Hello. Just curious if there is anyone else out there with a deaf child. We will be adding a 4yo boy to our family in November. Deaf and can not verbalize at all. He will be getting evaluated at UNC soon after arrival but would love to speak w/ another parent to know what resources are available and about the school situation. There will be 9 of us trying to learn sign language. Any advice on that is also welcomed. All 7 of our children are special needs but this is one area we are totally not up to speed on. Learning quickly though! Also, any places around here to go to learn ASL? Any places to purchase items for the deaf or HOH? I got a few things from Barnes and Nobles and have been looking on ebay w/out much luck. Very limited budget. Very interested in knowing if there is any place to purchase the signing time DVD's everyone keeps telling me about. Thanks in advance. Stephanie.
I have some signing made easy DVD's. You can rent them from netflix. They are very old and a little corny, but helpful. I know sign language, but it has been years since I have really used it so I am VERY VERY rusty. But I would love to be able to teach you some basics. I also have some great sign language dictionaries etc you are welcome to borrow. Have you checked the libraries? JCC teaches a basic sign language class through there continuing education class. Wilson Tech has the whole degree program for interpreting etc. Let me know if I can help and congrats on the new addition to your family. I am excited for you!!!
Thanks. I didn't even think of JCC. That is definitely an option. Never even occurred to me to rent from Netflix (used to work for Blockbuster & they didnt have those). Nice to know I can rent them. I will check these options out for sure. Thanks again. Stephanie.
There are also books on teaching infants sign language in many baby and book stores, which may be helpful in starting off with basic communication skills. The vocabulary can then be increased as you go.
Check pot this page from Michigan State university if you want to practice ASL while you're online. It offers an alphabetical index of words/phrases with a nice, on-the-page video of the corresponding sign. It's by no means comprehensive but it is a large database. Congrats on the new addition! http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm Also try this search I did on Yahoo...several helpful pages for you. http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=learn+asl&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
Hi Abdulina - I do not have a deaf child myself, but I'm deaf and I would love to share my knowledges and experiences with you, for your child: 1. Having your child getting evaluate is the best way to go. What they will do is to give your child a hearing test, to determines how much of the hearing loss and which equipment (hearing-aid, sign language, speech therapy, etc) is best suited for your child. They will also help you to find which school is best for him or her. 2. As for the school situation, check with the Johnston County School office and ask them about the hearing-impaired class (if the child's doctor say that she's qualified to "mainstreamed" with the classroom). I know my son's school have several deaf children mainstreamed there. There is a deaf school, operated by the State, located in Wilson. I believe it's about 30 miles from Clayton. Like my mother, some parents don't feel comfortable to send their child away to stay in the deaf school and sleep there from Monday thru Friday. The children there come home on weekend. Some parents don't mind. It's entirely up to you. 3. Learning ASL - you can take the ASL classes at JCC or ask Raleigh Deaf Service Center for information. Learning from DVD or a tape can be challenging because it's hard to picture the sign in "3d", like in person. You will learn faster if you're with deaf people more often. 4. Purchase Items - if you're talking about a special telephone, tty, etc - call Raleigh Deaf Service Center and make an appointment with them for equipments. Your child is eligible to receive tty, light flasher for doorbell, fire alarm, weather warning, vibrate alarm clock, and more. It's free because it's from the State. Your child can keep it as long as she or he wants. Most TV today are equipped with closed-captioned. It is a great learning tool to use (for reading and language). I hope this will help you. I'm grateful to see a caring person, like you, who is willing to help the child with his or her disability. May God bless you two and good luck.
I was just looking on line and saw this website... at first glance it looked like a site to take ASL classes for babies, but she is accredited and can teach individuals or families ASL (will even come to you!) http://www.signsoflearning.com/Signs of Learning Web/classes.htm Keep us posted!
Thanks so much cakeprincess and everyone else who responded. We are now leaving earlier to Russia to pick up the kids. His evaluation can not be moved though at UNC. So, we'll know more on Dec. 11th just what range of hearing he has. It is VERY little. He does not speak at all and when we were there, he couldn't hear either when we spoke to him. I will definitely check out many of hte suggestions given to me. I knew about the school for the deaf but for a child that came from an orphanage environment, we could never send him there b/c he would regress. Hard to explain. Thanks again. Great sites! Very good advice cakeprincess. Do appreciate it. Stephanie.
You're certainly welcome. I'll be very happy to answer your questions anytime. FYI, I married my husband, who is 100% deaf and cannot speak, like your child. He knew ASL since his school years at the deaf school. The deaf school he went to (not in NC though) gives parents two choices: child stay at deaf school or child can come home after school daily. You might want to check out with school for the deaf, as I mentioned it on the earlier post, and ask them if they can give you options. Don't worry about your child's future education: It's paid for (except books) by the State. Based on their disability, they are qualified to get a free college education, up to six years in community college or university. There are two popular colleges that provide everything for deaf student: RIT (Rochester Institue of Technology in Rochester, NY - also NTID, which is National Techincal Inst. for the Deaf) and Galludent University in Washington D.C. Both of these schools are excellent. You can check it out on the web. When your child graduates from high school, contact Vocational Rehabitation for free scholarships. Just thought you'll be happy to know about this.
