Languag

[Guest guest]

Last night I had the rare treat of dining alone with my HOH son. With

four kids, I always look forward to alone time with any of them. My son

has a bilateral progressive loss (LVAS) that is now in the

moderate-severe range. I think of him as diagnosed at age 9, but really

he was closer to 10 because he repeated 1st grade. He was 10 by the

time he was aided, although he was born with the HL. He was a very late

talker. When he was 4 years old, he taught himself to read, and then

for 6 months walked around carrying books, pointing to words, demanding

to know how to say them. I tell people that he learned to speak by

backwards phonics.

He has just completed 10th grade. He like all the other students in his

elementary school studied Spanish in 1st - 5th grade. In 6th grade he

chose to study Chinese, which he plans to continue through high school.

He has signed up to add Japanese as an elective next year. He likes

languages and says he wants to study as many as he can before he loses

his hearing completely. He figures he can always refine what he knows

after he loses his hearing, but that it will be difficult for him to

start a new language then. The supportive mother in me encourages him,

while the practical mother asks herself why he can't like something

more useful for the long term, but that's another story.

Last night I was discussing the learning of languages with him,

bringing up some of the concerns that parents in this forum have shared

about how challenging this might be for their D/HOH kids. Finally, he

fixed me with the teen-aged stare that is specifically reserved for

indicating how hopelessly incompetent adults can be and asked " Don't

they understand how good this is for learning pronounciation? " Needless

to say I didn't have an answer handy.

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