Where to Begin

I've been such a bad blogger! A lot has happened over the last couple of months, probably too much to try to blog about. I'll just try to hit a few of the main things in the next couple of the posts.

Bebo had surgery on September 1st. He received his 1st cochlear implant. It will be activated on September 1st which is next week. We are excited and nervous all at once. Many of you know we were not going to do the cochlear but things have come up and felt that it was a MUST for him.

His recovery has gone well. He had pain probably the first couple days but the pain meds took care of that. He is back to himself and full of spunk. Here is a picture of his surgery site just two days after.They used surgical glue instead of stitches and the site looks much better today.

He will receive his processor on September 1st and his ear will be "born" that day. Meaning he will start hearing just like a newborn would. He will have to learn how to hear. He will have to take his processore off when he goes down any slides, trampolines or plays with balloons. Otherwise he could damage it.

I'll post his progress with his CI when they turn it on. :)

Deaf NOT Dumb

Pictures are from last week when Bebo received his new Phonak hearing aids. Pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

 So Excited!

Surprised by sound

 Pleased!

This is how China labels some of their deaf children in the waiting children program. It is not acceptable as these children are not dumb!

When people find out that Bebo is deaf I get that "Oh" and a long pause. Up until recently you would not have known he had any hearing issues. Now with his hearing aides, it is a little bit more obvious. I've had a wild array of comments from the moment he arrived. Anywhere from does he read your lips (this just coming home from China) to questions of his intelligence. Why do people automatically think he has intellectual impairment?

What I'm also find is that people like to go to the extremes! They approach him and then talk really slowly to him stretching their mouth out making it difficult to lip read. He tries his hardest to repeat the word back. It is not going to sound anything like what the person is trying to get him to say. The sounds that he makes is Ba, occasionally Ma and some sounds that come from his throat. You know, like humming. He is not a mute. People are surprised that he makes noise. I think this is one of the most common misinformed pieces of information of deaf people. If they are not doing that they will shout - distorting their lip patterns, again this makes it difficult to lip read.  He is deaf you know, not stupid so just talk normally or just a little bit slower. Not too slow as this makes YOU look really silly. Don't be afraid to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention, it’s OK and helps. Waving is mighty handy as well. Yelling at him from behind does not work even with his new hearing aids in. Just because he has those in does not mean he knows what he hears. Every sounds he hears is brand new and he can not distinguish what is what.

Bebo has done well with simple gestures. That is all China taught him the whole 7 yrs he was there. OK, they found out we were coming so they scrambled and taught him a few "signs". He is signing more and more thanks to his amazing school and the signs that we've taught him at home.

Quote:

"For Hearing People Only" (Third Edition) by Matthew S Moore and Linda Levitan. With a foreward by Harlan Lane. Both are Deaf so forth, Linda is Latened Deaf.


Think about the last time you used the word "dumb". you used it to describe something stupid, clumsy, or foolish, right? A century ago, this term was in common use. Nobody thought twice about its propriety. It's outmoded now, and insultingly inaccurate. We're aware that this term is still used in England to describe someone who is deaf, but that doesn't say much for the discernment of those who persist in using it. As for the correct term, why not simply say "deaf"?


"Mute" prefers to someone who cannot talk, that is, produce intelli-gible speech, or someone who has malfunctioning or missing vocal cords. "Mutism" is a medical or psychological condition_the inability or refusal to produce sounds. Virtually all deaf person are physically and psychologically normal in this area. They have vocal cords and voices, just as the vast majority of hearing people do. This also applies to deaf people who prefer to communicate exclusively in sign language. Their vocal apparatus is perfectly normal. But, being deaf, they cannot hear themselves talk, and thus, cannot easily modulate their voices. Consider: If you were born deaf or became deaf as an infant and have never heard yourself talk, it's extremely difficult to talk clearly, with normal intonation. So signing is the natural mode of communication for many deaf people; speaking can never be. A few deaf people have good clear articulation better than some hearing people but most don't. It's a matter of personal preference, deciding what we feel most comfortable with.

We dislike these terms because they now convey a negative attitude. "Deaf and dumb" does not connote pride or wholeness. It conjures a pitiful, pathetic, dull-witted image, with a hint of subnormal intelligence. "Deaf-Mute" suggests that a deaf person is doomed to a life of silence, without speech, without hope. We've run into these terms repeatedly, and we find them annoying, inaccurate, and insulting.

