Give children the tools they need
When I was about 10 years old, I noticed that I could no longer hear birds singing or my mother whistling. At the time it didn't bother me too much, but as the years passed I began to understand less and less of what people said to me. Finally I was told that I had progressive nerve deafness. I had no idea that meant eventual TOTAL deafness, and nobody told me
differently. I grew up hearing and speaking. By the time I was in high school, I had difficulty with the lyrics to most songs, and couldn't hear some types of bells, like telephones. Because of the nature of nerve deafness, hearing aids at the time were useless for me, but never did anyone
suggest I be trained in lip reading or signing. Over time I learned some lip reading out of necessity, but it would have been so much easier for me with proper training.
By the time I was 30, my deafness was nearly total. I could hear the thunder if it was really loud and close, or a dog barking nearby, very loud sounds like that. But I cannot communicate with the deaf because I can't sign and trying to lip read is exhausting. Someone told me once that where the hearing work an 8 hour day, those who depend on lip reading work the equivalent of 24 hours because of the stress and tension involved. Now I am 53, totally deaf and unable to work because of various health problems. I have three grandchildren and I have never heard them speak or laugh. Music is gone from my life. I'm not really part of either the Deaf or hearing communities.
I want to urge parents of children with any disability to train them early to be independent and to give them as many tools to do so as possible. If your child has a hearing loss that is expected to grow worse, get that child lessons in ASL (American Sign Language) and in lip reading. If the child is losing his or her sight, get Braille lessons. Please don't hide your head in the sand and hope it will go away or the child will outgrow it, because you'll actually be creating more of a disability. Encourage children with motor problems to exercise and build strength. Take them out in public and try to educate people who may stare or be rude or think your child is mentally deficient just because he or she has a physical disability. Try to teach your child to handle the ignorance of the world with humor and to stick up for himself or herself. You'll be glad you did.
Cyndy K.