Stress and HI Teens

[Guest guest]

My daughter is 11 years old, profoundly deaf and mainstreamed with a cued

speech transliterator (currently CART). She is in sixth grade and I think it

has helped her to be with the same group of children since Kindergarten -

therefore they all understand her speech (when she doesn't talk a million miles

an hour).

I have promoted group sport activities for her since she was small and that has

helped her make some friends. I make sure there are fun things to do at our

house so that her friends want to come over to play. So far, the biggest

problem she has is not being able to chat on the telephone like her other

friends and keeping up with what is going on when there are more than two

friends around.

I hope this helps - middle school is SO tough and there are so many changes

happening to their bodies and minds - I think it is a tough age whether one is

deaf or not.

Amy

>

> I'm new to the list. My daughter is fourteen, severe to profound, and oral.

> She had been attending a satellite program for oral HI kids in a public

> school system 30 miles from home. This year we decided to bring her back to

> our home district, so she is adjusting to being the only HI student in her

> new school.

>

> Academically, things have gone very well. She has excellent support services

> (a notetaker who uses a laptop to transcribe much of what goes on in class)

> and a teacher of the deaf who works with her one hour a day.

>

> Socially, things are a lot more complicated. My daughter's expressive skills

> are great. Most people understand her after they spend a little time with

> her. Her receptive skills are more problematic. She understands English but

> she modifications from the speaker--they need to slow down, repeat, simplify

> and alert her to changes in subject. Most adults figure this out with only a

> little coaching (or none at all in the case of really empathetic folks), but

> young adolescents get embarrassed and anxious and give up at the first sign

> of communication breakdown.

>

> So, here are two questions for those of you who have hit the challenging

> years of middle school. One, what strategies have you used to help your

> child make friends? My daughter has lots of smile-and-nod acquaintances but

> she wants very much to have a friend who will really talk to her. Two, what

> strategies have you used to help your kid cope with the stress of being

> hearing impaired? My daughter wants so much to be " normal " (her word) that

> she is often stressed to the max by the end of the day.

>

> I've been really impressed by the quality of the information and caring on

> this list. I wish I'd had access to something like this 14 years ago when my

> daughter was diagnosed! Thanks.

>

> Carolyn

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> I'm new to the list.

Welcome! We're glad to have you with us.

> My daughter is fourteen, severe to profound, and oral.

My son is 15, profound (HA & CI), and oral.

> She has excellent support services

Wow! Glad to know this. We considered moving our son out of his current

setting to his home school (he's currently in the mainstream program of a

private oral deaf school. He goes to a public school that contracts with the

private oral school. He spends 1 hour/day with the oral TOD who is actually

paid for by the private oral school. We wanted him to go to the home school

next year for high school so that when he gets a driver's license

(eek.....can it be so near?) he won't have as far to drive to school. He

decided he wanted to continue in the mainstream program so he can stay with

his friends.

> young adolescents get embarrassed and anxious and give up

> at the first sign of communication breakdown.

Could be that they just don't understand what hearing loss is all about, or

how it can affect someone. Try seeing if the teacher, say her science

teacher, won't spend some time on the topic.

> One, what strategies have you used to help your

> child make friends?

My son really hasn't had many problems with this because of his personality.

He's the kind who will just go over and join in with a group - many times

they don't know he's got a hearing loss till after he's already doing

whatever with them.

One of the suggestions I hear frequently is to have, for want of a better

term, playdates. How about inviting one or two girls over after school for

an interesting activity or to help her with homework (even if she doesn't

need help with it)?

> Two, what

> strategies have you used to help your kid cope with the stress of being

> hearing impaired?

Before we moved, when my son was the only child in the school district who

had a hearing loss, wore hearing aids, and didn't communicate by sign

language, we used to make a 3 hour trek each way once a month to a nearby

city to attend meetings for a group of folks with hearing loss so my son

would feel like he 'fit in' somewhere.

My son's program now has what's called a 'peer-support group'. Once a month

the mainstream kids with hearing losses get together as a group after school

to talk about problems, brainstorm solutions, and offer support to each

other. Just as we parents find comfort finding out we're not the only ones

going through the problems we go through, the kids find some comfort knowing

they're not the only ones who feel the way they do about certain issues. A

counselor leads the group, and whatever they talk about in the group stays

in the group - that's part of what makes it work. Is there any way you can

perhaps start such a group in your area? Even if it's just inviting a few of

her old classmates over once in a while, it might be something that your

daughter would benefit from.

