terminology question

[Guest guest]

Sherry,

I haven't used that website because I had heard that some people had

difficulties with it. Many audiologists have software and or special

headphones that simulate various losses exactly. They can also answer

queations right then which can be very helpful. The first time my son

saw his newest audiologist, I asked about this equipment. He didn't

have any, but looked into it and had a simulator by the next visit. He

has even recently updated it.

I was very upset the first time I listened with the simulator. Having

the audiologist there to reassure me curbed my initial panic. I

eventually was calm enough to " play " with it and learned a lot about my

son's hearing loss.

RE: Terminology question

I did try the simulator that someone posted here a month or

two back - and I

just about lost it because when I programmed in his latest audiogram I

couldn't hear anything. Of course, I thought - I must not have this

setup

correctly, it isn't working. But I switched it back to normal hearing

and

the sound came blasting out of my speakers. I had to stop at that point

cause I was getting too upset. So I need to go back and try again one

day

when I feel more ready to hear the results (no pun intended).

But we are going to his audi today, so I'll ask if she has a simulator

too.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Sherry

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[Guest guest]

Maggie was that way, at 4 or 5 years old, if you said you were going to a

certain place but then took an alternate route to get there, she'd say - this

isn't the way to the mall or the library or wherever! We finally got a Target

store when my older daughter was about 15. She wanted to ride there with me so

she would know how to get there. Maggie, at 10, gave her detailed directions how

to get there!

[Guest guest]

It's amazing - does stuff like this too! I told him the other day that

we were going to get his haircut. Then I went and did something else first

and he started throwing a fit in his car seat (he is almost 3). I couldn't

figure out what was wrong (cause of course if I don't know the context, it

is hard to understand him). Then he started to talk about the " yellow jeep "

- I finally figured out that he realized that we weren't taking the normal

route the hair cutters and he was upset cause he thought he wasn't going to

get to sit in the yellow jeep chair they have for kids!!! Boy was I shocked

- I had even considered just taking him to any old barbershop cause I didn't

think he cared, or actually even liked it at all - boy would I have been in

trouble!

Sherry

RE: Re: Terminology question

Maggie was that way, at 4 or 5 years old, if you said you were going to a

certain place but then took an alternate route to get there, she'd say -

this isn't the way to the mall or the library or wherever! We finally got a

Target store when my older daughter was about 15. She wanted to ride there

with me so she would know how to get there. Maggie, at 10, gave her detailed

directions how to get there!

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]

Hi - Tom reads very well - it's definitely one of his strengths.

We were talking earlier today about types of learners - tom definitely

is a language-oriented kid. And his team early on worked with reading

right off the bat realizing as a deaf kid, he could have problems with

reading. I think only helped him. Tom wasn't an early reader - he

learned in kindergarten and first grade. He loves to read - there are

days when I have to tell him to stop because he keeps his nose in a book!

Barbara

Naughton wrote:

> is currently at a special ed prek in an integrated class...actually

> his latest gf (there's one at school and one closer to home) is one of

> the " normal " kids...i think thats neat...he has speech 4 x /week...2x

> ind, 2 x group...

> and now an fm system...that they approved but took FOREVER to come in...

> How was Tom in the reading dept? tries very hard, and thinks he's

> reading...there are just certain letters he doesn't get perfect every

> time (B, D, S, F...) I know he knows it b/c he'll look at a b and say d

> but say d for boy and ball....

> little frusterating...but i think he's trying...

> He's grasped so much more with HAs---I don't want to push too hard...but

> we do worksheets all the time and he practically lives at the library

> and sleeps with books!

>

>

[Guest guest]

is VERY VERY picky about who cuts his hair...

We used to go to a girl who was great then she started working crappy

hours...well, good for her, not for me...

we went to a few cheaper places and when we would leave he'd say " I

didn't like her, she didn't do a good job... " sure enough he was right!

Finally I took him to the barber my Dad goes too...I didn't likethe guy

personality wise, (the owner was there, he was great but the one who cut

's hair was a little bit of a jerk...He asked me... " now is he yours?

I was like ya....he said " oh I didn't know if he was from a home you

worked at... " (I was real happy already...meanwhile sits perfectly

still for his haircut...I was glad he couldn't hear that stuff b/c I

took his HAs out....) then he says oh that stinks that he's deaf...I

was like well, it's ok he loves his HAs and is doing great with

them...then he's like yea...well he'll grow out of it...ummm not so

much...we're just hoping it doesn't get worse!

But the haircut was great and said " I liek this place, we're coming

here next time! "

________________________________

From: Listen-Up [mailto:Listen-Up ] On

Behalf Of Sherry Freitas

Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 5:07 PM

To: Listen-Up

Subject: RE: Re: Terminology question

It's amazing - does stuff like this too! I told him the other day

that

we were going to get his haircut. Then I went and did something else

first

and he started throwing a fit in his car seat (he is almost 3). I

couldn't

figure out what was wrong (cause of course if I don't know the context,

it

is hard to understand him). Then he started to talk about the " yellow

jeep "

- I finally figured out that he realized that we weren't taking the

normal

route the hair cutters and he was upset cause he thought he wasn't going

to

get to sit in the yellow jeep chair they have for kids!!! Boy was I

shocked

- I had even considered just taking him to any old barbershop cause I

didn't

think he cared, or actually even liked it at all - boy would I have been

in

trouble!

Sherry

RE: Re: Terminology question

Maggie was that way, at 4 or 5 years old, if you said you were going to

a

certain place but then took an alternate route to get there, she'd say -

this isn't the way to the mall or the library or wherever! We finally

got a

Target store when my older daughter was about 15. She wanted to ride

there

with me so she would know how to get there. Maggie, at 10, gave her

detailed

directions how to get there!

