Our new blog!
December 17, 2007
Thanks for checking out ASDC’s new blog. We’re new to this, but will start posting on here very soon.
Helping families raising deaf or hard of hearing children since 1967.
Thanks for checking out ASDC’s new blog. We’re new to this, but will start posting on here very soon.
Congratulations!
If used and managed properly this blog could be of great value to families with deaf and hard of hearing children……
Many, many thanks to our recent ASDC conference host, The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, for the enormous donation of $42,000 to ASDC. It far exceeded our hopes and expectations and will help support our day to day operations.
Thanks also to Larry Hawkins and the staff of the Oklahoma School for the Deaf for volunteering to host the 2009 conference!!!
Wasn’t the Pepsi ad great?? Makes me want to go out and buy a case….even though I’m a Coke man. Judos to Pepsi!!
I missed the ad on TV, I turned it on too late, but went to U-Tube and saw it, it was a really cute commercial. There is also an interview with one of the actors in the commercial on U-Tube, very intersting. Maybe there will be more like this.
To ASDC: a blog’s a great idea, but please, please keep the old listserv viable – don’t let it die from attrition. Post the instructions on how to join – somewhere prominent on your site. Blogs are wonderful, but listservs go straight to an email inbox and are so convenient – and the ASDC listserv has been such a source of support and information! Please keep it active and in the forefront.
Best of luck with the blog; it’s a wonderful idea — but may I make a suggestion? The ASDC listserv has been very helpful to a lot of people for years. Please post information about the listserv, and especially how to join, somewhere up front on the ASDC site. A blog is good as a complement to the listserv, but it’s not a substitute. Without new members the listserv will eventually die, and that would be a shame.
My aunt has written a book for kids about the cochlear implant.
You can check it out at her website:
http://abilitybook.com/
At a recent meeting of the “Coalition of Private Schools for Deaf Children” an official from Gallaudet University said that they expect 75% of 2-3 year old deaf children to have cochlear implants by the time they reach high school.
Any advise,
I am very new to this (the website and the bloggin thing). But my wife and I are desperate for advice (and this semms to be an appropriate forum). In brief, our 5 year old daughter has just been diagnosed with mild-moderate hearing loss, and as we deal with the emotional aspects of this, we are “lost” as regards “what next”. We are both busy trying to educate ourselves and feel that we are playing “catch-up”.
deafchildren.org is amazing, and thank God for it. Any advice from other parents or professional, as regards assistive devices, educational needs, schooling etc. wiould be greatly appreciated.
Thank you all so very much in anticpation of your responses.
Michael.
To Michael,
My daughter is now 23 years old and recently graduated Gallaudet. The best advice I can give you is to seek out Deaf Experts when making first contacts. We did this and the Deaf Community gave us so much information and support.
The Deaf Community is made up people with mild to profound levels of hearing loss. Contact Clerc Center on the campus of Gallaudet. You can find them on the internet. They can refer you to infinite sources of information.
In the meantime, don’t rush into decisions. Take some time to learn. If you have a Deaf School in your state, contact them for more information regardless if your daughter will attend or not. They can help you with testing, referrals, outreach, educational information, amplification, technology, etc.
ASDC will also be a good organization for you to join and connect to other families.
Our daughter was the best gift we were ever given and gave us an opportunity to see the world in a whole different light. It hss been and continues to be a wonderful journey.
Hi Michael,
Wow you do have a journey ahead of you. My son is 13 years old now and I remember when he lost his hearing. It was a time of searching and searching, some decisions we made were good and some not so good, but in the end everything worked out, my son is a successful, deaf, teenager. My suggestion to you is to really look at all your options, and get as much information as you can. It is very important to meet and talk to other parents in your area that have Deaf or Hard of Hearing children. You will learn more from them about services available than you will from anyone else. Tami also had some great advice to also talk to Deaf or Hard of Hearing adults, again you will learn so much from them. Remember every child and every family is different and decisions one family makes may not be the right decision for your family, so be sure you have all your options available and then make decisions based on what’s right for your child and your family. Wishing you all the best.
Cheri
The link to the Parents of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children list serve has been added back to the ASDC website. It’s listed under links. Thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions.
Cheri
Hi Michael –
My daughter is 15 now. She is deaf, uses ASL, wears a CI. Her school is great; I am very happy with it. (WPSD in Pittsburgh, PA). Not only is there this blog that will offer you support (it is just getting started) but also there is the ParentDeafHH list. If you go here you can join automatically:
http://listserv.kent.edu/archives/parentdeaf-hh.html
I also help moderate a list for parents of deaf and hard of hearing kids; you can get to that list via this website: http://www.listen-up.org
Go here to subscribe:
http://www.listen-up.org/htm2/list.htm
Everything will be fine!
best wishes
mary
I just received the Anniversary Issue of the Endeavor Magazine in my mailbox today. Kudos to Bob Wells, the editor, for putting together such a remarkable issue! I enjoyed the journey back through time and reading the history of ASDC. Thank you for this wonderful publication!
