Does anyone know who you can contact to get sign language lesson's for a family?

We just found out that my two year old nephew is completly deaf in his right ear and can only hear at about 20% in his left ear. His surgeries did not take.

The doctor states that all it would take was one whopping ear infection for him to be totally deaf.

I'm the type of person who likes to be prepared for the worst so that anything that comes after is a blessing.

Thanks
Cherity

Good preparation notion. I dunno who would teach this, though. I would check with your local college, and with any medical organization there that assists deaf people...

My store sells dictionaries of sign language, I know that much...

My brother spoke to the special education teacher here in our town and she's certified to teach sign language is more than willing to teach the entire family a decent price. She seems like a really sweet lady.

Go to deafed.net

They have some great resources.

Also, consult a chiropractor. My son had tubes put in his ears at age 3 for MANY ear infections. The MD's were telling us all of this gloom and doom stuff.
Finally, I just happen to take him with me to my chiropractor during a regular visit for me. He happened to have an ear infection that week (post tubes). When my Chiro found out he educated me on how things work in that area. Convinced me to have my son treated by him. After 3 treatments my son never had an ear infection again. EVER!
That was 18 years ago.
2nd marriage and my 3 kids from my current wife have NEVER had ear infections...do you think it has anything to do with their receiving annual chiropractic treatment? Hmmm.......

Well, I have heard that chiropractic medicine can be benificial for much more then your back; but, I don't think they can make the eardrum bend. My nephews are stiff and hard like cartilidge so they don't vibrate with noise making the soundswaves our brain interpretes..I hope I was listening well enough not sure I'm describing it right.

But, I will definatly check that site thank you.

NF, our bodies essentially remake themselves every seven years.
Not that we need to bring faith into this thread too.... but perhaps it is possible that with a little chiropractic assistance your nephews body will find a way to remake itself with flexible eardrums......

Futs, are they in Nebraska? There are some resources there. Here is one of them:
http://snrp.lps.org/signlanginfo.html

I've noticed in recent years that sign language classes are becoming more and more commonly available. I'd check with the local school district and see if they can point the family in the right direction. It really would be a good thing for the family to learn. Your nephew may have some difficulties learning spoken speech even if he doesn't lose any more of his hearing, and the sign language could be a great way to reduce his frustration. Anything that will help him to communicate can only help...
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/commopt.asp

Futs, I know you are big on reading and checking stuff out of the library. You can find plenty of books and maybe even videos for this, too. Sounds like a great family summer project.* Even if your nephew has the best possible outcome, knowing how to communicate with the hearing impaired in general can only be good for you all. I know what you mean about being prepared for the worst, though.

At two, the little guy is not too far into language development (imho) to be extraordianarily delayed by his hearing impairment. He'll just pick up with a "second"language. You read about kids all the time who have nannies who speak a foreign language to them and they grow up being fluently bi-lingual.

*Just a related funny story that my M-I-L told me when I first met Mr. FG. As a teenger, he checked out ALL the library books on sign language one summer and DID NOT RETURN THEM :eek: :mad: It seems there was a very pretty young lady about his age who moved into his neighborhood that summer and he wanted to be able to talk to her. He also wanted none of the other boys to be able to talk to her. He ended up going out with her a few times, but once school started, she ditched him for a senior. HA HA sweet justice!:p

lmbo FG I agree Sweet Justice.

Ty for the advice everyone we are definatly taking it all into consideration and yes we've already checked some books out at the library unfortunatly most of them only deal with spelling the alphabet but our librarian has ordered some others for us and put us in contact with the library in Hasting's who has a "silent room" dedicated to the use of learning and using sign skills. It's a long drive but if we can get the lady who runs the classes to agree to another nightly class once a week it will be worth it. Especially, when you take into consideration our entire family wants to learn...2 grandparents, mom and dad, 4 brothers, 10 uncles and aunts not counting cousins. I think we have enough people in our family alone to get her interest. lol

I agree with you krisp. I think he's got a pretty good grasp actually on spoken language considering what he hears. And what he can't say he can usually get his point across we are only worried that the pointing and grunts will get him picked on in school. Most kids are supportive and understanding but you always seem to have that one in a classroom. I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we get there.

FB, I made that suggestion to my sister and she'll consider it but the thought of someone as she put it "crackin on my kids back" leaves her a little nervous. You never know though desparate situations call for desparate measure's.

Good work, Futs. I have a child with a significant speech delay, and even now that he's talking, he gets very frustrated if he's not understood. As a younger child, he threw volcanic tantrums out of frustration, because he couldn't communicate very well. So based on my experience, I'd say this is a good time to start working on alternative communication for your nephew. He's going to have a lot to tell you .... ;)

That's what we are seeing now...the tantrums eeeek!!!!!

Futs,
Sorry to be picking up this thread so late -- I just found it tonight.
How is your nephew doing?

