Every parent wants a world of limitless possibilities for her child. When this world is suddenly altered, it can take time to adjust. Today, I would like to share with you what it was like for me when my daughter was given a new diagnosis. My experience is personal, but may resonate with any parent whose outlook is changed by a child's diagnosis, illness, or disability. Please click on this link to read my thoughts.
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Kim Gamble
kmbearden
Spectrum Voice
Susie Lindau
Lauren B. Davis
racheld
Salon.com
Comments
I can go on and on about this but won't right now. Please please don't hesitate to PM if you need to talk. I've been there and I will be going through it with my own children. It is a lot different going through it with my children than it is with me ... and your fears are perfectly normal, but here's an upside to hearing losses ...
Your daughter will sleep good at night! ;o) She won't have to deal with the noisy motorcycle races ...
And there are stethoscopes that are built for HI people. I've heard about them. I am not sure how it works, but they are out there.
Hang in there and give your family lots of hugs. :o) Reb
I hope it has gotten easier since then with your daughter. It is always a shock at first but like I tell my kids, if there is a time to be hard of hearing (way different than Deaf), it is now.
I am glad that it has gotten easier for you all!!
Her high school teacher encouraged her to learn a trade - like bookkeeping - something she could do without communicating with the world. She went to college instead. She graduated from Davis, got her teaching certificate and then a masters in deaf education. Years later, exhausted from teaching, she decided to become an attorney. She graduated from law school and passed the California bar (one of the hardest bar exams in the US).
Life is not as easy for a deaf person as it is for hearing but it has advantages! I am so jealous sometimes because she can turn off the world at will. It's sometimes frustrating because the world is still hearing but it's so much easier now - captioned TV, video phones, text messaging, interpreters, etc. She would not choose to be hearing. She totally accepts herself as she is. She's not broken - doesn't need fixing. I think most Deaf feel that way.
I have pink hearing aids now also - your daughter has good taste! My loss is mild & age-related. Apparently my daughter's loss was caused by antibiotics given at birth. She had hyaline membrane disease (my first child was stillborn with this) and it was before surfactants came along.
Last year my daughter decided to get a cochlear implant. It was a rough surgery and the results are still mixed but she's glad she tried it. (She has deaf friends who encouraged her to do so.) But now, with gene therapy a real possibility she would not encourage this surgery. She also feels a person should make this choice for themselves - that minor children should not be forced to have the surgery.
I encourage her and you and your family to learn ASL. Even though hearing aids help, ASL is really preferred by Deaf.
Please feel free to email me if you have questions.