Friday 29 April 2005

Email - thoughts about communication

Embracing deaf community is exaggerated. Our daughter was only 1-1/2 when we discovered herdeafness, and the operation was when she was 2-1/4. So, even though we have her in a deafkindergarten (with CI-kids) and we are using sign, we are not really involved in deaf culture.I've read a lot, and we met great people from deaf culture, but our involvement hasn't been thatbig. But we will keep contact and keep learning as we go along.

Where does your deaf child stand in the family. Eldest, youngest? And do all in the house use sign? How is it with family and friends. Did you see a change when your child was able to hear?With us, our friends were positive in using and learning sign, but when not exposed to it daily, learning it is difficult. One cannot expect that all people in our lives will learn sign justbecause of our child. Even though they would be willing, there will always be friends that will not be able and a communication gap will grow.

We are Dutch, living in Norway, so our children grow up bi-lingual anyway, tri-lingual with thelittle sign the know and will learn. But for our daughter it was important that she would be ableto communicate in Dutch with family and Norwegian with our friends. (plus English, later on)

Have you waited especially until your daughter was older to get the operation?I think that her having sign as a first language will help her a lot.
But I disagree with you that CI will not change the fact that she is deaf. Of course she's still deaf but I feel that the additional sense she's having now will change her perception of deafnessin the future. I think that there is a difference between deaf, hoh and ci. I have noticed that within deaf culture it's difficult to say this since it's a sensitive topic, but from what I read it seems that when deaf people choose CI they set themselves apart from deaf culture (or are shunned from deaf culture)

Here in Norway the discussion is no longer IF a child should be implanted, but it has changed toHOW to educate the child. With Speech only or offering them both.

I met a wonderful young lady of 9-1/2 years old that spoke without problems. She's American, and took Norwegian class. Her teacher never noticed that she wore CI. The girl doesn't need sign but since it was her first language she wants to practice it, so there is still a connection with the deaf world.

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(Some) Milestones

  • 2013-08: Grade 6
  • 2012-08: Grade 5
  • 2011-08: Grade 4
  • 2011-03: BTE's on the ear
  • 2010-08: Grade 3
  • 2009-08: Grade 2
  • 2008-08: Mainstream School (6y. old)
  • 2006-10: All-hearing Kindergarten (4y. old)
  • 2004-11-22: CI activated (27 m. old)
  • 2004-10-04: Bi-lateral CI (26 m. old)
  • 2003-08: Deaf/HOH/CI Pre-school/"DEAF" Kindergarten (12m. old)
  • 2003-07: HA's fitted (11 m. old)
  • 2003-06: Diagnosed deaf. Start sign-language (10m. old)
  • 2002-11: Suspicion loss of hearing (4 m. old)
  • 2002-08: Born - A fierce LION
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