I assume he's getting some speech-language therapy? If not, I strongly urge his parents to get so speech therapy for him. This is the prime time for him to be learning language skills. Speech therapy can help him to develop his language skills, teach him sign language, as well as work on speaking more intelligibly. The sooner a child begins speech therapy the better.

Regarding sign language: There is a big debate about the use of sign language.

Many people in the deaf community think that sign language should be taught exclusively -- that deaf kids shouldn't be taught to speak. American Sign Language is a distinct language with its own rules. The argument is that sign language is the "natural language" of the deaf, so that is what should be taught.

The other side of the debate says that deaf kids should be taught to speak and lip read exclusively -- they should not be taught any sign language whatsoever. This side argues that by focusing exclusively on the oral language, kids will be more successful in learning english and will integrate into the hearing community more successfully. The feelings on both sides are very strong.

I bring up this issue because parents can be strongly influenced by the first info they are given. If they start out with a therapist who believes strongly in only teaching sign language or only teaching oral language, they may never get to hear the other side of the debate ...and by the time they hear it, they may be so strongly convinced by their side that they won't be able to consider the other side.

IMO, both sides have merit. Sign language is a natural mode of communication for deaf people. On the other hand, the vast majority of people do not know sign language. Knowledge of oral language offers more options for deaf people in a hearing world.

Apparantly, the group that are helping my sister believe that they should be taught exclusive speaking and lip reading. Right now they are having her squirt him with water like a darn dog when he cries out or points. My question is what the **** is this supposed to teach if he can't hear what they are teaching him, he is 3 for God's sake. I told her to get on the net and stop squirting him until she has proof that this is gonna work. He's a baby with a disability NOT an animal with a weak bladder. I hit the roof when I saw that today MAN people are so stupid and she just blindly follows along cause a speech therapist said to do it...I don't care if God himself came down and said to do it. I'm mad can you tell.

jeez, that's crazy.
i've found that a good resource is the community services for the deaf. (CSD) i worked for them for a while, and they're really good. they hold classes every so often, and they're a great help when you need it. sorry, i don't have a website. :-(

Futs,
Sorry to hear about your nephew. Since I work with autistic kids, I have a profound appreciation for helping kids communicate --using whatever means possible. Personally, I think deaf children are more likely to develop strong language skills if they are taught sign language early on. Verbal communication can be taught in conjunction with sign language, but IMO, requiring speech from a deaf child at such a young age is harsh and deterimantal to their overall development. It's incredibly frustrating for kids not to be able to communicate their thoughts so they often will act out/have behavior problems --plus they are likely to develop a negative self-image. In addition, they may fall behind in their language skills & abstract thinking.

With children with autism, parents face a similiar dilemma: they are told that their kids will never speak if they are allowed to use pictures, gestures/signs or communication devices. However, there is research that shows that using alternative means of communication with autistic children actually increases verbal communication/speech in the long run. I imagine that it would be the same for deaf children, although I don't know if there is actual research to prove this.

I just finished reading a book that provides a fairly balanced description of both sides of the sign vs. speech debate. It is "Train Go Sorry: Inside a Deaf World" by Leah Hager Cohen.
The author follows two deaf students for a year & writes about their experiences, plus writes about her own experiences with the deaf community. She can hear, but her grandparents were deaf & her father worked at a deaf school, so she had lots of experience with deaf people. Some of the book was dry & difficult to read, but there were some interesting stories too.

My nephew is the youngest of five very active loud boys. My sister is often yelling over the top of them to be heard. I witnessed my nephew trying to reach his glass of juice on the counter and repeating over and over mine...mine...mine well no one heard him and I was changing the baby and unable to help him he eventually got tired of being ignored and started screaming and my sister squirted him again. This bothers me so much he was TRYING to communicate if they'd all just shut up and listen I think he could say and understand a lot more then they give him credit for. Let's just say after what I had to say I'm not going to be welcome in my sisters house until she calms down.

I don't know maybe I can still understand some of the frustration of not being understood and not understanding what is going on around you. My mother still feels guilty for half the spankings I got as a toddler before she found out I was deaf. He's a good kid I don't think it helps that he is constantly being maybe not ignored but definatly not heard whether it's on purpose or not and from having four older brothers who speak for him.

I don't know what to do my sister is perfect...the perfect daughter, the perfect student she doesn't know what it's like to be abnormal to not fit in so it's not tolerated. I just want to grab her and shake some tolerance into her sometimes. She's a good mom but follows so blindly what anyone with a phd tells her to do maybe it's me and I'm just not trusting enough. How do you know? I just have a feeling that this will leave a lasting impression.

My mother still feels guilty for half the spankings I got as a toddler before she found out I was deaf.
I didn't know you were deaf! How in the world did I miss that? :p Geez, my ADD is shining on this one!

Due to re-constructive surgery on my ear canals as a child I now hear about 20% out of my right ear and 60% out of my left ear. I have been told that eventually I'll lose my hearing again; but, I've stayed at this point since I was 10. And I honestly think that losing my sight would be a 100 times worse then being deaf.