RE: Re: visibility of HL (was part of Gallaudet thread)

[Guest guest]

Standing in line at the grocery store to check out... someone comes up

(having 2-3 small kids that could pass for triplets draws a lot of

attention) and they start saying hi to the kids and " how old are you "

Bree just smiles and doesn't answer and then *I* get a strange look from

these people.

TOTALLY understand that feeling of wishing HL was VISIABLE unaided. And

to the general public I hate to say " she's deaf " because she's not

really in my definition of the word deaf, but it's hard to have a 1 word

explanation.

-Robin

RE: Re: Gallaudet situation - warning

Jill wrote:

" So, I tap Ian on the shoulder and sign (while talking) that the rude

woman

giving him a

mean look didn't realize he was deaf, so could he step aside? "

And then Selena wrote:

ROFLMAO!!!!!!! I wanna learn how to sign that!!!!!!!!!!! Are you up for

giving lessons?

**

Oh, add me to the list!

As horrible as it sounds, this was part of why I was so excited to get

's TransEar - it finally makes his hearing issues " visible " to the

outside world. I can't count how many times adults have gotten

out-and-out

*mad* at him because he hasn't heard them come up behind him, or ask him

to

move, or so on and so on. And even with his bright orange and red

patterned

Ear Gear, people still just don't seem to get it.

Personally, I love it when 's younger brother takes over in this

kind

of situation - because a 7 year old can be so much more blatant than I

politely can. " , you've got someone on your bad side AGAIN!!!! "

Kris

Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (7, hearing)

[Guest guest]

Standing in line at the grocery store to check out... someone comes up

(having 2-3 small kids that could pass for triplets draws a lot of

attention) and they start saying hi to the kids and " how old are you "

Bree just smiles and doesn't answer and then *I* get a strange look from

these people.

TOTALLY understand that feeling of wishing HL was VISIABLE unaided. And

to the general public I hate to say " she's deaf " because she's not

really in my definition of the word deaf, but it's hard to have a 1 word

explanation.

-Robin

RE: Re: Gallaudet situation - warning

Jill wrote:

" So, I tap Ian on the shoulder and sign (while talking) that the rude

woman

giving him a

mean look didn't realize he was deaf, so could he step aside? "

And then Selena wrote:

ROFLMAO!!!!!!! I wanna learn how to sign that!!!!!!!!!!! Are you up for

giving lessons?

**

Oh, add me to the list!

As horrible as it sounds, this was part of why I was so excited to get

's TransEar - it finally makes his hearing issues " visible " to the

outside world. I can't count how many times adults have gotten

out-and-out

*mad* at him because he hasn't heard them come up behind him, or ask him

to

move, or so on and so on. And even with his bright orange and red

patterned

Ear Gear, people still just don't seem to get it.

Personally, I love it when 's younger brother takes over in this

kind

of situation - because a 7 year old can be so much more blatant than I

politely can. " , you've got someone on your bad side AGAIN!!!! "

Kris

Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (7, hearing)

[Guest guest]

Standing in line at the grocery store to check out... someone comes up

(having 2-3 small kids that could pass for triplets draws a lot of

attention) and they start saying hi to the kids and " how old are you "

Bree just smiles and doesn't answer and then *I* get a strange look from

these people.

TOTALLY understand that feeling of wishing HL was VISIABLE unaided. And

to the general public I hate to say " she's deaf " because she's not

really in my definition of the word deaf, but it's hard to have a 1 word

explanation.

-Robin

RE: Re: Gallaudet situation - warning

Jill wrote:

" So, I tap Ian on the shoulder and sign (while talking) that the rude

woman

giving him a

mean look didn't realize he was deaf, so could he step aside? "

And then Selena wrote:

ROFLMAO!!!!!!! I wanna learn how to sign that!!!!!!!!!!! Are you up for

giving lessons?

**

Oh, add me to the list!

As horrible as it sounds, this was part of why I was so excited to get

's TransEar - it finally makes his hearing issues " visible " to the

outside world. I can't count how many times adults have gotten

out-and-out

*mad* at him because he hasn't heard them come up behind him, or ask him

to

move, or so on and so on. And even with his bright orange and red

patterned

Ear Gear, people still just don't seem to get it.

