Help! I can't hear my kids!

This story is from my previous blog:

Life with a hard of hearing (HOH) person can be frustrating. My two children have normal hearing, and like most normal hearing people, they don’t have to lipread. They can eavesdrop. They can hear in the dark. Most importantly, they can talk to someone in a DIFFERENT ROOM!

Normal hearing parents listen to their children while cooking, folding laundry, cleaning house, or taking a shower. HOH parents MUST drop what they’re doing and focus intently on their child’s lips. Imagine the power struggle that ensues when a HOH parent tries to finish a chore, and a normal hearing child fervently insists upon attention right now!

“MOM. LOOK AT ME!” my daughter shouted as she tugged on my skirt.

“Give me a minute. These veggie burgers are going to burn if I don’t get them out now.”

“MOM, HURRY!”

“Just a few more seconds!”

“MOM!”

Repeat this scenario all day, every day, and multiply it year after year. It gets old, fast.

Or this:

Me: Do you want to go to the park today?

Kids: Mph.

Me: What?

Kids: Mph!

Me: What?

Kids: MMPPPPHHHH!

During one such scenario, my daughter had a meltdown. Tears streamed down her face and she collapsed on the floor. “I WISH YOU COULD HEAR ME!” she wailed.

“Sweetie, I’m sorry. I wish I could hear like you, but I can’t.” I said.

Inspiration hit a few minutes later. Bass sounds are easy for me to hear. Maybe my kids and I can come up with a simple code using low frequencies. This should work for questions that require a yes or no answer.

I called them for a meeting and we decided upon the following code:

One bark = yes

Two barks = no

Three barks = I don’t know

Three barks, REST, followed by two more barks = I don’t care

I’m happy to report that this code works well! If you stop by my place, you’ll hear my kids barking at me over the phone, in the same room, or *gasp* in a different room. Sometimes they accidentally bark in the grocery store, or some other public place. And they do it because they love me. Woof!

Book Review - Wonderstruck

Today's guest post is from my friend, Cherilyn Clough, a normal hearing person with a heart of gold.  She recently read "Wonderstruck," a novel with hearing loss as the main theme and has written this thoughtful book review:

Artist and fairy tale writer extraordinaire Brian Selznick (whose other book was the inspiration for the movie Hugo) has brought the past to life again in his new book, "Wonderstruck."

This book is divided into two stories. It begins with a written tale, but the second story is told through a series of drawings. This interspersed journey of two children in separate eras provides a unique vehicle for the reader to travel through history. Make no mistake imagining this is just a gimmick to sell a book—the story telling in both accounts is profound. Both sagas drop mysterious clues back and forth until they merge.

The picture half of the book is told through the eyes of a young girl living in 1927. While the written half is about a boy living in 1977.

It’s a quick read, but the detailed pictures cause the reader to linger through the drawings wondering if there are any more clues to the mystery on each page. I read it in less than two hours, but it may take others longer.

This is a book about many things New York, a small town, books, museums, libraries and both the deaf and hard of hearing cultures. It is also a book about parents—absent parents, neglectful and loving parents. The heart of the book is about relationship and the struggle of every human heart to find a place to belong.

If you know of a child of any age who struggles with hearing loss or a missing parent, this book will make a wonderful gift. It is also a great way to educate hearing people about the struggles of those who are deaf and hard of hearing. The words will be studied over and over and the pictures will be scrutinized again and again.

                                        -Cherilyn Clough

                                         Blog:  Chasing Eden