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]

In a message dated 9/12/2006 9:24:20 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

Barbara.T.Mellert@... writes:

I've found this both a good and bad thing. Once Tom started school,

because he speaks so well, it at times was hard to convince folks that

he needed the services he did. Yes, he spoke well but he's still

deaf/hoh and really needed all that iterative stuff.

I am still having that experience periodically but Ian's services are not in

jeopardy. Thanks goodness I've learned something over the years. Every time

there is a new administrator or new person handling Ian's class placement. He

is in his own IEP/IAP meetings at this point, and they ask him questions

directly about his class choices and his plans. We have a new head of Special

Services in our district (the lady I like is now the superintendent) and she

commented, after Ian spoke, that perhaps he had outgrown the need for a TOD or

the TOD could work with a Spec Ed teacher and reduce her contact time, which

caused panic in the eyes of both Ian and his TOD and caused the other people

at the table to develop a sudden interest in their fingernails. (grin).

So, there I sat once again explaining what a TOD does, and what Ian's needs

are, and how hearing loss is a hidden disability. I'd obviously given the

speech before, and she dropped the idea like the proverbial hot potato. (grin).

We'll see how it goes with the teachers this year. Sometimes they have a

hard time at first realizing Ian can't hear them like everyone else can. " He

speaks so well. " " He's so attentive in class. " Wonderful words for some

parents, but to me those are often red flags alerting me to the fact that the

teacher saying them doesn't get that Ian can't hear as well as it seems.

Well, time for bed ... I worked the polls today for the primaries and I'm

fading fast.

Jill

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/12/2006 12:32:45 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

sfreitasi@... writes:

I had to stop at that point

cause I was getting too upset. So I need to go back and try again one day

when I feel more ready to hear the results (no pun intended).

Sherry,

Please don't feel bad about this experience! We are 8 years into this D/HOH

new reality, and when I tried that listening device simulator, using Ian's

unaided audiogram, it reduced me instantly to tears. It was suddenly simply too

raw, too real, too tangible. I had to go back later and listen again, knowing

what I wasn't going to hear. When I played it for my husband, days later, he

then had the shell-shocked look on his face and said " that has to be wrong. "

Sometime I think we deal with things as honestly as we're capable, not

looking for more than we can handle but still trying to deal with it all as it

comes along. And then something like that simulator makes things more real than

our everyday lives reflect, and it is just too much.

So, please, don't feel like you've failed somehow because you can't listen

to that simulator right now. When you need that information to make someone

else take your child's needs seriously, then I know you'll be ready to listen

and to make other people listen as well.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/12/2006 1:01:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

katie.naughton.qpgc@... writes:

....but

we do worksheets all the time and he practically lives at the library

and sleeps with books!

LOL ... every time I clean off my kids beds, when the clutter and mess

becomes more than I can ignore, I find books. Loads of books. And it makes me

laugh because I feel silly telling them they can't take books into bed to read.

I

read in bed all the time. But you don't find my books wedged between the

mattress and the bed frame. LOL

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/12/2006 1:05:12 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

sfreitasi@... writes:

Of course, I wanted the answer to be - the

audiogram must be wrong - but I see that there are numerous factors that

probably all contribute a little bit to why it is he can do so well unaided.

Okay, try this perspective when you feel blue and you wish the results were

different.

Your kid has already developed some amazing coping skills. has adapted

to his environment and figured out how to make it work for him. He's figured

out how to manipulate your behavior to make you work for him. What an amazing

feat!

That means that you have a very bright, capable boy. And given the right

supports, he is capable of anything he sets his mind to.

When our audiologist first tested Ian, when I first found out that he had a

35 db loss not a 15 db loss, our audiologist was chuckling to himself the

whole time. While doing the testing, he was smiling and saying things like

" that's one bright boy " " ah, so you do know ... " and other things that utterly

confused me. It was somewhat reassuring thing to see the doctor smiling, and

yet also totally unnerving.

I couldn't keep quiet. What was my son doing that was eliciting those

comments? I had to ask. (and yes, I was scared of the answers.) So he started

to

explain as he tested Ian, beginning with " you have a very bright boy here.

Look, he can lip read. " He gave Ian some odd instruction -- Ian was in the

booth and did what was asked. But the mike was turned off. No sound was coming

into the booth. (I didn't know how to react, I suppose I was dumbfounded or

doubtful.)

And he'd realized that Ian had memorized the word order. How could he know

that?! So then the audi said " watch this " and he said " airplane " and Ian said

" toothbrush, " the next word on the list. Again, I was stunned. The audi

started that test again, with a random word order, to get an honest assessment.

Our audi knew just what he was doing (thank goodness!). He was testing both

Ian's hearing and his coping skills.

Instead of coming out of that testing completely shell-shocked and in tears,

I came out with this odd sense of hope, mixed with total shock. My kid had

figured all this out on his own. He'd found a way to make things work for him

up until that point. And that meant that we were right, he was as bright and

capable as we had always believed.

So, don't focus on all that he's missed, on what he may miss, on what

struggles he has ahead of him. On those bad days, focus on how amazing he's

been

figuring out how to make the world work for him.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

We've never done the Where's Waldo, but boy, does know her directions.

She's been doing that since she was a little past two. What makes me laugh is

when I take a different way than normal to get somewhere. She is insistant that

I am going the wrong way, and that I'm going to get us lost. Wish I knew so

much at 7.....LOL

Debbie

Naughton katie.naughton.qpgc@...> wrote:

's freaky almost with visual stuff! Where's Waldo is a fave...and

he can give you directions to ANYWHERE even if he's only been there

once...

Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were

and ask why not. G.B Shaw

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