Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
Help on hand: Broward agency helps deaf discover wonderful world of words: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
She stood up near her feeding chair, took 10 wobbly steps and landed in Gilberto Carlo's comforting arms at the opposite end of the living room.
Then 2-year-old Arianis Antomattey used her tiny hands -- covered in chocolate from the cookie she was eating -- to sign the words "I love you" to her grandpa.
"She drives me crazy every time she does that," said Carlo, 61.
Walking and communicating with her family represent giant leaps of progress for little Arianis, who was diagnosed with Goldenhar's Syndrome a year ago. The rare birth defect halted the development of the cochlea in her right ear, leaving Arianis deaf. It also left the right side of her face with a slight droop that doesn't affect her motor skills.
In just two years, Arianis and her family have learned to take both big and small steps to overcome the challenges that might have blocked their way. Among the biggest for her mom, dad and two half-brothers: learning to understand an infant who couldn't express herself vocally.
"I was desperate," said her mother, Jessica Carlo, 27. "I never thought that could happen to us."
The challenges started when Arianis was 6 months old. Jessica Carlo noticed her daughter was not reacting to the barking sounds of Ozzie, the family's gray sheepdog, or the salsa and merengue beats on the radio in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, where the family lived at the time. After repeated tests, Arianis failed her hearing screening.
"The doctors told me, `If you want help, go to the United States,'" said Jessica Carlo. "I felt horrible because I had my entire life set up there ... But we all knew it was going to be for the best."
On Oct. 14, 2005 -- Arianis' first birthday -- Jessica, her husband Manuel, and Ian and Nelson Sanchez, Jessica's two sons from a previous marriage, packed their bags and moved to Hollywood, already home to Gilberto Carlo. That was the first big step they took as a family. And they did it all for little Arianis.
Once here, the family took many little steps, too. Jessica Carlo took Arianis to see several doctors at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood. There she receives speech therapy sessions so that one day she will be able to use her vocal cords to imitate sounds.
Further progress came six months ago, when Jessica Carlo came across a Web site for the Alliance for Families with Deaf Children, a local nonprofit that works with families of deaf and hard-of-hearing children throughout South Florida.
Arianis meets once a week with her alliance mentor, Fara Bufo, 29, who is also deaf. Bufo signs stories to Arianis and gives the family lessons in American Sign Language.
"Arianis's parents are wonderful and very supportive," Bufo wrote in an e-mail. "They want to make the best for their daughter and be able to communicate with her."
On a recent afternoon in their Hollywood apartment, Arianis flips through the pages of her favorite book, My Little Word Book, and signs the names of familiar items: butterfly, car, cookie, fish, kitchen, teacher, tree.
"Who's this?" Jessica Carlo asks, pointing at a picture of a Sesame Street character.
Arianis responds: "E-L-M-O."
Now Arianis has become a source of inspiration for the entire family.
"It makes me feel like my daughter can be totally independent," Jessica Carlo said. "Like any other kid."
She stood up near her feeding chair, took 10 wobbly steps and landed in Gilberto Carlo's comforting arms at the opposite end of the living room.
Then 2-year-old Arianis Antomattey used her tiny hands -- covered in chocolate from the cookie she was eating -- to sign the words "I love you" to her grandpa.
"She drives me crazy every time she does that," said Carlo, 61.
Walking and communicating with her family represent giant leaps of progress for little Arianis, who was diagnosed with Goldenhar's Syndrome a year ago. The rare birth defect halted the development of the cochlea in her right ear, leaving Arianis deaf. It also left the right side of her face with a slight droop that doesn't affect her motor skills.
In just two years, Arianis and her family have learned to take both big and small steps to overcome the challenges that might have blocked their way. Among the biggest for her mom, dad and two half-brothers: learning to understand an infant who couldn't express herself vocally.
"I was desperate," said her mother, Jessica Carlo, 27. "I never thought that could happen to us."
The challenges started when Arianis was 6 months old. Jessica Carlo noticed her daughter was not reacting to the barking sounds of Ozzie, the family's gray sheepdog, or the salsa and merengue beats on the radio in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, where the family lived at the time. After repeated tests, Arianis failed her hearing screening.
"The doctors told me, `If you want help, go to the United States,'" said Jessica Carlo. "I felt horrible because I had my entire life set up there ... But we all knew it was going to be for the best."
On Oct. 14, 2005 -- Arianis' first birthday -- Jessica, her husband Manuel, and Ian and Nelson Sanchez, Jessica's two sons from a previous marriage, packed their bags and moved to Hollywood, already home to Gilberto Carlo. That was the first big step they took as a family. And they did it all for little Arianis.
Once here, the family took many little steps, too. Jessica Carlo took Arianis to see several doctors at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood. There she receives speech therapy sessions so that one day she will be able to use her vocal cords to imitate sounds.
Further progress came six months ago, when Jessica Carlo came across a Web site for the Alliance for Families with Deaf Children, a local nonprofit that works with families of deaf and hard-of-hearing children throughout South Florida.
Arianis meets once a week with her alliance mentor, Fara Bufo, 29, who is also deaf. Bufo signs stories to Arianis and gives the family lessons in American Sign Language.
"Arianis's parents are wonderful and very supportive," Bufo wrote in an e-mail. "They want to make the best for their daughter and be able to communicate with her."
On a recent afternoon in their Hollywood apartment, Arianis flips through the pages of her favorite book, My Little Word Book, and signs the names of familiar items: butterfly, car, cookie, fish, kitchen, teacher, tree.
"Who's this?" Jessica Carlo asks, pointing at a picture of a Sesame Street character.
Arianis responds: "E-L-M-O."
Now Arianis has become a source of inspiration for the entire family.
"It makes me feel like my daughter can be totally independent," Jessica Carlo said. "Like any other kid."