New mom to deaf/hoh baby

zeefour said:
You are so right sorry. My ASL professor actually works for CSDB. She is an ECE home coordinator and works with kiddos and their families from birth to age 3 from Arapahoe County. I can't begin to tell you how great she is.

I grew up in the mountains so there was no Deaf program there. Even when I moved to the Denver area with my mom our program was so small, it was TC and really disjointed. That was one of the better programs in the state too! Now theres RMDS which is the charter school in JeffCo where I was. I cant count the times I've wished I was younger so I could have gone there!!! :-p
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Well even the early grades are good. Not just EI. That's the way it is at almost all deaf schools, the EI, preschool and kindy, first and second grades are decent. But then you get the kids (some of whom are ORAL) who transfer in from the mainstream. But yes, I'm so stoked about RMDS.......
 
Wow, thank you everyone for your replies. I am a bit overwhelmed with information but I wanted to reply to a few things that stood out to me.

VyxBee said:
I really really really hope you choose to teach your baby to sign when she is big enough, this will open a whole new world to her especially if when she is older she is uncomfortable for any reason using the hearing aids
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Thank you for sharing your experience, I definitely want to empower her to have as many communication options as possible. I'm glad your family learned to sign with you.

Tetracyclone said:
More is better.
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I definitely agree!

nazziegirl said:
You are obviously an intelligent and caring person. Go ahead and use both ASL and English. Your daughter's life will be so enriched by it.
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Thank you, that is very sweet of you to say.

Beowulf said:
Didn't she come with an instruction manual???? Hah, just kidding.
Seriously, you sound like you are doing just fine. The longer I am a member here, the smaller and more ineffectual I feel.
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Haha, no set of instructions! ;)


zeefour said:
If you ever want to chat feel free to message me. I went Deaf at age 6 fractured temporal bone badly in a car accident, we got hit by a drunk driver. I grew up in a rural area, I finally moved to the city a couple hours away after my parents split up and finished school there. I was mainstreamed but there 3 deaf/HoH kids, one girl was Deaf and used ASL and a terp, I was HoH using FM system and cued speech with some signed English, one boy used a CI exclusively no sign. This was out of 3000 kids.

I understand being lonely and feeling too Deaf for hearing too hearing for Deaf. :hugs:
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Thank you for sharing your story with me. I can't imagine the strength and struggle you went through growing up. Can you tell me more about "cued speech"? I was given a handout about it but it doesn't really make sense.

deafdyke said:
I really do think that if a child is from a rural area or from a not so good area (like the type where even hearing kids don't get a good education) that around third/fourth grade, the residental School for the Deaf should be presented as an option. Note I said as an OPTION. Most of the pro inclusion people seem not to realize not everyone has access to excellent schools. Obviously paint it so the parents could move closer. Dorming it and missing out on family life is tricky.....But sometimes moving can't happen........Such a tricky sitution.
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Thank you for the suggestion - I wasn't even aware that deaf schools were an option. The local education system leaves a lot to be desired. The thought of sending my baby far away for an education pulls at my heartstrings but I would be open to doing anything to ensure her the best life possible. Did you attend a deaf school, and if so, did you prefer it to the "mainstream" experience?

Tristen said:
Hi! I, too, am a hearing mom of a deaf daughter. She's 18 months old and such a joy! You have a wonderful journey ahead. Feel free to PM if you want to chat. We learned Gemma had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at about 5 months old. She was fitted with hearing aids, but with her severe to profound levels, didn't benefit much, so we decided to give her CIs at 12 and 13 months. My husband and I have been learning ASL and Gemma's signing has just blossomed over the past couple months. Her first sign was "milk" and then "dad". Anywho, welcome!
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Hi Tristen! Nice to meet you. Sounds like we have a lot in common! How exciting that your daughter signed her first words! :party::dance2: Do you have any tips for a new mom whose daughter was just diagnosed? Who is teaching you ASL? We just met with Early Intervention and I requested an ASL teacher. We'll see. Also, did you do the MRI, the genetic testing, the opthamologist? It seems like we have SO MANY referrals to go through now that her hearing loss was identified. If you prefer, you can PM me too. I'm gonna at least hit "follow" on you so I can message you later!
 
Waitbird said:
Wow, thank you everyone for your replies. I am a bit overwhelmed with information but I wanted to reply to a few things that stood out to me.












Thank you for the suggestion - I wasn't even aware that deaf schools were an option. The local education system leaves a lot to be desired. The thought of sending my baby far away for an education pulls at my heartstrings but I would be open to doing anything to ensure her the best life possible. Did you attend a deaf school, and if so, did you prefer it to the "mainstream" experience?



Hi Tristen! Nice to meet you. Sounds like we have a lot in common! How exciting that your daughter signed her first words! :party::dance2: Do you have any tips for a new mom whose daughter was just diagnosed? Who is teaching you ASL? We just met with Early Intervention and I requested an ASL teacher. We'll see. Also, did you do the MRI, the genetic testing, the opthamologist? It seems like we have SO MANY referrals to go through now that her hearing loss was identified. If you prefer, you can PM me too. I'm gonna at least hit "follow" on you so I can message you later!
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On the other hand you could move maybe? I know.....I get it. I'm not a huge fan of very small kids in the dorms. But maybe you could do research on the good deaf schools/programs, and relocate closer to them I don't know if your state has a dhh program set-up, but that could be a possibility. It is a red flag if the local schools aren't that great even for hearing kids. I didn't attend a deaf school. In fact I thought I was the only HOH kid in the world. I think a good idea would be to contact WPSD and talk to the people there about resources, ideas etc. Basicly look into every and anything for your kid's education. WPSD is pretty good....like people will relocate so their kids can attend.
 
