Moot Thoughts & Musings

I am sure you have volumes of information at your fingertips but I thought you may be interested in this blog entry written by a friend of mine IRL explaining her experience with deafness and how it has affected her life.

I actually was fluent at one time in sign language (ASL). So if you have quesitons, feel free to ask. It is a true language, but it can be learned and you can become profecient in it. I will be praying.

Aww! Of course Ellis is exactly the way God wanted him to be, but I know it's sad and worrisome! I'm sure every parent wants their baby to be perfectly healthy. I'll be praying for you all. Oh, by the way, some people teach their babies sign language anyway, because they can do signs before they can talk. And anyone can make up their own "baby signs" too (which are really cute).

ASL was my language for college and it made lots of sense and seemed really natural. I took an initial class with lots of family members of hearing-impaired folks and it seemed they caught on faster than some of us b/c they used it every day.

Baby Signs by Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn is a book written for all parents (of non-hearing-impaired kids) about sign language that discusses the benefits of using it with pre-verbal kids. It's a non-threatening, light read and has lots of easy, parent/baby useful signs (all gone, hot, eat, out, up, more,etc) that are easy to incorporate into daily activities. It helped Gid stay less frustrated early on when his receptive language was so much bigger than his verbal skills.

We're praying for you all.

I had thought of baby signing before Ellis was even born and glimpsed at Baby Signs. The book looked really great! And I'm glad you all have had good success with it (one of the encouragements getting me to think about it in hte first place). Reading Amazon reviews of it recently, though, said that not all the signs were ASL. I'm thinking that if we do any signing with him, it should be official ASL signs, in case he needs him for the rest of his life.

oh Jeannette my heart breaks for little Ellis. maybe you have already, but (if you dont mind me saying) do allow yourself to have a good cry over this. if you wanna get a little theological, the effects of the fall just suck, and it's OK to lament it.

that said, my parents went through a little what you may be experiencing, as they discovered my eye problem when I was a few months old. was it brain damage or what? they couldnt tell. so they tell the story of sitting in the waiting room with all the other parents, and they were praising the skies that I turned out to "only" have a blind eye. so yes, we have a lot to be thankful for. it's so good that they can detect things so early and get working on it. we'll pray for perseverance.

and you can do "real" ASL with the baby sign methodology, it's just that some of the real signs are tough for kids to do. I liked the book for the methodology, and use various websites for the actual signs (like signwithme.com)

I believe God wants to heal Ellis, I'll be praying.

It is such a blessing to have Ellis here with me so that I can see that he is a such a healthy, vibrant, baby boy who brings so much joy to the lives of his parents and grandparents.

I, for one, am glad he is not off in St. Louis or New Orleans where I couldn't see his amazing develpment from newborn into little boy.

I love how you're handling this. it isn't ideal, but you're right, this isn't a tragedy. he isn't dying, missing his arms or mentally impaired.

I hope I would be as calm and accepting as you are. God bless you for that. And hey, you get to learn sign language!

I was telling my mom about Ellis's situation the other day and she said, "If anyone could deal well with something like this, it is Jeannette." Know that you have many supporters.

I know everyone means well, but Diber, I think bobw is right by saying you should let yourself have a good cry over this one. In one very real sense, it IS a tragedy and it's okay for you and Chris to feel sadness and disappointment and pain for Ellis.

I'll continue to pray for your beautiful little guy!

God has awesome plans for Ellis no matter what, and I know you believe that. Will be thinking and praying for you as you learn to navigate your unique circumstance.

He's absolutely the cutest little thing- I really love seeing how he changes week to week. :)

I'm not saying you shouldn't cry if you feel like it!

Looking at both of your posts of the day, it made me think how perfect God's timing was to have you and Chris move to a place where you're surrounded by family and friends when you're facing new challenges. (BTW, my best friend from high school majored in ASL, and it's so aesthetically pleasing that I bet you'll LOVE it!)

Praying for all of you.

You, Chris, and Ellis are in my prayers. I shared your story with my mother, who is a speech pathologist. She advised getting the whole family involved in an early intervention program as soon as possible, which it sounds like you're planning on doing.