> I've been really impressed by the quality of the information

> and caring on this list.

So am I, and I'm very proud of the way parents here jump in and support each

other. There is a magic that happens here, and I believe it's because we

don't have to worry about professionals watching over our shoulders and

because we all show respect for each other. I do take some flack for that,

some saying I censor what can and can't be said here - maybe that's

true....but I don't see the level of support on other groups that do allow

either of these things as I see here in this group.

Once again, welcome!!!

Hugs,

Kay

[Guest guest]

Hi

My name is gina & I have an 11 yr old(wil be 12 at the end of

May)---Everything i have read in this posting is exactly what my daughter is

going through in school. I have been so worried about her. She is such a

good student --she has always been mainstreamed with a cued speech

transliterator & I've felt the professionals we have come in contact with,

i.e. her teachers, speech ther. etc. have been great. But she is telling me

that no-one talks to her, she is lonely & has no friends, we drive quite a

distance to get to this school as the bulk of kids coming out of her elem.

school would be attending this middle schl & I thought she would feel

comfortable with familiarity. In the beginning I think she was a part of a

little group, but these kids have seem to have dropped away. I think because

they are onto more advanced social interests that . I think these

hearing imp. kids are innocent in alot of ways & unlsee they are talked to

one on one they don't " get " alot of " stuff " . I know I am beginning to

babble, but I have been soooo upset for her as she has enjoyed school, i

don't want her to feel despair & not look forward to the challenges of the

day. We all want our kids to have fun. I too have her in sports, girl scouts,

weekly religious education classes etc.---I can't believe I read this posting

today--it speaks my situation to the tee.

Gi

[Guest guest]

We had our IEP meeting yesterday, re reevaluation before my daughter Sara (14

yrs; bilateral HL, Oticon pers 410, mild @ 300Hz-Severe @6000Hz)) goes to

high school in the fall. Sara uses an FM system. She has been in special ed

since she was three, due to her developmental delays. Her hearing loss was

finally diagnosed when she was 8. She had been telling me she couldn't hear

since she was 4, but it took that long to convince a professional to test her

properly (that's a whole other story!)

It seems she has difficulties in " Visual Auditory Learning " (long term

memory) and " Sound blending " which is due to her hearing loss. There was

lots of other issues on the IEP, esp. with math difficulties, however, what

was said that had me crying on the way home in the car:

" Sara's hearing impairment presents concern for her, but apparently, more in

the lack of belonging either to a non-hearing impaired group or a deaf group.

Sara state that she wants to be recognized as 'different', even if it would

mean being 'deaf'.... Information gained from personality investigation

suggest emotional factors to be affecting Sara's functioning. She seems to

be struggling with identity issues and low self-esteem which may be causing

the inattention, frustration and feelings of restlessness reported by Sara

and her parents...Parents and Sara may want to consider the benefits of

private counseling to help her sort out the various issues with which she

appears to be struggling. "

She has been struggling with belonging ever since she went to 6th grade.

She wouldn't even wear her aids half the time. Pony tails are what all the

girls wear here, and she was very self-conscious about wearing her aids. (In

5th grade she had bright blue and pink ear molds and was so proud of them.)

She's in 8th grade now and last week a boy told her they shouldn't let

hearing impaired kids in school. Crying, she asked me why would he say that.

I know kids at this age can be brutal to each other. Sara doesn't have a

mean bone in her body, takes things quite literal, so she doesn't understand

the " jokes " or sarcasm that adolescence seem to love; so she seems " out of

it " and the kids make fun of her.

I don't know how to help her, other than talk through explanations of human

behavior- or " why people are mean " , but her sense of isolation is painful.

Her pain is why I joined this group, trying to understand what her hearing

loss is, how it affects her abilities to learn, etc. I've read with interest,

starting a support group, but don't know any other HOH kids in this town.

