~"One
thing I noticed early on was that we recognized our child's
smaller accomplishments more than our friends who have "typical"
children. The things we took delight in were things they
took for granted. We never took it for granted when our
child learned a new word or sign. We never took it for granted
when she walked up to the counter at McDonalds and ordered
her own Happy Meal. Things that are often taken for granted
with hearing children were things that we had to work on
very hard with our child to achieve.
While friends and relatives sometimes
felt sorry for what our child could not do, we knew that
it is something she just could not do YET. We knew that
with time and effort she would do it. And when she did,
we celebrated what would be an everyday occurrence to parents
who have a hearing child. In many ways, we have been given
a gift. We've learned not to take things for granted, and
we have learned to take notice of even the little things
that many parents overlook. We get to celebrate successes
that they don't even notice.
I
think I struggled with the "success" issue more
when my daughter was very young. When I stopped comparing
her to other children, I began to enjoy the smaller, everyday
accomplishments. When you have a child who has to work harder
to achieve the same things as other children their age,
you appreciate the little things that much more. I am so
proud of who my daughter is today. I know I would be just
as proud of her if she were not deaf, but I know for a fact
that I have enjoyed and celebrated even the little successes
along the way much more because I know the effort it took
to get where she is today."
~"When
our daughter was first diagnosed, we were warned that she
might never read above the 5th grade level. Our first signal
that this wasn't necessarily going to be true was when she
forgot to bring her Valentine list home in pre-school and
could write down everyone's name in her pre-school classes
without help. She is a wonderful reader now. She loved to
read in the car when everyone else was getting carsick.
We think the use of the closed captioning has been a great
help and wish we had gotten that earlier. She ended up being
an honor student and is now succeeding in a very selective
college. All the years of constant language input, hours
of reading to her, etc. has paid off nicely."
~
I
think I struggled with the "success" issue more
when my daughter was very young. When I stopped comparing
her to other children, I began to enjoy the smaller, everyday
accomplishments. When you have a child who has to work harder
to achieve the same things as other children their age,
you appreciate the little things that much more. I am so
proud of who my daughter is today. I know I would be just
as proud of her if she were not deaf, but I know for a fact
that I have enjoyed and celebrated even the little successes
along the way much more because I know the effort it took
to get where she is today."