Hope this information helps. :)

My Heart Broke Yesterday!

Yesterday I went to pick up Bebo from school. I am always early so that he does not have to wait and wonder where I am. I was early and waiting in my van when I noticed some of the little children had come out. I decided I would get out of the van and go in and wait.

That's when it happened. I saw the two boys from his class exiting the building and coming down the stairs. "Mr. Excited" came up to me and started signing as fast as he could. He was pointing to the building, looked mad concerned and then the only sign I could understand was the very last one, "good". I know he was talking about Bebo but I have no idea what he signed. :( All I could do was nod. :( My heart shattered into a million pieces. I want so bad to communicate with the children and the adults but my sign level and confident level is no where near what I'd like. If only the college didn't double the price of their ASL classes because we were are out of that county.

Bebo was waiting for me inside and was very excited to see me. I think it was good for him to have to wait for me so that he understood that I would come for him. Last night we were looking over his photo book and when he reached our old family picture he points to himself like he always does and questions where he is. We are slackers and have not had a new one that includes him done yet. Soon though I promise! It is evident it is important to him. Then he see the picture of our house and and a smile starts on his face. It becomes SO big that he opens his mouth and a little squeal is released. He threw his arms around me and was just so excited! I'm not sure where this all came from because we've looked at this book a number of times but he saw it in a whole new light.

We finished his bedtime routine. The Count and I tuck him in at separate times for a little one on one. I covered him up signed good night, see you later, and I love you. Fixed his blankets and that's when he usually pulls the blankets up so we don't kiss him. It's kind of a game we play. Last night he puckered up and wanted a kiss from me!!! It was so sweet.

I think Bebo was beginning to think he'd never go to school. I mean he watched as the other children left everyday and he stayed behind. He really has changed quit a bit since he has gone to school. Maybe it is just me. LOL I really needed him to go to school. He is doing great and picking up some new signs. His friends have really embraced him and are really a great bunch of children. I could not have ask for him to be in a better class!

1st Day of School!

Last week was spring break or Bebo would have started school. We had his IEP meeting the week before so he was able to go sit in on his class for a second time. All four of the children in the class we so excited to see him that day. They were pretty bummed that he only stayed an hour but very excited to know that after break that he would be coming all day.

Sunday night we explained the best we could to Bebo that he would be going to school when he woke up. I showed him his orange backpack and his Cars lunch bag that he picked out. He knew what those were for as he's seen me for the last two months pack lunches and put backpacks on the girls as they go out the door for school. When he went up to bed and I told him that when he woke up we would drive to school with his backpack his eyes became real big, he clapped his hands and squealed! He signed he was going to sleep right then. :)

The boy was up and as excited as could be Monday morning! Can you see him beaming with pride with his new backpack and lunch pal in the above picture. Oh, I'm sure you can see his nerves start to settle in in the second picture. They didn't last long. We went right up to his class room and his friends and teacher were waiting for him. One little boy gave him a great big hug when he saw him. It was really a the sweetest thing. Bebo brought his photo album from home that had all the pictures of our family. One of his teachers wanted pictures with labels for his language development so we sent the book in. I thought it might help him feel more comfortable the first week. I'll send the individual pictures next week.

There are five children in his class, four boys and one girl. The little girl is from Burma. All the children have some sorta of hearing aid or cochlear except one little boy. Bebo receives his hearing aids next week. He seems excited but I'm not really sure he knows what is coming. The woman in the brown shirt above is his main teacher and the other woman is the audiologist. She visits the room every morning to make sure all the children's hearing devices are working correctly. 

The school developed another program as they were seeing a large population of children coming over from other countries with no previous language like Bebo. He spends a good chunk of his day with his teacher Kara. Kara is trying to catch Bebo up with the rest of his peers. She is teaching him the pre-writing, pre-read/vocabulary and pre-math skills. He is learning very fast. Ummm, did I tell you that they put him in 2nd grade? That means in a couple months he will be in 3rd grade! Hmm, I'm not so sure about that one. The good thing is they combine 3&4 grade. He will attend summer school to help him catch up.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! We've been crazy busy around here. I've had to drive Bebo to and from school everyday this week. Praying that the busing situation is figured out soon. Hopefully we'll have some soccer pictures for you soon! :)