Miss-Delectable
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Shirts with a loud and clear message | Stuff.co.nz
James Whale is deaf, but the loud shirts worn by the kids at Paremata Kindergarten are one message he will get loud and clear.
The kindy's children – including James' brother Cameron – staff and parents are just one of the many groups in New Zealand exercising questionable fashion judgment today and participating in Loud Shirt Day, in an effort to raise funding for children with cochlear implants.
James, 2, has been deaf since he contracted meningitis when he was just a day old. His parents, Katie Lyde and John Whale, were told that he was unlikely to live. "When he did come out of it, the list of things that were likely to be wrong with him was horrific," Ms Lyde said. "When we found out he was deaf it was like, if this is it, we will cope."
The Government funds only one cochlear implant – a device that allows people who are profoundly deaf to hear – for each person.
"People can live with one leg – but that doesn't mean life is going to be easy," Ms Lyde said.
"The overwhelming response from the medical specialists was that [James] really needed two implants."
The family managed to raise the $30,000 needed for a second implant and James had both inserted when he was a month old.
He is now learning to talk and is keenly aware of the world of sound, his mother said.
"In the morning, he comes and asks us, `Where are they [his implants]?' If someone plays music, he goes and gets them. It's been so worth it."
James will start at Paremata Kindergarten next year, when he turns three, and one of the teachers is learning basic sign language, which James also uses to communicate.
"We sign and speak with him, mostly because he is always going to be deaf," Ms Lyde said.
"If we don't teach him sign language, he'll never be able to communicate with the rest of the deaf community."
The two charities that benefit from Loud Shirt Day – The Hearing House and Southern Cochlear Implant Paediatric Programme – provide specialist therapy to help children with cochlear implants to listen and speak.
Kudos to his folks who accepted that he needed both form of communications.
James Whale is deaf, but the loud shirts worn by the kids at Paremata Kindergarten are one message he will get loud and clear.
The kindy's children – including James' brother Cameron – staff and parents are just one of the many groups in New Zealand exercising questionable fashion judgment today and participating in Loud Shirt Day, in an effort to raise funding for children with cochlear implants.
James, 2, has been deaf since he contracted meningitis when he was just a day old. His parents, Katie Lyde and John Whale, were told that he was unlikely to live. "When he did come out of it, the list of things that were likely to be wrong with him was horrific," Ms Lyde said. "When we found out he was deaf it was like, if this is it, we will cope."
The Government funds only one cochlear implant – a device that allows people who are profoundly deaf to hear – for each person.
"People can live with one leg – but that doesn't mean life is going to be easy," Ms Lyde said.
"The overwhelming response from the medical specialists was that [James] really needed two implants."
The family managed to raise the $30,000 needed for a second implant and James had both inserted when he was a month old.
He is now learning to talk and is keenly aware of the world of sound, his mother said.
"In the morning, he comes and asks us, `Where are they [his implants]?' If someone plays music, he goes and gets them. It's been so worth it."
James will start at Paremata Kindergarten next year, when he turns three, and one of the teachers is learning basic sign language, which James also uses to communicate.
"We sign and speak with him, mostly because he is always going to be deaf," Ms Lyde said.
"If we don't teach him sign language, he'll never be able to communicate with the rest of the deaf community."
The two charities that benefit from Loud Shirt Day – The Hearing House and Southern Cochlear Implant Paediatric Programme – provide specialist therapy to help children with cochlear implants to listen and speak.
Kudos to his folks who accepted that he needed both form of communications.
