Hey guys! My name is Shawna and my husbands name is Blaine, we have 3 sons together, one of which is deaf. Before Winston was even born we had talked about what we would do if he was born deaf, because my husband is also deaf. Winston did not pass his screening and they came into the hospital room and told us it could just be fluid and to make an appointment with the ENT. I just sort of laughed and said that my husband was deaf so I didn't think it was fluid, we just sort of knew that he was deaf.
When he was a few weeks old it was confirmed that he is profoundly deaf in both ears. We do not know the cause of his deafness. When we found out it was just sort of like okay, he IS deaf so what do we do now? What are our next steps? We had time before he was born to accept that he might be born deaf so I never was super upset about it. I do remember a few times feeling sad before he got implanted that he couldn't hear my voice, the hearing aids didn't do much for him. He wore the hearing aids until he got bilateral implants at 13 months old. We choose this route because for one my husband has an implant and also we wanted him to have access to sound as early as possible, whereas my husband didn't have implants until he was 4 years old.
We choose to go the total communication route which was a very rocky road at first and still sometimes is. As I said before, my husband is deaf and his parents put him through an oral program that is against any form of sign language. But there are times when he can't wear his processor and I still wanted to be able to communicate with him. We also wanted to give him access to any and all language so that when he grows up he can choose to be totally immersed in the Deaf community, or can choose to drop the sign language and just use oral communication or can do a combination of both. Currently we are dipping our feet in Cued Speech which is awesome! Our main goal is language and the understanding of language, we don't care how he receives it.
My best advice for parents of kids with hearing loss is that you know your child best, a lot of people will have their own opinions and thoughts on what route your child should take whether it be their mode of communication, their amplifications or anything else. While advice is nice, YOU are the parent, you know what is best for your child. Research different modes of communication, some doctors don't let you know that ASL or Cued Speech is an option. Reach out to other parents who have deaf children but don't compare your child's journey to someone else's! Everyone is different and learns and grows at their own pace.
