Getting a Sign

One of the things that I felt was important for us to do was to get a sign that would alert drivers to the fact that a deaf child lives in the area.  We live out in the country and our road is not really very busy, but should Shea make it to the street, she would never hear the cars coming.  This was a tough battle.  Our Early Intervention case worker got the process started for us by applying to the county for the sign in December 2011.  She submitted all the requested paperwork and was given a work-order number.  And then we waited.  A month went by and nothing was happening.  She called and was told they were working on it.  Another month went by....still nothing.  Again, she called and was given the same nonsense about it being in the works.  After the 3rd month went by, I called the county myself and asked for s status update on that work order.  I was transferred to one of the "head engineers" who told me that the person in charge of these types of signs was on vacation.  I called back the following week and was told that he was in meetings and that they also did not even know where to get such a sign and then he proceeded to tell me that there are DOT regulations that had to be followed, etc., etc.  I told them that; A) my husband is a professional driver, so I am well aware of DOT regs and B) to call the little town adjacent to ours and ask where they got their sign from because they had one just like this!  By now I was just plain angry.  I shot an e-mail to the County Commissioners.  Later that day I received an e-mail back from one of the commissioners who said he was going to check into the situation for me and get back with me in a couple days.  Well, that was the fire under someone's behind!  I got a call the next day from that same engineer, telling me that our signs would be installed the very next day.....and sure enough, FINALLY, on April 4, 2012, we received our signs!

Now I have an entirely different issue - the drivers!  Not a single person slows down out here!  Shea and I take a 2-mile walk nearly every day and even when I am walking on the side of the road pushing a stroller they don't slow down half the time!  And there is no shoulder out here, so I end up taking the stroller off-road into the weeds.

Please, if you happen to drive in an area where you notice a deaf child sign, please slow down.  Take a moment to understand what it means.  Even hearing children get hit by cars sometimes, and they can hear the traffic coming.  Realize what that sign is telling you - there is a child nearby who can NOT hear your vehicle, doesn't hear whatever crazy music you're listening to (if it has enough bass, though, they can probably feel it) and can't hear your horn as a warning to get out of the way.  Just slow down!  The extra minute or two it takes you to drive through that area may keep a child from getting hurt or killed.  And who knows, by slowing down you may see some bit of interest or beauty that you had never noticed before when you were flying down the road.  :)

Come learn a new sign today at Signing with Shea on Facebook

Finding Out

One of the first things that people always ask us is 'How did you find out?'.  This is, believe it or not, a complicated answer.  When Shea was born, the hospital performed their routine newborn hearing screening. While we were in the hospital, they informed us that Shea had "referred" on her hearing screening.  When we asked what that meant, we were told that it means she would be "referred" for further testing, because they did not see the results they were looking for.  She was tested again, and "referred" again, before we left the hospital 2 days later (I was there for 5 days total because Shea was induced and then, after 22 hours of labor, we had an emergency C-Section).  When we were released we were given a paper that states: "Your baby received the hearing screening and is being referred for further testing.  A referral for further testing is often due to vernix still in the baby's ear at the time of screening.  While a referral does not necessarily indicate that your child has a hearing loss, it is important that a re-evaluation be performed at the well baby check up at two weeks of age."
Sounds rather innocuous, doesn't it?  That's what we thought, too.  No big deal - this will work itself out.  Wrong.
We did have another test at the two week well baby visit.  Same results.  And then another test at the 1 month check up.  Still the same results.  At the 2 month check up, the Dr. referred us to a specialist for a more thorough test.  We did that at 3 months with, you guessed it, the same results.  And by this time we had also received the letter from the State Department of Public Health letting us know that the test results from the hospital were reported to them and that we should thoroughly review all the information we receive regarding hearing loss.  As if we hadn't already read everything we could get our hands on!  We had even started teaching Shea American Sign Language!
Then we were referred to another Dr. for yet another test.  This time it was an ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) test.  During this test the child must be asleep and they attach electrodes to the head and behind the ears to "read" the brains response to sound stimuli, which is produced through tiny earphones placed inside the ear canal.  This was a tough day for us seeing our tiny little one all hooked up to wires.  It wasn't a difficult day for Shea at all, because she just napped peacefully while I held her.  Because she was still so young and slept so much, she did not have to be sedated.  (For any parents about to go through this with a little one who will be held....bring a cushion for your behind!)
About a week later we went back to the last Dr. for the results.  They were very reassuring.  We were told that Shea's hearing loss would "most likely not affect her at all.  She may have some trouble in school, but that would probably be all."
But we knew something wasn't right with that diagnosis.  We knew that our daughter could not hear us.  After yet more tests and more Doctors, one brave speech therapist wrote down in her evaluation that Shea had a "Severe to Profound" hearing loss.  We were not shocked by this, but we still grieved.  And oh the worries that ran through my head!  I am a worry-wart by nature, but this....this was too much!  And we were still in denial for a while.  But once we embraced the fact that Shea was, in fact, deaf, oh the places we would go....together!  And besides, by this time Shea was almost 2 and had learned to sign just about anything and everything in her daily life and then some......and so our journey continues......

Learn some signs with Shea at Signing with Shea on Facebook.

Welcome

We are hearing.  Our daughter, Shea, was born deaf.  She is now 2 years old and has an extensive American Sign Language vocabulary.  We began teaching Shea (and ourselves) ASL when she was just 3 months old.  Her first sign was 'MILK' when she was 5 months old.  Since then she has just taken off!  Hence the name Signing With Shea - that's our life - signing with our daughter and loving every minute.  We have created this blog to give insight and support to other families in the same situation, as well as a way to learn about American Sign Language, Deaf Culture or the Deaf Community.  We will do our best to answer, or at least point you in the right direction if it's something we don't know.

I'll write about daily events, my thoughts on deafness and things we're doing to help raise our daughter to be a happy, well-adjusted child in a world full of craziness.  I'll discuss choices that parents of deaf children have to make, which choices we've made, why we chose that path and what the outcome is.

We have also created a Facebook page where we upload a video daily of Shea doing a sign, to help our friends and family learn ASL in a fun and easy way.  Please visit and 'like' her page at Signing With Shea on Facebook.

We'll have good days and bad days, we'll laugh and we'll cry, but in the end, we'll do it all together!