From babes

PLEASE EXCUSE SOPHIES MORNING BED HEAD. As per our routine, Breakfast time means Processor time. On while watching some tunes, and eating a lil something. Never lasts too long, but the point for now is to get her nerves exposed to sound as often as possible. I have been on the Phone again this week with Docs, trying to get our referral for closer Therapy into the system. So Aural Therapy has not begun yet. An update for Sophies success is that she still hates it. Fights me, cries, hides to take it off, hides it under things. We've had success with her wearing them out in public so much hasnt changed. Im sure once therapy begins her perception will change. Maybe even as she sees the wonderful skins (aka stickers) Her Great Aunt Pam got for her will make her seem more interested in them. They arrived yesterday and as per Pams request We let sophie open the envelope they came in. She pulled them out and looked confused...and then excited. Thinking they were just cool big stickers. lol. Im sure. She peeled them off and I put them on the processor which seemed to take forever. But they look darn cute. Baby steps in the hearing world. baby steps.


Last night tho I could not shut my mind down for bed. It took me way long even after some allergy meds (which usually knocks me out)before I fell asleep. Not to mention Sophie getting up a few times. I swear if Im thinking about her, In the same moment I will hear her yell or cry because she woke up with something out of place. Im not kidding.
But the Reason I was thinking about Sophie last night, had a lot to do with something I experienced via facebook that day. Which caused me to think about Different kinds of Sign language, and how we do not really consider ourselves to use a specific type yet. Meaning, Often we use ASL, but we also include helping words and in Exact English Form, where we sign the same word we are speaking. In ASL, of course Word placement As Ive blogged before is different, much like when you learn Spanish.
Deaf community as Ive been told refers to that as pigeon signing.
Yet, in true form of being a child, untainted by meanings, and propaganda Sophie has oddly enough Shown me something incredible.
Sophie uses real ASL~ She puts the on before the shoe. the Shopping before the go. Dad before Where. Not every sign is perfect, not every sign right, but oh my goodness. How funny, that For me...Im stuck in my wanting to use the,this,is,it because I sign and talk at the same time. But because Sophie only signs, she doesnt add in the,is, or it. She understands her Language as the community sees it, with out ever knowing anyone from that world. How coooooool. Last night I thought about the sentences she uses, the format she does it in, and the results I give her.
All these little tells, moves me into more and more believing that Sophie is comfortable in who she is. And its OUR JOB to make sure that continues. Her not wanting to wear her hearing device has prompted her to WANT TO SIGN MORE! N Communicate well. Even Ryan is picking up other signs now and using them.

Communication! Communication is KEY! But what if you were missing a sense that allows for you to communicate with everyone? After all it is said that our sense of hearing allows us to gather, process, and interpret.We use sound to acknowledge what is around us. Sound triggers memories, waves in sensations. Can keep us safe by warning us whats coming or whats near.Right? All important. All needed. But not essential. I feel. Sure i'd miss the heck out of my hearing should I loose it. But If I put myself in Sophies personal situation, I can see why the immediate change in what she hears can be off putting.
For argument sake I understand why doctors in the ENT field will push said Cochlear Implants, and other hearing devices on Families with Very young children. I understand the mind is a sponge the younger we are. And that Sound helps our Brain to function in multiple ways. Learning to listen sparks brain cells, memory, and expands the brain capacity. The more information you obtain the more you hold right?
I read something recently that Its not all about SOUND for children who are deaf. Sound is not going to make their brain Bigger, them smarter or their Capacity to retain information greater. its COMMUNICATION that is going to do that. Learning How to relate things, understand things, LANGUAGE~ I've heard every spew about how extremely important language is for Sophie. Language to communicate, to gain knowledge, to grow, to understand, to progress. All referring to the spoken language. BUT I BEG to differ. As my life continues to see Sophies progress right before my eyes. Through Sign language, shes expanding her knowledge, shes learning, shes retaining information, shes bright, and funny. I didnt teach her that Egg is to bird. Yet When I signed egg the other night she signed Bird. I didnt teach her Fish is to water, but with Sign language and relation, and absorption, and using her other senses...She knows that, and can tell me that.
In the animal World. Many mammals are born without the sense of hearing. In fact its the VERY LAST sense to develop. Meanwhile, the tiny furry newborns thrive, grow, learn and take in tons of knowledge before week 3 when the sense of sound starts to open up. Animals Again later in life can loose their hearing, We take pity on them...but really they are just fine. A horse with less or no hearing goes about his Horse life perfectly happy. adapting. Progressing, Successful, less timid. Still graceful, galloping, trotting and prancing along. Still enjoys the wind in his hair as he runs and plays. Still loves. Still understands. Thats my Sophie!

IF Only we werent so obstructed by the hearing world.

If only I too had gone with my gut. And my gut the night before and the morning of the surgery. Sophie wouldnt have this giant lump on her. She would touch the side of her ear and sign "I dont know". She wouldnt hate the processor. If we had waited a few more years...Letting her make that decision.
AS of right now, in her 3 year old mind, her deafness is freedom, her hearing device is punishment. If she didnt feel that way, she wouldnt run covering her ear at the site of me picking it up to turn the battery on.

Other people have their opinions of it. her reactions, her fits about it. Have hopes for her liking it, using it, needing it. All I want is her to decide whats right. Shes happy as is, we are happy when shes happy. Love her for her. N all in all, thats what we hold onto. We are not holding onto hope that shes gonna use it, we are holding on to her! Following her. Obviously she knows whats right for her already, hence her crafty ASLING skills. ;)


FROM THE MOUTH OF BABES right? In her Case From the Hands! Children, deaf, hearing, blind, anything amaze me in what they know...its US adults who loose the sense of MIND as we age. Maybe, we should listen to a child more often!