I've learned so much from this group. Thank you all for sharing and thank

you Kay for all your wisdom, time and attention. bless you, Connie

[Guest guest]

(I'm sending this a second time, as it didn't appear the first time)

We had our IEP meeting yesterday, re reevaluation before my daughter Sara (14

yrs; bilateral HL, Oticon pers 410, mild @ 300Hz-Severe @6000Hz)) goes to

high school in the fall. Sara uses an FM system. She has been in special ed

since she was three, due to her developmental delays. Her hearing loss was

finally diagnosed when she was 8. She had been telling me she couldn't hear

since she was 4, but it took that long to convince a professional to test her

properly (that's a whole other story!)

It seems she has difficulties in " Visual Auditory Learning " (long term

memory) and " Sound blending " which is due to her hearing loss. There was

lots of other issues on the IEP, esp. with math difficulties, however, what

was said that had me crying on the way home in the car:

" Sara's hearing impairment presents concern for her, but apparently, more in

the lack of belonging either to a non-hearing impaired group or a deaf group.

Sara state that she wants to be recognized as 'different', even if it would

mean being 'deaf'.... Information gained from personality investigation

suggest emotional factors to be affecting Sara's functioning. She seems to

be struggling with identity issues and low self-esteem which may be causing

the inattention, frustration and feelings of restlessness reported by Sara

and her parents...Parents and Sara may want to consider the benefits of

private counseling to help her sort out the various issues with which she

appears to be struggling. "

She has been struggling with belonging ever since she went to 6th grade.

She wouldn't even wear her aids half the time. Pony tails are what all the

girls wear here, and she was very self-conscious about wearing her aids. (In

5th grade she had bright blue and pink ear molds and was so proud of them.)

She's in 8th grade now and last week a boy told her they shouldn't let

hearing impaired kids in school. Crying, she asked me why would he say that.

I know kids at this age can be brutal to each other. Sara doesn't have a

mean bone in her body, takes things quite literal, so she doesn't understand

the " jokes " or sarcasm that adolescence seem to love; so she seems " out of

it " and the kids make fun of her.

I don't know how to help her, other than talk through explanations of human

behavior- or " why people are mean " , but her sense of isolation is painful.

Her pain is why I joined this group, trying to understand what her hearing

loss is, how it affects her abilities to learn, etc. I've read with interest,

starting a support group, but don't know any other HOH kids in this town.

I've learned so much from this group. Thank you all for sharing and thank

you Kay for all your wisdom, time and attention. bless you, Connie

[Guest guest]

I asked this before and Kay gave a chat room HOH site. I think I still have it

somewhere, Kay?

Would it be possible to do something with just the ones in this Listen-Up group?

Debbie

I think that would be great

Re: Stress and HI Teens

Another thought: do you think it would be possible to start of HI Teens

internet group, so they could talk to each other on-line? Does anyone think

this is a good idea, or a possiblity? Connie (mother to Sara, HI, 14 yrs.)

[Guest guest]

<<<<takes things quite literal, so she doesn't understand he " jokes "

or sarcasm that adolescence seem to love; so she seems " out of it " >>

My heart breaks for you and your daughter. I'm sorry I have no

words of advice. My HOH daughter is only 6, but I am already

noticing things. She has difficulty with jokes and sarcasm as you

have stated. I know that all kids go through rough times, and I'm

sure that someone on this board will be able to give you some wise

advice. There are a lot of wise folks on this board!!! Just know

that we are here to support you and your daughter.

Jill

[Guest guest]

I'm also feeling sad over our HI kid and stress with his peers. Each 5th

grader had to write an essay this week about what they learned in the

D.A.R.E. program.

In the beginning of Matt's essay he wrote:

" When I was little I was picked on because I was short and I could not hear

that well. I’m still picked on, but I learned to ignore them. If they say it

to my face I feel the pain inside, and if it is still hurting me when I am

alone I cry. Some kids from my class comfort me, and that made me realize

that there are good and bad people. "

Next year Matt heads over to the Junior High. I can't bear the thought of

how this might get worse for him, poor kid.

LuAnn

[Guest guest]

and her parents...Parents and Sara may want to consider the benefits of

private counseling to help her sort out the various issues with which she

appears to be struggling. "

I am the parent of a 15 yr old mild/moderate High school freshman. We have

just addressed this exact issue. We ashed that her IEP address small group

counseling " in the school " . It looks like this group will happen. funny

thing is that we didn't know there were any other HI kids in her school, let

alone two other kids who were mild/moderate, unaided and totally mainstreamed

with supports.

go figure.

