Introductions

[Karen Putz]

Hi everyone! I figured it was time for some introductions now that we've got a couple of parents here!

I'm a deaf mom of three deaf and hard of hearing kids-- two teens and one tween. In my family, we have a rare gene that passes on hearing loss via the females in the family. I was born hearing, grew up hard of hearing and became deaf at the age of nineteen after a fall from barefooting (waterskiing on bare feet). My hubby is also deaf.

I blog at A Deaf Mom Shares Her World and I run the Jobs, Careers and Callings website that features deaf/hard of hearing people at work. I also blog at Chicago Moms Blog, Disaboom and Parenting Squad.

Jump right in and tell us about yourself and your family!

[Tammy]

Hello all!
Karen just introduced me to this site. I am a mother of three beautiful children. My youngest, Aiden, is 6 mths old and was born with profound bilateral SNHL. He got hearing aids at 10 weeks and we started auditory verbal therapy at the same time. We are on the path of getting him cochlear implants by the time he is 12 mths old. We have also started introducing him to sign and within a month, he is signing milk!

I love the idea of connecting with other families to help each other along the way. What I've found is that there's always someone ahead of you, who can provide advice and guidance; someone beside you, to walk with hand in hand; and someone behind you, to give back what's alredy been provided. This is an amazing journey, one in which I'm glad to be a part of.

I look forward to reading about and learning from all of you!
Regards,
Tammy

[Beth Donofrio]

Hi Everyone....
Sorry I haven't posted yet....my name is Beth Donofrio and I'm mom to 5 great kids. Adam is 18, hearing and a freshman at NIU. Aubrey is 15 1/2, deaf/hh.....I always use both because on paper she is deaf but she hears a lot with her aids on and functions more as hard of hearing....she is a sophomore at Hinsdale South H.S. Alec is 13 1/2, hearing and in 8th grade, Aidan is 3, hearing and in preschool and finally there is Austin who is almost 18 months and is hearing......gee did I get everybody??ha I am the new chairperson for Illinois Hands & Voices a wonderful parent driven organization providing support for families with deaf/hh kids. Ask me about H&V....I love talking to any families about our organization! Looking forward to getting to know everyone in this group! Thanks for starting it Karen!
Beth

[Cathy Lyons-Guidish]

Hello,
Cathy here from southern Illinois ...Thank you for the invite to this site..Karen it looks great!
I have 3 beautiful children Caralina 12, Caitlyn 11, and My Dakota is profoundly Deaf with Cochlear Implant..he is 9 in a week...and wants a new DS Nintendo guess i will be going to walmart..LOL Been married to David for 15 years ..he's a truck driver..I am working towards my Bachelor of Science in Elementrary Education..1 week left in Skills for Professional Development and will start Cultural Diversity in 2 weeks..Also recently became Vice-Chair on Illinois Hands and Voices Board..(Would you like to be a member?)..and if that isn't all keeping me busy..i babysit my nephews 1and 2 years old Friday and Saturday 4:30 am until 2 pm both days..oh yeah and i am in my 3rd class for learning more sign language..my latest website i love ..is Handspeak.com
~Cathy~

[Lucky Day]

Hello,
Eliza from sunny Florida. I love this site and have enjoyed being able to be a part of it. My husband and I have each been band directors. DH is now back in school studying statistics. I am happily home with my children. My son is 3 with a severe/profound loss. My daughter is 1 with a severely cute attitude. :) We've signed with our son from his diagnosis at 10 months. His hearing has gotten worse though so we're considering a CI. We've always wanted him to have both sigh and speech. Sometimes this journey is so hard and isolating. I'm glad to meet you all to share and learn from. Thank you all.

Eliza (Luckyday)

[Beth Donofrio]

Hi Eliza...nice to meet you.....glad we can share information about our kids! I know your kids are younger than mine but any time you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I know I got so much out of talking to parents whose kids were a little older, to know what to expect or know what was coming down the road. Take care....
Beth


Lucky Day said:

Hello,
Eliza from sunny Florida. I love this site and have enjoyed being able to be a part of it. My husband and I have each been band directors. DH is now back in school studying statistics. I am happily home with my children. My son is 3 with a severe/profound loss. My daughter is 1 with a severely cute attitude. :) We've signed with our son from his diagnosis at 10 months. His hearing has gotten worse though so we're considering a CI. We've always wanted him to have both sigh and speech. Sometimes this journey is so hard and isolating. I'm glad to meet you all to share and learn from. Thank you all.

