Karen Pinto: I WISH those babies were mine At least I get to borrow them.

mmfrench: we might get caught in a tail spin, but we do straighten out eventually.
I’ve crashed and burned a few times… not pretty, but totally true. When Lucy was 1, Aaron came home and I was curled up in a ball on the floor and just couldn’t function. I couldn’t do it one more day. It was more than I could bare, imagining doing all I was doing for the REST of my life. Thankfully I have Aaron and he took over until I got my head on straight again and remembered I really only need to handle one second at a time.

Ambulance Mommy: It DOES get better. It really does.

Jill: You are welcome and you are right. It IS good, isn’t it.

Wynona: Ah yes, there were tell tale signs with Leah, quirky things we just loved and then looking back could kick ourselves for not NOTICING. We live and learn.

Beth: I LOVE lurkers Thanks for sharing and congrats! I can imagine what you see as an interpreter and having to sit by and simply interpret rather than whack a couple of people over the head Takes true restraint! My respects

Beth in WI
http://www.heut-n-holler.blogspot.com

Anne Spencer: I love knowing we are spending each morning with you~

Danielle: Thanks!

Chris: I know it! All too soon I will be blogging that she is off to college.

Natalie Orr: I can absolutely relate. Like you, I never expected to have the circumstances that I have in my life. It is a shocker, to say the least. When I was pregnant with Lucy I remember being afraid to move, knowing her spinal cord was exposed inside of my uterus. There are so many thoughts and concerns that no one can imagine. There is also so much joy and amazement that no one can imagine either. No pity here, my friend. Just smiles of (some) understanding. My best to you and your babes.

Hetha: Sometimes when children see other kids signing (on Signing Time) they really get that, for lack of a better way to explain it, it is okay. They aren’t alone in signing. They see that many other kids are signing too!

Joan Martin: Luckily we have found that the Signing Time formula for teaching works perfectly for grownups too. There are ASL 101 DVD’s available, but it is not something I want to do, because that kind of stuff is missing the fun! I do hope that our grown-up viewers learn all they can from Signing Time and then look for additional ASL resources in their communities.

Diane Francisco: Wow Diane, it does feel like we are paddling just to keep our head above the water sometimes, doesn’t it. We wonder how we are going to make it, emotionally, physically and financially. I am so glad that Signing Time was a stepping-stone to communication for your family.

Tierney’s mom: Tanya, I am glad you commented. Welcome to The Signing Time Family! It sounds like Tierney is doing great. I really do try to share openly because I think as parents on our surprising paths, we have so much to learn from each other. Some parents of deaf children have told me that seeing Leah on Signing Time was comforting to them, they have a sense that it’s going to be okay for their child. I sought out others who had deaf children, to help me “see” what the future might look like for Leah.
You are welcome, welcome, welcome!

Lisa: It is all about inclusion, understanding, education and acceptance, isn’t it? I am thrilled that your children are growing up with those perspectives.

Lisa D.: LOL I would need 4-5 hours… or maybe 4-5 days to tell the entire story of the Coleman Family. Here I can do it in bits and pieces. I can’t wait to come back.

Janna: Leah has always been a good teacher, hasn’t she? She naturally went out of her way, (even at 3!) to help others understand her. I swear we were JUST living in LA. Where do the years go?

Diane: Your comment had me grinning and even teary!
There was a sense of loss and of hope when I wrote The Good. (sigh) Part of me wants to write a sequel to that song. I probably will.

Katie: Yes, Leah’s real b-day is December 8th.

Karen R: There was a time when they thought Leah’s hearing loss was progressive as well. (Sometimes that is just because of the basic unreliability of results when testing toddlers) I remember being so horrified that she might be in the process of losing what little hearing she had. I remember thinking, “If she was completely deaf, it would be an easy choice to use ASL with her.” I didn’t fully understand at the time the incredible benefits of communication through signing no matter her hearing level.

Rebekah Garvin: I admit, when I wrote this blog entry, I sat on it unpublished for a few days. I read it and re-read it, wondering if it was just a REALLY bad idea to share these journal entries with any and everyone. As I read it I could see how far we have come as a family and how much I have learned. The contrast though, from then to now is just… remarkable to me. I am glad I wrote it then and I AM glad that I shared it now.