[Guest guest]

Hi. I hear you. My son is 11 soon to be 12 (severe/profound loss),

aided a mild/mod loss. He is oral. He has friends at school,

church, and home, but they are just more *play* friends. He is also

a little on the *innocent* side, which actually is ok with me and

dh Sometimes one of the kids in the neighborhood can be not very

nice (name calling) *rolleyes* but he usually gets along with

everyone. He is very social and will jump right in with others, and

is not afraid to tell someone he can't understand them. He

jokes/teases others (in fun). But it just doesn't seem like he has a

close relationship with any of them.

God Bless,

> Hi

> My name is gina & I have an 11 yr old(wil be 12 at the end of

> May)---Everything i have read in this posting is exactly what my

daughter is

> going through in school. I have been so worried about her. She is

such a

> good student --she has always been mainstreamed with a cued speech

> transliterator & I've felt the professionals we have come in

contact with,

> i.e. her teachers, speech ther. etc. have been great. But she is

telling me

> that no-one talks to her, she is lonely & has no friends, we drive

quite a

> distance to get to this school as the bulk of kids coming out of

her elem.

> school would be attending this middle schl & I thought she would

feel

> comfortable with familiarity. In the beginning I think she was a

part of a

> little group, but these kids have seem to have dropped away. I

think because

> they are onto more advanced social interests that . I

think these

> hearing imp. kids are innocent in alot of ways & unlsee they are

talked to

> one on one they don't " get " alot of " stuff " . I know I am

beginning to

> babble, but I have been soooo upset for her as she has enjoyed

school, i

> don't want her to feel despair & not look forward to the challenges

of the

> day. We all want our kids to have fun. I too have her in sports,

girl scouts,

> weekly religious education classes etc.---I can't believe I read

this posting

> today--it speaks my situation to the tee.

> Gi

[Guest guest]

Hi Connie,

I really feel for you because I know exactly how you feel. Mark, 14, has been

through a lot of things, too. I remember one kid flicking his hearing aid asking

him about his " earrings " . Then an instance in school when a kid reached up and

turned one off in the middle of a test. Mark didn't tell me, the teacher did

after I called her about something else entirely.

I just wish he had one really good friend to confide in. At least you know

others are in the same boat.

Debbie

Re: Stress and HI Teens

We had our IEP meeting yesterday, re reevaluation before my daughter Sara (14

yrs; bilateral HL, Oticon pers 410, mild @ 300Hz-Severe @6000Hz)) goes to

high school in the fall. Sara uses an FM system. She has been in special ed

since she was three, due to her developmental delays. Her hearing loss was

finally diagnosed when she was 8. She had been telling me she couldn't hear

since she was 4, but it took that long to convince a professional to test her

properly (that's a whole other story!)

It seems she has difficulties in " Visual Auditory Learning " (long term

memory) and " Sound blending " which is due to her hearing loss. There was

lots of other issues on the IEP, esp. with math difficulties, however, what

was said that had me crying on the way home in the car:

" Sara's hearing impairment presents concern for her, but apparently, more in

the lack of belonging either to a non-hearing impaired group or a deaf group.

Sara state that she wants to be recognized as 'different', even if it would

mean being 'deaf'.... Information gained from personality investigation

suggest emotional factors to be affecting Sara's functioning. She seems to

be struggling with identity issues and low self-esteem which may be causing

the inattention, frustration and feelings of restlessness reported by Sara

and her parents...Parents and Sara may want to consider the benefits of

private counseling to help her sort out the various issues with which she

appears to be struggling. "

She has been struggling with belonging ever since she went to 6th grade.

She wouldn't even wear her aids half the time. Pony tails are what all the

girls wear here, and she was very self-conscious about wearing her aids. (In

5th grade she had bright blue and pink ear molds and was so proud of them.)

She's in 8th grade now and last week a boy told her they shouldn't let

hearing impaired kids in school. Crying, she asked me why would he say that.

I know kids at this age can be brutal to each other. Sara doesn't have a

mean bone in her body, takes things quite literal, so she doesn't understand

the " jokes " or sarcasm that adolescence seem to love; so she seems " out of

it " and the kids make fun of her.

