Deaf & Hard of Hearing Panel which included a woman who was Deaf-Blind who is a musician
Karen Putz, professional barefoot water skier, lost hearing during an afternoon water skiing in which she fell.
Speaking to one of the many involved extended family members in our break out session" extended family members discussion group".
Logan & kellies hubby, Andy readying the rocket launch Saturday night. I see more rockets in our future from both boys...thanks kellie & Andy :)
Logan & kellie's daughter, Sarah ...who have been friends now for over 3 yrs thanks to FWR. Not to mention, rumored amongst staff and friends as future husband & wife...lol
The Texas Hands & Voices Guide by Your Side staff present at FWR Sunday ...missing Angie & Jason :(The above pics are just a taste of the great speakers that were at TSD for Family Weekend Retreat. This year there was over 310 people( roughly 76 families)in attendance. Talk about fantastic seeing as in years past we maybe had 76 peeps total.
One of the main focuses this year was "Child First Campaign" which is a focus on Deaf/ HH children getting access to same education as hearing students. Education aside, not that it's not important but this idea put into action in all areas of child's life whether the child has a hearing loss or not can build up their self esteem and teach them how to advocate for themselves as well as others. Now I don't mean giving into the child's silly demands etc. because that would just create a world of spoiled brats. As far as I am concerned, the world needs far less of those than we already have :)
I wrote down some key points from various speakers that even though they are Deaf/HH centered can be applied to those of our children that are hearing.
The superintendent,Claire Burgen, of TSD started the day off w/ "Incredibly Visible: Blending In & Standing Out" .
- There is no one way or right answers to raising a Deaf/HH child
- Proven cognitive benefits to learning two languages
- A child learns more from human social interaction more than anything else
- Communication & language is a human & educational right
- Language is disabling not Deafness
- There are multiple pathways to learning; options are everything
- Put the "I" back in I.E.P
- Aim the IEP meeting at outcomes instead of gripe session
- Let your Deaf/HH child lead you in the way that he or she chooses to communicate & as parents be
Willing to follow
- " The brain doesn't discriminate between sign language & spoken language; people do."
~ Dr. Laura Pettito
Next came the wonderful Djenne (pronounced janay)Morris. She informed us that we as parents have earned a new degree. So just as she was informed she passed along the info; so now I am passing it onto to you. My name now has a P.h.e on the end of it. P.h.e stands for parent having experience and I have been earning my P.h.e. in hearing loss for the last 91/2 yrs. Djenne also posed several questions to us as parents to ponder.
- What's my purpose for me & my child(ren) on this journey?
- Where am I on this journey & where do I go from here?
( I will tell you my answers to these questions in a later blog :) )
- " As water shapes itself to a vessel; a man or woman shapes themselves to a circumstance."
~ Chinese Proverb
Next came the breakout sessions where the parents could choose from a multitude of various classes. I was chosen to monitor Djenne & Michael Morris's class " I got you babe". The class was made up of couples and extended family members because even though in a picture perfect relationship there would be a spouse present but that is not always the case. They advised families to find the G.L.UE. That held them together in good & bad times. The Morris's motto to GLUE is generating love unity eternally. Key points:
- Pro-grow ( personal growth)
- Take a Break ( Dates/Time Alone "ME Time")
- Walk It( time spent exercising/ recreational)
- Peers ~ No Sneers ( True friends/family who respect & support your decisions)
- Different points in you & your spouses growth in learning & adjusting to diagnoses of child is ok;
Respect each other on their journey
There are so many more thoughts and notes taken that I could share but I would hate to put one on overload :)
So in conjunction with this weekends topic...I will leave u with this thought...Why are we trying to have our kids blend in when they were born to stand out? A gift given to us by God to fulfill his greater purpose in their lives. The ability to be comfortable standing out allows for a child to have a great sense of self worth whether people choose to accept them as they are or not. This self worth, will give them the drive to obtain all that God has in store for them.
"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, " I used everything you gave me." ~ Erma Bombeck
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