I am a special education teacher and some of the students that I work with are deaf. There are varying degrees of hearing loss amongst them. One thing that I have learned in the time that we have had the deaf program at our school is that I knew absolutely nothing about the deaf community. The earlier post was very strong and many people in the deaf community feel very strong pride in their community. Just learn what it is and why it is, just like learning about Guatemala.
One thing to know is that if the surgery that you are referring to is for a Cochlear implant, there are many in the deaf community that do not approve of this "treatment" (for lack of another word). That may be one thing to consider.
I would like to share with you the story of one of my students. Three years ago, during teacher work week, we had a county wide meeting of all the special education teachers, guidance counselors, school pyschologists, and social workers. The place was packed. They showed a video of a mother talking about her deaf son. He did have the implant surgery (though I am not trying to sway you)when he was two years old. She was describing what it was like two weeks after the surgery. She talked about how he was discovering what noise was nad the cause and effect relationship of noise and how great that was for her and for him. Then, one night, he gets out of bed in the middle of the night, signing that he hears something. So, off they go. They look everywhere to find what it is that he is hearing. She even checked the air conditioner to make sure that it wasn't that that was keeping her son up. Finally, he walks over to the window and puts his hand on the glass. It was raining outside. Her sone was hearing the rain for the first time.
This story that the mother told to us that day is going to help pay for his college education. Duracell bought the story and has made a commercial out of it. The commercial is much shorter and I personally think that it loses some of the emotionality because of that. I also don't like that my student is African American and the little boy on TV is white. Anyway.
This child is so extraordinary that despite his hearing loss, he is an excellent dancer. So good, in fact, that there are New York Dance troops scouting him here in Virginia.
Good luck with your very special boy!!!