I don't know how to help her, other than talk through explanations of human

behavior- or " why people are mean " , but her sense of isolation is painful.

Her pain is why I joined this group, trying to understand what her hearing

loss is, how it affects her abilities to learn, etc. I've read with interest,

starting a support group, but don't know any other HOH kids in this town.

I've learned so much from this group. Thank you all for sharing and thank

you Kay for all your wisdom, time and attention. bless you, Connie

[Guest guest]

My heart goes out to all of you. My son (hoh - 56 PTA) is almost 18 and

has slugged through so much of what many of you describe. I nod and nod

in agreement with what I read and empathize. I can't tell you how many

professionals I've talked to all across the country who see this same

pattern over and over again. Ultimately, I came to believe something

new must be tried and suspect that acoustics plays a significant, albeit

invisible role, and wrote up my thoughts, as a parent, here:

http://www.handsandvoices.org/articles/tech/acoustics.html

For those of you who are interested, check out the 1998 article by Bess

referred to in footnote 11 of the article above. He documented high

dysfunctional levels on scales of stress and social support in the 9th

grade for kids with even minimal hearing loss who may not even have

known they had a hearing loss at all!

If you, too, suspect part of the answer may lie in better acoustics, I'd

like to invite you to join some like-minded parents who have recently

come together. Our first meeting will be at the A G Bell conference in

St. Louis. We have the beginnings of a web site at:

http://www.parentsvoice.org

If you have questions or would like to be part of this parent's group,

just send me an e-mail directly.

Thanks,

Monte

[Guest guest]

This was very interesting to me. Thank you. Bruno

Mom to Bre 6 /2 moderate-severe

aided

[Guest guest]

I know that Advanced Bioniics has started a chat group and I believe that

once a month is designated for teens.

Re: Stress and HI Teens

>

>

> Another thought: do you think it would be possible to start of HI Teens

> internet group, so they could talk to each other on-line? Does anyone

think

> this is a good idea, or a possiblity? Connie (mother to Sara, HI, 14

yrs.)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> I asked this before and Kay gave a chat room HOH site. I think I still

have it somewhere, Kay?<

Sorry, I was out of the house all day. Here is what you're looking for:

Deafkids.com - contains a monitored chatroom just for deaf and HH kids, age

17 and below. It's free and open 24 hours a day. Deaf/HH kids from the U.S.

and abroad are invited to stop by. To ensure the safety of all visitors, the

DeafKids.com chatroom uses a log system. Records are kept of all visitors.

There¹s also a filter system to protect kids against unacceptable language

(such as profanity, sexual slang, vulgar insults, and racial/ethnic slurs.)

If any visitor types in an unacceptable word, it¹s automatically changed to

a designated substitute word before it appears online.

http://www.deafkids.com/

Kay

[Guest guest]

> Crying, she asked me why would he say that.

> I know kids at this age can be brutal to each other. Sara doesn't have a

> mean bone in her body, takes things quite literal, so she doesn't

understand

> the " jokes " or sarcasm that adolescence seem to love; so she seems " out of

> it " and the kids make fun of her.

This isn't something you or your daughter have to put up with. OSEP (a

sub-branch of the United States Department of Education and are responsible

for ensuring States' compliance with and implementation of the Individuals

with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ) has issued a policy guidance letter

that deals with this:

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/Policy/3q2000pl/Dearcolleague72500haras

ssec.pdf

(This line will probably get split by my mail program. Just cut and paste

the 2 lines together to get a working link.)

re: Harassment Based on Disability - If it gets to the point where the

parent feels it's affecting the child's education (FAPE), then OSEP says the

schools must address this problem.

Hugs,

Kay

[Guest guest]

I too would be interested for my daughter who is 12 to be involved

in a chat group with the " Listen Up " people. Did one ever get started?

[Guest guest]

Your last two paragraphs describe what my daughter is going through

right now in the 6th grade. I was just telling someone about her & said the

sam thing you said about her not having a mean bone in her body. where do you

live---i am in Charlotte, NC---I do know some other hearing impaired children

in Charlotte, but everyone is so spread out it makes it difficult to get

together. I feel for our children, am loosing sleep at night because I don't

know what to do for her. she is such a good kid she is telling me she feels

uncomfortable there at school & does not feel a " part of it " .

