn't help....

But what is the magic formula?  Several studies seem to show that CI Children in Oral programs speak and understand spoken language better than CI Children in Total Communication programs.  Is it that TC is not the best of both worlds, and immersion in each separately would be more beneficial? Where are those studies? What would I even look for?  I suppose it doesn't really matter right now, as I already knew I wanted to do an oral school at this point, but still use sign. We have times like bedtime, where we read some stories aloud, with some signs on the book, then take off the CI and have a 100% signed story or two. Peter seems pretty happy with that arrangement :)

Some traction and new SHOES

After my entry about trying to get the ball rolling I got lots of things almost checked off the list :)

1) I went to a play date at the new Early Start group. I was part of a dedicated hearing loss group, so having several other parents (all hearing) with children with hearing aids or cochlear implants was a different experience (as compared to Santa Cruz County, where no other kids with hearing loss were at the play dates).  Everyone was nice, and the woman I met with said she thought from here on out Peter should get two weekly home visits starting that last week in August. I forgot to give her the massive packet of paperwork, but at least all the forms are filled out ;). The one bummer: the play groups are on Fridays, so I will have to choose between CSD (the School for the Deaf) and the Early Start get together. It is unfortunate the two big programs don't have different days, and at least some days where they welcome each others families. Sharing information, and having access to both environments woud be so beneficial to kids with hearing loss (in my mind). Also, building a bridge between the ASL and spoken English programs would help families see that there are lots of options out there, and find what combination works best for their child. Something else to work on in my spare time ;)

2) my meeting with the Oral School was pushed out until next Tuesday. I can't say it was a total surprise, more like par for the course. If this wasn't the only program of its kind for the youngest kids I think they would have to run a much tighter ship. Bleah!

3) I signed Samantha up for a preschool that meets Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays!  I visited and LOVED the environment, and the teacher was so open and friendly and happy! Such a change from the last preschool teacher I worked with! And the way the schedule works means that no matter what days JWPOSD (the Oral School) recommends, I will have at least one day a week when I can drive the carpool (there are at least two other mountain families there) or maybe even work if I get baby care for Peter. My mom offered to do most of the work shifts, though, so I will just be doing the monthly meetings and committee work as my part of the cooperative preschool.  I got most of that paperwork done, and just need to send in the check.

4) got the re-enrollment packet for Sydney filled out. There was a ton of paperwork! And I can't turn it back in until she gets a TB test.  Since we officially "left" the county to go to school last year (even though we were at home, or in Los Gatos for classes) they require the TB teats to come back. Luckily I need a TB test, as does Samantha for the preschool, and Peter still hadn't done his 12-month well-baby visit, so all of that is Wednesday. So #4 is almost done, too.

5) The second surgery is scheduled! August 7th. So Peter will have two ears starting August 27th, which is also the day JWPOSD starts. So happy!! I still need to arrange kid care and all that for surgery day, since my mother-in-law isn't around, but several people have offered help. I am soooo thankful for all my awesome friends that have helped me out by watching my girls when I have appointments for Peter.

6) Vacation. I am not saying no with a capital N, but I don't think it's gonna happen. Looking at the calendar, with Pre-Op and Dr. Visits, the surgery, post-op, and THREE different start dates for schools I don't see a good time.

So we have traction. We are moving forward! And on Friday, at the Early Start parking lot I said to Peter, "let's get your shoes". I reached for them, and he signed SHOES for the first time!  My boy is so smart!

Stuck in First Ear

I haven't had enough positive stuff to write about lately, but I decided I ought to make a note of what is going on for posterity's sake ;)

My frustrations:

1)  my Early Start situation - we are being transferred from one county to another, and I don't know exactly what the new county offers.

2) Oral Deaf School for next year- I still don't know what days they are recommending for Peter.

3) Preschool for Samantha- some of it depends on what days Peter goes to school. I feel like it is really late to be starting the enrollment process.

4) Getting my older daughter re-enrolled at the local school. Not really a big deal or stumbling block, but it needs to be done!

5) Surgery date for Peter is still not set

6) Vacations are not taken or planned, or even positively decided upon until the surgery date is on the calendar.

So, I am trying to get the ball rolling. I made some phone calls, left messages about 1-5, played some phone tag, and now I have a little bit of progress.

1) I spoke to M., the director of early start in the new county. She followed up with an email and a promise that one of the actual service providers would call by end of day Wednesday. So I still don't know anything, but I have some names and phone numbers. The goal is to have Peter completely enrolled and familiar with the services they offer before end of summer session 7/26, and to have home visits and all that start from the first day of the new school year (aug 26 or so).

2) I have a visit planned for Thursday or Friday at the Oral Deaf School. Even getting a visit is frustrating! Can't schedule anything with just one phone call it seems. But then by Friday I should know which group of kids Peter would fit in with best.

3) I scheduled a visit at a local preschool for tomorrow. Hopefully it is nice!

4) enrollment packet should be in the mail to me- I spoke to the district secretary yesterday. As soon as I get it and fill it out I can drop it back off and be done with it!

5) Left a message for the surgery coordinator yesterday. They promise 48 -hour max response time. No news yet.

6) Depends on number 5...

So, hopefully everything will be morning along nicely by end of week.

Luckily Peter is still doing great! He is experimenting with a lot of "aaaah" and things that sound like "la, na, ha, ba all rolled together ;). I need to video it, since he didn't really make any of those sounds before he got his CI.