Personally, I love it when 's younger brother takes over in this

kind

of situation - because a 7 year old can be so much more blatant than I

politely can. " , you've got someone on your bad side AGAIN!!!! "

Kris

Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (7, hearing)

[Guest guest]

Hailey's very cute about this at the moment. Normally I just tap her on the

shoulder and point to whomever was trying to get her attention, however rude it

might have been. She's so funny now cause she'll say to them, " I so sorry, I no

hea you " and then as she pulls back her long red hair, " Can you no see my hea

ning aides? " If it's a kid they are all about looking at her aides and asking

questions, If it's an adult, most of the time they turn flush with embarassment

drop their eyes and hurry on, sometimes with a quick " I'm sorry " . Hailey just

laughs at the adults, smiles at me and signs, " They so Silly " But I sure

would like to be able to help her put them in thier place, maybe, just maybe

once to make up for all the nasty looks i've every gotton. You know the ones,

the ones that say, Good Lord Lady don't your kids know any manners?!

Selena,

Mom to 5, all with diffrent needs, including Hailey 4, bilateral

sensori-neural, moderare-severe, progressive loss, bilaterally aided

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Hailey's very cute about this at the moment. Normally I just tap her on the

shoulder and point to whomever was trying to get her attention, however rude it

might have been. She's so funny now cause she'll say to them, " I so sorry, I no

hea you " and then as she pulls back her long red hair, " Can you no see my hea

ning aides? " If it's a kid they are all about looking at her aides and asking

questions, If it's an adult, most of the time they turn flush with embarassment

drop their eyes and hurry on, sometimes with a quick " I'm sorry " . Hailey just

laughs at the adults, smiles at me and signs, " They so Silly " But I sure

would like to be able to help her put them in thier place, maybe, just maybe

once to make up for all the nasty looks i've every gotton. You know the ones,

the ones that say, Good Lord Lady don't your kids know any manners?!

Selena,

Mom to 5, all with diffrent needs, including Hailey 4, bilateral

sensori-neural, moderare-severe, progressive loss, bilaterally aided

---------------------------------

We have the perfect Group for you. Check out the handy changes to Yahoo! Groups.

[Guest guest]

That happened so many times last night while we were

trick or treating. Jaden was dressed as a doctor so

everyone had comments about him helping them or people

were waiting for him to say trick or treat. We've

dealt with this for 4 1/2 years and it's finally to

the point where I just interpret for him and sign what

they said for him. They usually get that he's Deaf at

that point! I went through a phase where I wanted to

explain about him being Deaf, then went through the

phase where I was tired of explaining and just ignored

those who gave the funny looks or questioned. Now it's

more about clueing Jaden into what's going on in the

world around him.

le

[Guest guest]

That happened so many times last night while we were

trick or treating. Jaden was dressed as a doctor so

everyone had comments about him helping them or people

were waiting for him to say trick or treat. We've

dealt with this for 4 1/2 years and it's finally to

the point where I just interpret for him and sign what

they said for him. They usually get that he's Deaf at

that point! I went through a phase where I wanted to

explain about him being Deaf, then went through the

phase where I was tired of explaining and just ignored

those who gave the funny looks or questioned. Now it's

more about clueing Jaden into what's going on in the

world around him.

le

[Guest guest]

Funny related stories...

Our son got his first set of hearing aids when he was 11mo. At that time, his

hair was longish--covering at least the tops of his ears--so the hearing aids

were hidden. We were travelling somewhere, and stopped at a rest area. He still

wasn't walking, so I was carrying him into the building to change his diaper,

when a woman stopped me to tell me how cute he was. Then she reached out

and pushed his hair behind his ear, and hit the hearing aid. She got very

flustered about it, and asked if he could even hear her. I pointed out that

that's what the hearing aid was supposed to do, and it seemed to work for him.

;-) (DS now wears a buzz cut and hates having his hair long enough to touch his

hearing aids.)

A couple of years ago, I took DS in for his annual checkup with the regular

pediatrician. I like this doctor a lot, especially since he usually takes time

to ask about things that he doesn't have that much experience in (like hearing

loss). He also talks to DS rather than to me. The doctor had gone through all

the standard " how are you doing? " questions, then had DS take out his hearing

aids to check his ears. While he was looking into one ear, he asked DS a

question, but DS didn't hear the question at all. The doctor was very perplexed

at first about why DS was suddenly ignoring him--then I just held out my hand

that was holding the hearing aids and smiled. The doctor made the connection,

blushed, and repeated the question more loudly.