[Guest guest]

Do you have Sara involved in any extra curricular activities?? Maybe that

would help a little ---to feel part of a team?

Gi

[Guest guest]

Boy, I wish you lived in PA! I just can't tell you how much i. have agonized

over this problem in the past few years.

One thing we just did this past week, was Mark had a science project to do. I

suggested doing it on hearing, as he really does not accept his hearing loss. He

said no but then couldn't think of anything else. So he did it; I suggested

putting something on the poster about hearing aids; no, he wouldn't. So I kind

of slipped it in there and he went with it. He then, at the suggestion of the

teacher, for his oral presentation took an old aid and passed it around the

room. I don't know what grade he got, but I am so proud he did it.

Debbie

Re: Stress and HI Teens

Your last two paragraphs describe what my daughter is going through

right now in the 6th grade. I was just telling someone about her & said the

sam thing you said about her not having a mean bone in her body. where do you

live---i am in Charlotte, NC---I do know some other hearing impaired children

in Charlotte, but everyone is so spread out it makes it difficult to get

together. I feel for our children, am loosing sleep at night because I don't

know what to do for her. she is such a good kid she is telling me she feels

uncomfortable there at school & does not feel a " part of it " .

All messages posted to this list are private and confidential. Each post is

the intellectual property of the author and therefore subject to copyright

restrictions.

[Guest guest]

Is that a web site?

Re: Stress and HI Teens

>

>

> Another thought: do you think it would be possible to start of HI Teens

> internet group, so they could talk to each other on-line? Does anyone

think

> this is a good idea, or a possiblity? Connie (mother to Sara, HI, 14

yrs.)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

It isn't a website, just a " chat room " that has been set up. Right now, I

believe that they have designated times and dates each month for chats. I

know that you have to have a password to get into it (given to you by AB) so

that it stays secure.

Re: Stress and HI Teens

> >

> >

> > Another thought: do you think it would be possible to start of HI

Teens

> > internet group, so they could talk to each other on-line? Does

anyone

> think

> > this is a good idea, or a possiblity? Connie (mother to Sara, HI,

14

> yrs.)

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

> I too would be interested for my daughter who is 12 to be

involved

> in a chat group with the " Listen Up " people. Did one ever get started?

I'm sorry, but I don't have the time right now to run an email group for

kids (wish I did). If you would like, you can use the chat room for this

group at some day and time you arrange between yourselves. Only members of

this group who are registered with yahoo (you have a yahoo groups ID and

password) can get into our chatroom, but I won't have the time to monitor

the discussions - that will be up to you to do also (I'll be out of town

tomorrow) and busy most of next week (my hubby's been out of town for 6

weeks, returned yesterday and I have a trip tomorrow. He's taking next week

off to get his 'to-do' pile caught up.

You'll find the chat-room here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Listen-Up/chat

Sorry, but it's the best I can offer right now.

Hugs to all,

Kay

[Guest guest]

Dear Kay, , Debbie, Jill, , Monte and all,

First, thank you all so much for your thoughts, ideas, care and support. You

all made this process of coming to terms with the difficulties that my

daughter (14, HOH) Sara has been going through and the shock and grief that I

experienced last Thrusday at her IEP meeting. I'm sorry it has taken so long

to respond, but my computer was down this weekend.

Monte, your article " Acoustic and Socialization " clarified so many things I

suspected, but have never seen addressed in all the years of special ed (11

yrs) with Sara and her " team " of professionals. I shared some of points of

the article with Sara, and she said, " See, it's not just me! " Exactly. That

was the relief and the beginning of healing for me. We're not alone. There

are other's who share our pain, who understand our pain and who care. I now

understand more and more about the realities of hearing loss, the

social/pschological and academic effects of HL. Until I joined this group, I

really had no idea. No school psychologist, ENT, audiologist, pediatrician,

child study team, ever mentioned anything. Her speech therapists never made

any mention of the possible effects of HL on children.

A lot of my pain on Thursday (and Friday, Sat. and Sun!) was the sense that I

had not been a good advocate for my daughter all these years. How could I

have been so blind? I think I was in denial about her hearing loss. And in

doing so, did not give her the kind of support she needed at an early age. I

felt I had let her down. I vowed not to do so again. Your support, this

group is a godsend.

From the bottom of my heart, Thank You All!

Connie