Ann: Wow, you’ve been with us 5 and ½ years? That is very cool. I love imagining just how many children are growing up with Alex, Leah and Lucy in their homes.
Thank you for continuing to share us with others.

Mandi: I believe that when we believe in miracles and look for miracles, we see them.

MomMac: Oh, boy, don’t I know, we could “what if” ourselves to death and it wouldn’t change a thing Sounds like everything worked out perfectly! She was bright enough to compensate and she found her passion. I think that’s pretty good parenting!

Elizabeth: It must be natural to first blame ourselves…?? I wonder if that is part of the process? We never did find out why Leah was deaf or if she was born deaf or if it happened in her first year. I believe she was born deaf, especially after watching home videos of her as a baby. There was a lot of psychological and emotional freedom for me when I stopped looking for the answer or reason for her deafness. With or without reason, she was deaf. Finding a reason wouldn’t change it.

Sariah Price: When we were making the first Signing Time video I hoped the result in Leah’s life would be less staring and more interaction from the children around her. It worked! I am glad your son is getting that result too.

purplewowies: Yes, you can!
Thanks for the b-day wishes

Heidi: Best of luck with Malcom. I do believe that somehow we all find our way.

Janel: There are few things as powerful as making a difference in another person’s life. I am glad you too have found a way to give back!

Michelle G.: Wow, I am not even sure how to respond. You are very, very welcome. Thank you for sharing all of that.

alices dad: “Holy cow” says it all!

One of the main signs of my son’s disorder was his cry. He sounded like a little kitten mewing. http://wynonarobison.com/newborn_cry.WAV I had 3 months to fall in love with that cry, and I’ve often felt that if I had known that it was a marker, I would have felt differently about it. Those few months of being his mom with no larger picture were what I held onto when things got confusing.

I love what Leah said, and I hope she had a wonderful birthday. Someday when my son is older, I hope he is as confident and cheerful. What he faces isn’t terrible. It’s different and challenging and a part of who he is. And in a lot of ways, it’s wonderful. Thank you for posting this.

I guess I’m a little behind in checking my blogs….life keeps sending me other things when I want to do stuff

We had our BAER test yesterday….our first ABR told us my son was profoundly deaf in his left ear, and sure enough, this test really confirmed it. We are awash in conversations like “hearing aids probably won’t help, but we can try them” and “they cost $3,000″ and “1 in 7 kids with unilateral hearing loss develop bilateral loss, so it’s possible he could loose hearing in the other ear too”

I am willing to bet that if I look back on this time, when everything else seems to be going wrong, from struggling in my marriage, to finding a new job, finding a place to live, finding a place to belong, dealing with my son’s hearing, all of this in a few years will be a distant memory, and I wont remember the pain and struggle. But boy is it hard to get through it now.

Thanks for sharing your story, and showing that it really does eventually get better.
-Ambulance Mommy

I felt so many of the feelings you expressed about your and Aaron’s love and concern for both Leah and Lucy—the fear and panic when a pack of professionals tell you something about your child that just sends you into a tailspin. I remember when Charlotte’s preschool PT told me that she believed Charlotte was struggling with ataxic CP. My mind went numb and I said, “Uh huh. Uh huh. Ok. What do I do now?”

Driving home was torture that day because my eyes were full of tears and I was wondering how to explain this all to my family. And what does “Ataxic Cerebral Palsy” mean anyway? I have pulled the blankets over my head a few times, but like you say, you cry and then you get up and get on with life.

Charlotte is the love of my life, and we were meant to be together in this world. She is an amazingly happy and energetic child. She challenges me and her “staff” every day, but that just confirms my belief that there is a strong will and a happy “soul” that needs to be encouraged in order to flourish.

Signing Time has helped us immensely. I don’t know if she will move beyond the speech plateau she has reached, but my decision is to radically ramp up the ASL or both of us.

Cheers!

Michelle & Charlotte