Another Mom (plus a story)

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Eseff

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I used to be on here under another username (Fresh2Deaf). My son was identified at one month old. I was told he would be implanted and never need signs or ASL. When he was identified at one month old, I was introduced to a 6 and 5 year old at a AV school. Back then I didn't find it suspicious that in a whole school we were being introduced to TWO kids. These two kids spoke VERY well but still sounded deaf to my Hearing ears. During a display of their "hearing" ability, these cuties got caught lipreading using a mirror that I never noticed till they were scolded.

Fast-forward with me not knowing what had happened, because of my limited experience..... My son turned into a toddler with NO language! The only sign he had was MILK.

I have always been pro-implant as my niece is implanted, is bilingual, and is doing better than great! Yep, deafness in the family.... ONLY to be told that in a case like my son's that the implant will not be AS successful, and that he will always need sign language. Then to be made to feel bad that we don't know a lot of sign language already by the implant team!!!!!

So I'm back and trying to catch up ASAP!! Getting a sorenson VP on Sunday and would love to practice!!! My son is currently in a SEE/TC program, and I HATE some of the SEE signs. Ew!!! Am I right??? Plus, I have seen first hand that these cuties are more sign oriented and are still behind with their spoken language. Very behind. I'm not at all interested in holding back my son's cognitive/emotional development so that he can say words "correctly."

Hope to meet some friends.....
 
Welcome back,

I'm sorry to hear the professionals advised you not to use sign language at the stage of diagnosis then changed their advice and told you to learn ASL.

It's sad to hear about those cuties being used as a poster children for the AV school when they should be exposed to ASL and working on trying to catch up on English.

Hehe, I have forgotten so much of SEE that I learned as a youngster, so when I see it signed I'd go 'ew and think to myself how glad I am to be signing in Auslan or ASL'. :)

If you're not satisfied with your son's current educational program, perhaps you could look into Calif School for the Deaf in either Fremont or Riverside. They're one of the best not to mention the biggest in the country.

I'm sure there's few people here including parents of deaf kids who would be happy to practice/teach you signs. Also you could buy ASL DVDs.

Best of luck learning sign language.

Cheers
 
:welcome: to AD and I am happy that you stopped listening to those AV people. I have always never trusted them and their agenda.

Good luck with learning ASL.

Have you tried contacting California School for the Deaf in Fremont?
 
Hi, I wished they told you that it is a good idea to start learning ASL even if your child could be successful with implant. Because hearing from an implant for the first time usually sound full of statics for the first few months or more (depends on the mapping and how fast he can pick up sounds)... not worth waiting til he can benefit from implant to gain a language. Plus a possibility that he may not benefit at all. Not worth waterproofing your CI to communicate in pools either.

scolding on lipreading, sign language, not wearing HAs/CIs in a AVT setting , yep, I'm not surprised.

You'll do great.. just keep asking around, don't be afraid of debates, and you'll learn as you go.
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum. I vouched for A's statement and agree with her one hundred percent. You will find lots of answers or debates from many topics about deafness plus hearing aids and CIs. As for me, that is the reason why I love to discuss and debate. So have fun browsing around and posting all the threads here. See you around here, Eseff. :wave:
 
I am with A on her statement, Sign language never harmed anyone!

I learnt to sign when I was a baby, didn't speak until i was 5 and my english was on par. I am now an adult (32) who speaks well, still signs to her deaf friends, I got my CI 2 years ago by choice.
 
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