Eliza (Luckyday)

[Valerie]

Hello,

For some reason I thought I posted in here but maybe I didn't. My daughter will be 3 in Dec and was diagnoised with Moderate SNHL a few weeks after birth and then received her first aids close to 3 months old. She has been in the local EI program and receiving services 1 hr per week. Caitlyn is in daycare fulltime so the therapist see's her one week at the house and the alternate week at her "school". She is in a mainstream daycare so there are fights often with her teachers on proper usage of her aids. Caitlyn is getting ready to transition and get her IEP started... in fact the first meeting is this Wednesday (10/15) and I hope it goes well. The Clarke school is providing assistance through this process.

Her daycare teaches the kids spanish and ASL which I believe is a great thing. Now I just need to learn ASL and work with her on this. Clarke was against ASL but I want to view it as another language she will know.

I am so happy to hear all of your stories!!

Valerie

[Beth Donofrio]

Hi Valerie.....

Let us know how the meeting goes.....if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!! Good luck!
Beth


Valerie said:

Hello,

For some reason I thought I posted in here but maybe I didn't. My daughter will be 3 in Dec and was diagnoised with Moderate SNHL a few weeks after birth and then received her first aids close to 3 months old. She has been in the local EI program and receiving services 1 hr per week. Caitlyn is in daycare fulltime so the therapist see's her one week at the house and the alternate week at her "school". She is in a mainstream daycare so there are fights often with her teachers on proper usage of her aids. Caitlyn is getting ready to transition and get her IEP started... in fact the first meeting is this Wednesday (10/15) and I hope it goes well. The Clarke school is providing assistance through this process.

Her daycare teaches the kids spanish and ASL which I believe is a great thing. Now I just need to learn ASL and work with her on this. Clarke was against ASL but I want to view it as another language she will know.

I am so happy to hear all of your stories!!

Valerie

[Miss Kat's Mom]

My name is Melissa. I have a 5 year old daughter with a bilateral progressive loss that just became severe. She will be getting a CI in the next few weeks. She uses ASL and is in a bi-bi Kindergarten.

http://misskatsmom.blogspot.com/

[Beth Donofrio]

Hi Melissa....
Welcome to the group.....let us know how the implant process goes.....good luck!
Beth


Miss Kat's Mom said:

My name is Melissa. I have a 5 year old daughter with a bilateral progressive loss that just became severe. She will be getting a CI in the next few weeks. She uses ASL and is in a bi-bi Kindergarten.

http://misskatsmom.blogspot.com/

[DebCny]

Hello. I'm glad to have found this site, and am enjoying what I'm reading so far. I am the mother of 2 wonderful boys, ages 11 and 6.

My 11 year old, AC, has a mild-moderate hearing loss in both ears. He wears HA's, and uses and FM in school - and is doing really well. We really don't know anyone else who wears hearing aids or anything though in "real life" - so, it's nice to find resources like this. Thanks!

PS - I started a website called "Hear me Hear me not" (which I need to update!). Check it out for more on us...

Deb

[Kristen@nosmallthing]

Hello, I'm Kristen! I'm married to David, and we have four children, Kate (8 in a week), William (6), Henry (4, almost 5) and Ella (1). Henry has Severe SNHL bilaterally, plus a diagnosis of Auditory Neuropathy (AN). The AN doesn't seem to really play a significant role, though, if any. Henry is in a public pre-k program that mixes d/hoh kids in with normal hearing peers. It has been great so far. He uses an FM system in school, and his teacher "is impressed" with what he can do, so that is very encouraging to us. He's a real bright little boy, so I think he's going to go far in life...if he can just learn to control his little four-year-old-boy self! (He has just found that goofing off with your buddies in school is fun!)

What else about me...I have a degree in Psychology from Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!), but I work in accounting. Funny, huh? I work from home, early in the morning before the kiddies get up. Then I spend my days taking care of the little ones and the home, and trying to preserve my sanity. I have a blog called No Small Thing which details it all. Well, it details what I can post online, anyway!

[Crystal Schwartz]

Introductions away!

I'm a deaf mom of three deaf and hard of hearing kids too! Ages 7,6 and 4. (Karen, you're going to become my role model lol) My husband is also deaf. When my children became diagnosed with AN, audiotory neuropathy--a sensory hearing loss-- it then became determined that it was what my family had too. (I have four generations of deafness in my family) Our genes were never really diagnosed other than "the deaf gene" Researchers and Audiologists became more familiar with AN five years ago to where they were able to explain and diagnose this in my children. Its actually a good feeling, to have an explaination, finally. As for my husband, they still remain with "the deaf gene."

All three of my children attend the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program in Oswego.

I am also a certified Deaf Childrens Mentor, I enjoy working with deaf/hard of hearing children and their families.