Encouraging Each Other

As a parent of two deaf children, we stand out.  Not in a bad way, but more of a beacon of light to families who are just beginning on their journey.  I have enjoyed the opportunity to speak out and share what has worked and what has not and to be in contact with many families across the United States who share the same predicament, raising children who are deaf. 

Here my daughter was so excited about a young friend who received his first set of hearing aids. We both melted seeing his eyes light up to noise. So we shared a little video back to motivate their family.  Obviously the video was unrehearsed,  there was no time to take another one. 

We are always thrilled for new friends receiving their hearing devices.  

Research and Study

Any chance we have the opportunity to give back to the deaf and hard of hearing community we try to make it happen.  Our favorite being research studies. 

Both kids recently were involved in a study out of UC Davis.  It was the first time I didn’t have to participate too. I was okay with that.

The Study:

Once Reese and Alexander got over wearing the “brain sucking” hat they really enjoyed themselves.

Reese’s Story

Over 2 years ago I thought the pain in my heart would never go away. Then I remembered with my son, if we had not set the sadness aside and chosen to walk out into the unknown, the odds of making a profound difference in his life would have been pretty low. So we chose to do it again. To find enthusiasm and move forward. As you watch each video segment, there is a mother behind the camera with a heart slowly healing. So happy to be at this point in the journey and incredibly grateful for modern day miracles!

Click video to view.

Be Successful

When your child is diagnosed with any type of hearing loss it is incredibly devastating.  It was for us at least.  To look beyond our feelings of doubt, and to find hope in the situation we needed to meet one successful child in the same situation as Alexander, just further down the path.  We did, that boy was Max.  At the age of 5 he showed us that being deaf still meant that you could talk, play, read and listen with friends, and family.  He filled us with optimism and passion to work hard to help Alexander find that same success.

Our dear friend Max is 11yrs now and still AMAZING…the next level amazing.   He and his family inspired us with the belief that there are no boundaries with hearing loss, just a lot of hard work. With that attitude anything is possible. 

Watch Max in a preview of his upcoming performance with the Seattle Symphony. 

(Below is a photo from their second time meeting.  Max 6, Alexander 1)

skinit’s for your CI’s

Over the past 4 months my kiddos have been delighted to wear and show off their fancy Skinit designed CI’s.  I have found it personally helpful because I was able to design them with an emergency contact number just in case they go missing.…I don’t know about you but I have been on my hands and knees looking under sunglass display cases, the grocery store isle, at the soccer fields and many others searching for their devices.  Having an emergency contact number on them is critical!!!

www.skinit.com has so kindly made a template plate for Cochlear brand CI’s.  So if you are using the N5 model, take advantage of this great opportunity. I believe they run about $15 each for a set of three stickers.  I know we purchased one of the kids on a promotional offer so keep your eye out for a good deal.

Enjoy!

 

This is a prototype of one that was not printed, I included it to show you where I included the phone number.  Its on the processor, the most expensive part!   Plus the phone number hides behind the ear lobe not to take away from the design.

life…

keep rollin’ with it.

How Are You FEELING?

Let’s be honest, girls are gushing with emotions from the time they are little. So when the emotion card concept came together, I knew my little girlie would be all over it.

This is another therapy tool that can be used for LOTs of speech and language play. 

The morning we attempted to pull this together my daughter and her siblings exhibited each emotion I was going to teach. So it wasn’t long before she mastered the language that went hand in hand with the emotion. It was all around us!  “Can you find a sad face? Who was sad today?  What about a picture of Reese? Yes you are sad, look at your lips and your eyes”   I also squeezed in some crafting vocabulary. “Okay, your turn to glue, turn it over and wipe, wipe, wipe.  Now push.  All done!”

Once the language for the emotions was introduced, the games began.

How Are You Feeling Games include:

• use them like flip cards and mirror the face that is shown.
• first say the emotion or describe it. see if they can make it or say it then show them the card.
• lay the cards across the floor. when you say an emotion they need to go stand on it.
• make a silly story about each emotion.

How are you feeling?