Waitbird said:
Wow, thank you everyone for your replies. I am a bit overwhelmed with information but I wanted to reply to a few things that stood out to me.



Thank you for sharing your experience, I definitely want to empower her to have as many communication options as possible. I'm glad your family learned to sign with you.



I definitely agree!



Thank you, that is very sweet of you to say.



Haha, no set of instructions! ;)




Thank you for sharing your story with me. I can't imagine the strength and struggle you went through growing up. Can you tell me more about "cued speech"? I was given a handout about it but it doesn't really make sense.



Thank you for the suggestion - I wasn't even aware that deaf schools were an option. The local education system leaves a lot to be desired. The thought of sending my baby far away for an education pulls at my heartstrings but I would be open to doing anything to ensure her the best life possible. Did you attend a deaf school, and if so, did you prefer it to the "mainstream" experience?



Hi Tristen! Nice to meet you. Sounds like we have a lot in common! How exciting that your daughter signed her first words! :party::dance2: Do you have any tips for a new mom whose daughter was just diagnosed? Who is teaching you ASL? We just met with Early Intervention and I requested an ASL teacher. We'll see. Also, did you do the MRI, the genetic testing, the opthamologist? It seems like we have SO MANY referrals to go through now that her hearing loss was identified. If you prefer, you can PM me too. I'm gonna at least hit "follow" on you so I can message you later!
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Gosh, my tips for a new mom... Dont let it overwhelm you. Dont let the doctors tell you what to do. Start signing ASAP. Lifeprint.com is a wonderful resource. Find books at the library, online, etc. Your baby is super visual, so make faces, expressions, light up toys will be her favorite. Do your own research. I can't stress that enough. There's tons of opinions on both sides of every fence, so you just stay true to you and your family.

We took 2 classes at Montana School for the Deaf and Blind, which happens to be in my city. We're very lucky that way. I'm also working on getting a family advisor, who would help teach us ASL. But we use Lifeprint and books to help teach ourselves. We met with early intervention, too, and while our service coordinator isn't experienced in deaf kids, she's amazing and has just given a lot of support to us. We did the MRI because we decided to give her CIs, as the hearing aids weren't benefiting her whatsoever. We did genetic testing, because we were curious about it, since she is the only deaf person in our family. She has connexin 26, which is a recessive gene that doesn't allow the hairs in the cochlea to grow fully. Now that we know, its just information, like its just interesting that we both have the gene and no one knew! We didn't see an ophthalmologist because there was no concern over her eyesight. Yes, lots of referrals, and that wont end, haha!

Please reach out if you have questions! It can be jarring at first to hear and its just a new normal that you'll have to define as a family. :)
 
@deafdyke Are you from CO? If so maybe you could help me with this question. I'm currently in ASL classes at Metro. I'm leaving Metro but want to continue taking ASL, I know I have unique challenges trying to break down bad habits I have from signed English. RMDS is offering ASL 1-3 classes, I just finished ASL 1. I was originally going to go onto ACC for ASL and take the rest of my classes online at CSU Global but now I'm thinking about RMDS. Do you know anything about this? (Sorry to go off topic for post, I just wasn't able to post on your profile)
 
zeefour said:
@deafdyke Are you from CO? If so maybe you could help me with this question. I'm currently in ASL classes at Metro. I'm leaving Metro but want to continue taking ASL, I know I have unique challenges trying to break down bad habits I have from signed English. RMDS is offering ASL 1-3 classes, I just finished ASL 1. I was originally going to go onto ACC for ASL and take the rest of my classes online at CSU Global but now I'm thinking about RMDS. Do you know anything about this? (Sorry to go off topic for post, I just wasn't able to post on your profile)
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No, I'm not, but take classes at RMDS...it would be SO MUCH better to take in person classes!
 
deafdyke said:
No, I'm not, but take classes at RMDS...it would be SO MUCH better to take in person classes!
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Ah, you just know a lot about CSDB and RMDS! Oh sorry if I was unclear, the classes at Arapahoe Community College would be in person too. (I just have to switch from Metro and CSU Global doesn't offer language classes because it is online. I'm not going to pay to take ASL II with the rest of my class. ACC is cheaper. But then I got the e-mail about RMDS ASL classes so I'm thinking them?)
 
zeefour said:
Ah, you just know a lot about CSDB and RMDS! Oh sorry if I was unclear, the classes at Arapahoe Community College would be in person too. (I just have to switch from Metro and CSU Global doesn't offer language classes because it is online. I'm not going to pay to take ASL II with the rest of my class. ACC is cheaper. But then I got the e-mail about RMDS ASL classes so I'm thinking them?)
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Well RMDS is right from the source....then that way you could actually get to know other dhh people in their native habitat! ;)
 
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