Kiminy

---------------------------------

Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.

[Guest guest]

Funny related stories...

Our son got his first set of hearing aids when he was 11mo. At that time, his

hair was longish--covering at least the tops of his ears--so the hearing aids

were hidden. We were travelling somewhere, and stopped at a rest area. He still

wasn't walking, so I was carrying him into the building to change his diaper,

when a woman stopped me to tell me how cute he was. Then she reached out

and pushed his hair behind his ear, and hit the hearing aid. She got very

flustered about it, and asked if he could even hear her. I pointed out that

that's what the hearing aid was supposed to do, and it seemed to work for him.

;-) (DS now wears a buzz cut and hates having his hair long enough to touch his

hearing aids.)

A couple of years ago, I took DS in for his annual checkup with the regular

pediatrician. I like this doctor a lot, especially since he usually takes time

to ask about things that he doesn't have that much experience in (like hearing

loss). He also talks to DS rather than to me. The doctor had gone through all

the standard " how are you doing? " questions, then had DS take out his hearing

aids to check his ears. While he was looking into one ear, he asked DS a

question, but DS didn't hear the question at all. The doctor was very perplexed

at first about why DS was suddenly ignoring him--then I just held out my hand

that was holding the hearing aids and smiled. The doctor made the connection,

blushed, and repeated the question more loudly.

Kiminy

---------------------------------

Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.

[Guest guest]

Funny related stories...

Our son got his first set of hearing aids when he was 11mo. At that time, his

hair was longish--covering at least the tops of his ears--so the hearing aids

were hidden. We were travelling somewhere, and stopped at a rest area. He still

wasn't walking, so I was carrying him into the building to change his diaper,

when a woman stopped me to tell me how cute he was. Then she reached out

and pushed his hair behind his ear, and hit the hearing aid. She got very

flustered about it, and asked if he could even hear her. I pointed out that

that's what the hearing aid was supposed to do, and it seemed to work for him.

;-) (DS now wears a buzz cut and hates having his hair long enough to touch his

hearing aids.)

A couple of years ago, I took DS in for his annual checkup with the regular

pediatrician. I like this doctor a lot, especially since he usually takes time

to ask about things that he doesn't have that much experience in (like hearing

loss). He also talks to DS rather than to me. The doctor had gone through all

the standard " how are you doing? " questions, then had DS take out his hearing

aids to check his ears. While he was looking into one ear, he asked DS a

question, but DS didn't hear the question at all. The doctor was very perplexed

at first about why DS was suddenly ignoring him--then I just held out my hand

that was holding the hearing aids and smiled. The doctor made the connection,

blushed, and repeated the question more loudly.

Kiminy

---------------------------------

Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/1/2006 10:12:04 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

bswatson@... writes:

Bree just smiles and doesn't answer and then *I* get a strange look from

these people.

TOTALLY understand that feeling of wishing HL was VISIABLE unaided. And

to the general public I hate to say " she's deaf " because she's not

really in my definition of the word deaf, but it's hard to have a 1 word

explanation.

Then say -- she's shy and doesn't talk to strangers. And leave it at that.

Why do they need more of an explanation?

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/1/2006 10:12:04 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

bswatson@... writes:

Bree just smiles and doesn't answer and then *I* get a strange look from

these people.

TOTALLY understand that feeling of wishing HL was VISIABLE unaided. And

to the general public I hate to say " she's deaf " because she's not

really in my definition of the word deaf, but it's hard to have a 1 word

explanation.

Then say -- she's shy and doesn't talk to strangers. And leave it at that.

Why do they need more of an explanation?

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/1/2006 11:40:46 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

lill_tinkerbelle@... writes:

But I sure would like to be able to help her put them in thier place, maybe,

just maybe once to make up for all the nasty looks i've every gotton. You

know the ones, the ones that say, Good Lord Lady don't your kids know any

manners?!

Don't worry about it -- by lifting her hair and smilingly handling the

situation, she just did. That's why they're shuffling away in embarrassment.

(grin) Your daughter has found a wonderful way to handle this, with absolutely

no

embarrassment on her part. Give her a hug for me!

Jill