I’m helping my wife write a paper on families with deaf children. She had earlier come across a statistic on how many parents who have a deaf child actually learn ASL. We can’t find that statistic now. Does anybody know where we might find it? Thank you for your help. Also, any comments you might have about this subject would be appreciated.
Hi Mark-
You probably would be able to find this from this link: http://research.gallaudet.edu/ This unit does a large demographic study every few years. If you cannot find the information from this link, send an email to the contact person, also shown when you open this link. Just keep in mind, it is hard to have this kind of information. When you asked for a percentage of children that actually learn ASL, would you consider any of them learning ASL? If we keep in mind, is there any hearing child stop learning English? Of course not, same with deaf children… I presume you mean for those who are using ASL as a language of learning and to communicate. I would be interested to know too. Good luck and many thanks for posting this website.
Beth
Hello,
I am a graduate student in Gallaudet University’s Clinical Psychology doctoral program and am conducting research on the effect that health professional’s advice has on hearing parents’ decision-making regarding interventions and services for their deaf/hard-of-hearing child. The goal of this study is to provide an understanding of the relationship between the advice given by health professionals and parents’ decision-making processes.
Currently, I am looking for hearing parents of deaf/hard-of-hearing children between the ages of 2-6 to fill out an online survey. The survey takes approximately 20 minutes to complete.
You can participate if you are a mom or dad of a deaf or hard-of-hearing child between the ages of 2-6.
Participation involves completing a 15-20 minute on-line survey at: https://www.psychdata.com/s.asp?SID=124187
Please feel free to email any questions or concerns to Lori Day at: hearingparents@gmail.com. I hope you will consider participating. I know that your experiences can offer valuable insight to other families in the future!
Sincerely,
Lori Day
Hi everyone- I am sure you have heard about everyday that families should know what the Communication Options when they first found out that their baby is deaf. I wonder if we would prefer that we use the words, Communication Opportunities instead of Communication Options. I, myself, think the word, ‘opportunities’ sounds more positive and does send a message that families can have this AND that, rather than this OR that. I would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Thank you,
Beth
I agree with the word opportunities. I think “options” is limiting. All of a sudden lists start to appear of options. Parents feel stuck to adhere to a list rather than to a whole range of “opportunities”.
Hello Parents,
I am leaving a message here as the Director of Special Education for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. One of our Catholic Schools, in Indian Head MD, has begun teaching Sign Language to all the students in the school as their second language. We are excited about this program, and hope to expand it to include hearing impaired faculty and students within five years.
There is a large hearing impaired community in the Greater DC area, so part of the program includes outreach to children and adults who are hearing impaired. For example, the school recent arranged for the yearly school play to be sign interpreted, and then invited hearing impaired adults and children to the event.
We are looking for a dynamic teacher, who will continue and expand this program. We need someone full-time who wants to teach in a Catholic School. This year, the person will have to teach two middle school math classes in English, as well as classes in sign language for grades K-8.
If you know of anyone who might be interested and qualified, please email me at engeld@adw.org.
Thank you for helping to make this innovative program a success.
Doreen Engel, Director of Special Education
Archdiocese of Washington
Thank you for this opportunity to share. My name is Donna and I am an author of a new book entitled, Silent Snowfall. I envite you to take a look at it on Amazon.com or our site listed above.
Welcome to the web and thank you, again, for this opportunity.
Here’s to the lessons of silent snowfalls.
A lot of valuable resources and information for present and future parents of deaf children can be accessed by clicking my name.
Each month ASDC will be posting a topic for discussion for that month. January’s discussion topic is:
Current statistics show that 90% (or more) of Deaf or Hard of Hearing Children have hearing parents. In order to make the home environment language accessible, what are some things that you have found to be helpful?
We would love to hear your comments
Hello parents!
I am currently writing a book for student teachers. A chapter of my book is dedicated to helping student teachers to educate the students with special needs in their classroom. Being that most of you are parents to children with hearing difficulties, I thought you would all be a great source!
My question to you is:
What kind of relationship would you suggest student teachers have with their special needs students parents? Daily contact?
What would be something or what is something, a teacher has done to better connect with your child , that has impressed you?
If you would like to respond to either question please send me an email at k2broome@wmich.edu
It doesn’t need to be long! A paragraph or a few sentences is good! If I decide to use your comment in my book your name will be featured below it!
Thank you for your support!