Faced with tough decision

Waltersfam07 said:
We travel about 200 miles(one way) to St. Louis, but it is well worth it to have the best team for our son! We also travel once a week about 150 miles on order to have access to an ASL class. I will have to agree that it is very difficult/frustrating when you are newly learning ASL but also trying to teach it when you barely know it yourself. It is an everyday struggle, but one we won't give up on! We feel very strongly about giving him ASL!
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So, if you aren't in St. Louis, what part of Missouri are you in? There are several schools in other parts....Columbia for example.
 
Quick question....Waltersfam, are you near a bordering state? Or closer to the State Deaf School? Definitly continue with going to Children's.....but sometimes families of dhh kids who live in bordering states can take advantage of dhh schools/programs in the other state.....and those programs can be very good! And yes, learning ASL is hard but it can be a really good tool....as long as you make a modicum of effort, your kid should do well.
 
We are very rural we live in a small town called Richland. The closest town with bigger chain stores are about 20-25 minutes away Ft. Leonard Wood is about 25 miles east of us. Fulton is about 100 miles away. We travel from one side of the state to the other to find the resources we need. Case in point a few Mondays ago we had an audiologic appointment in St. Louis then traveled to Springfield MO where we had signing class that night. We are very limited on resources. I have tried to find deaf families close to us but have not had alot of luck.
We are super happy with childrens and their team we just don't like to be pushed in one direction or the other. However I feel they will completely support whatever decision we make.
So if any of you have any resources I would love to hear about them. I have done everything on my own. Half the info the dhh commision have up on their site is outdated.
 
Waltersfam07 said:
We are very rural we live in a small town called Richland. The closest town with bigger chain stores are about 20-25 minutes away Ft. Leonard Wood is about 25 miles east of us. Fulton is about 100 miles away. We travel from one side of the state to the other to find the resources we need. Case in point a few Mondays ago we had an audiologic appointment in St. Louis then traveled to Springfield MO where we had signing class that night. We are very limited on resources. I have tried to find deaf families close to us but have not had alot of luck.
We are super happy with childrens and their team we just don't like to be pushed in one direction or the other. However I feel they will completely support whatever decision we make.
So if any of you have any resources I would love to hear about them. I have done everything on my own. Half the info the dhh commision have up on their site is outdated.
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If you are traveling to St. Louis to go to Children's, you should drop in to CID (Central Institute for the Deaf), it is, literally, a block away. They would know the kinds of resources the state has, and you could ask about their toddler playgroups (they are just once a week and start at age 2). They also do home visits and Saturday services.

My daughter attended the CID summer program and they were wonderful. We highly considered (still not out of the question) moving to St. Louis for the deaf schools.
 
faire_jour said:
If you are traveling to St. Louis to go to Children's, you should drop in to CID (Central Institute for the Deaf), it is, literally, a block away. They would know the kinds of resources the state has, and you could ask about their toddler playgroups (they are just once a week and start at age 2). They also do home visits and Saturday services.

My daughter attended the CID summer program and they were wonderful. We highly considered (still not out of the question) moving to St. Louis for the deaf schools.
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On the other hand, I have friends who went to CID and they say they smell piss when signing. That is because no signing is allowed there, and students were forced to secretly sign in restrooms. I don't know if that still holds true today.
 
Beowulf said:
On the other hand, I have friends who went to CID and they say they smell piss when signing. That is because no signing is allowed there, and students were forced to secretly sign in restrooms. I don't know if that still holds true today.
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Nope. My daughter signed to her teachers, therapists and administrators. They even had someone sit in on her testing so that they would be sure to count her ASL toward her language scores.
 
faire_jour said:
Nope. My daughter signed to her teachers, therapists and administrators. They even had someone sit in on her testing so that they would be sure to count her ASL toward her language scores.
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I am very glad to know that. It was bound to happen I guess.
 
That's good..any program that forces kids to sign secretly is bad bad. Putting fear in children is horrible.
 
If you are not sure try wailing till he is older not like 18 but just till he is ready to understand what will happen. I am 13 and was hearing till i was 7 but was implanted two years ago so i understand from the other side of the story what it's like on some level.
The point is he's your son and you love him you will do what's right for him.
 
Jiro said:
I see....

well I see that you started learning ASL with your son 4 years ago. How is that coming along?
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It's been more than 4 years and it is moving slowly but we are getting there.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi everyone! It has been several weeks since I last posted or have even had the opportunity to get on here and visit. I got on today because I am so pleased to tell you all we made the decision to bilaterally implant our son! We are looking forward to the procedure before the first of the year :) Ultimately our decision came down to giving him the best benefit for the most successful future and also the decision to continue with sign even though most do not once the implants are on. We still feel that signing needs to be a big part of his life and our communication system at home!
Thank you all for listening and all your thoughts!
 
Waltersfam07 said:
Hi everyone! It has been several weeks since I last posted or have even had the opportunity to get on here and visit. I got on today because I am so pleased to tell you all we made the decision to bilaterally implant our son! We are looking forward to the procedure before the first of the year :) Ultimately our decision came down to giving him the best benefit for the most successful future and also the decision to continue with sign even though most do not once the implants are on. We still feel that signing needs to be a big part of his life and our communication system at home!
Thank you all for listening and all your thoughts!
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Hope the surgery will go well. Glad to hear that you and family will still use ASL with your son.
 
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