Decision

shel90 said:
Anyways...in your opinions, do these parents who blog only about their children's ears and mouths are explioting them?
Click to expand...

Oh, definitely.

In no other situation have I seen this. I only know of one blog where a Mother is blogging about life with an SB kid. I think that's exploitation, also. You are putting these kids on some sort pedestal for abilities that are aquired through intervention. You are communicating that they are "special", but their uniqueness has nothing to do with their personality or something positive. It has more to do with hearing, talking, or walking.... Kids shouldn't stand out because they can talk, hear, or, walk. They should stand out for getting good grades or some other achievement. And, another point, where are the blogs of ASL reliant kids? Where are THOSE deaf journeys? Where are the blogs of the CI failures? We don't see too many of those. We don't see the struggles. We only see the supposed success stories.
 
Wirelessly posted

oh, and for those who actually care, the newborn hearing screen is very important ESPECIALLY for kids who are learning ASL. Since nearly 95% of kids with hearing loss are born to hearing parents, the parents need to be able to learn ASL as soon as possible. If we didn't screen at birth, the kids would go years without any kind of language, spoken or signed...isn't that exactly what we are trying to avoid??

as for the situation OB posed...it would be very UNlikely that the Deaf family would actually have a deaf child, so yes, the child's hearing should be screened, because it is WAY more likely that the child will be hearing.

as for the "great discussion"....i haven't actually seen a discussion, just a one sided bashing from people who haven't ever walked a day in these people's shoes.
 
faire_jour said:
Wirelessly posted


as for the "great discussion"....i haven't actually seen a discussion, just a one sided bashing from people who haven't ever walked a day in these people's shoes.
Click to expand...

And you have?
 
Oceanbreeze said:
Oh, definitely.

In no other situation have I seen this. I only know of one blog where a Mother is blogging about life with an SB kid. I think that's exploitation, also. You are putting these kids on some sort pedestal for abilities that are aquired through intervention. You are communicating that they are "special", but their uniqueness has nothing to do with their personality or something positive. It has more to do with hearing, talking, or walking.... Kids shouldn't stand out because they can talk, hear, or, walk. They should stand out for getting good grades or some other achievement. And, another point, where are the blogs of ASL reliant kids? Where are THOSE deaf journeys? Where are the blogs of the CI failures? We don't see too many of those. We don't see the struggles. We only see the supposed success stories.
Click to expand...

True...

I have mixed feelings. I know this is the age of blogging but I wonder what would be the long term ramifications for a child whose life has been constantly blogged especially if it is about their accomplishments as being as "normal". If a parent was blogging about his/her child's looks but nothing else, then I would be concerned for that child and for others whose parents may see that child's blog and try to apply that child's "accomplishments" to their own children.

Just my personal opinion.
 
I don't really like the idea of blogging about your child. Even if it's for something specific like a medical journey or "trial" of sorts. I do read a blog from a pastor about his journey while being a preacher, but that's all. I would think that the child as they get older, would not appreciate the parent being so open about their struggles and such. I have a friend in Missouri, who was thinking about blogging about her daughter since she was told this daughter would never reach age 5. Well, she is glad she didn't. Her daughter is now 16 and doing "well" for her issues. She is in a wheelchair hooked up to a respirator and oxygen and had to be fed through a tube inserted into the stomach. She cannot talk above a quiet whisper and even then, most people can't understand what she says. She cannot hold a pencil or pen, but she makes straight A's in school. She has a paraprofessional with her through the school day and only goes to school during the warmer days. Once October hits, her lessons come home weekly and go back each week. She takes tests online. Once April comes around, she is back in the school. She's happy, but spends at least 2 months each year in the hospital and the toll is enormous on her family. She has far exceeded all expectations of the doctors and for that, she is a "miracle" to them at the University Hospital & Clinics in Columbia, MO.
 
KristinaB said:
I don't really like the idea of blogging about your child. Even if it's for something specific like a medical journey or "trial" of sorts. I do read a blog from a pastor about his journey while being a preacher, but that's all. I would think that the child as they get older, would not appreciate the parent being so open about their struggles and such. I have a friend in Missouri, who was thinking about blogging about her daughter since she was told this daughter would never reach age 5. Well, she is glad she didn't. Her daughter is now 16 and doing "well" for her issues. She is in a wheelchair hooked up to a respirator and oxygen and had to be fed through a tube inserted into the stomach. She cannot talk above a quiet whisper and even then, most people can't understand what she says. She cannot hold a pencil or pen, but she makes straight A's in school. She has a paraprofessional with her through the school day and only goes to school during the warmer days. Once October hits, her lessons come home weekly and go back each week. She takes tests online. Once April comes around, she is back in the school. She's happy, but spends at least 2 months each year in the hospital and the toll is enormous on her family. She has far exceeded all expectations of the doctors and for that, she is a "miracle" to them at the University Hospital & Clinics in Columbia, MO.
Click to expand...


Reading this made me try to imagine my mom blogging about my life as a deaf person. That thought just made me very uncomfortable. I would know that my mom probably meant well and I would still love her. Thank goodness my mom is a very very private person. A little bit toooo private sometimes. lol
 
Wirelessly posted

and for the millionth time there ARE blogs about kids who struggle with their CIs and kids who use ASL with and without CIs.

but, you don't actually care, you just want to smear parents.
 
shel90 said:
True...

I have mixed feelings. I know this is the age of blogging but I wonder what would be the long term ramifications for a child whose life has been constantly blogged especially if it is about their accomplishments as being as "normal". If a parent was blogging about his/her child's looks but nothing else, then I would be concerned for that child and for others whose parents may see that child's blog and try to apply that child's "accomplishments" to their own children.

Just my personal opinion.
Click to expand...

It makes me you wanna ask the question..."Just because we can, should we?"
 
I do know there are kids who will create blogs about their journeys or struggles with their HA's, CI's or hearing loss. If the child does it for themselves it is one thing, but a parent should recognize and think about making a private journey public.
 
There is another side that I can understand the blogging. I am a proud parent and sometimes I want to brag about my children's so in those parents', who are coming from a medical pointview, see their children overcoming their "disabilities" and want to brag about them. Have books been written about children's journeys by their parents? I cant recall any right now.

Like I said, I have mixed feelings about it.
 
KristinaB said:
I do know there are kids who will create blogs about their journeys or struggles with their HA's, CI's or hearing loss. If the child does it for themselves it is one thing, but a parent should recognize and think about making a private journey public.
Click to expand...

I can agree with this. Also, if adults want to do it for themselves.

I have a now defunct online journal that I used to put some of my thoughts in. These were things that were semi public, but only certain friends had access to it. Even then, there are a couple entries in this journal that are private. Nobody can view them. I've toyed with deleting it because I no longer feel the need to add to it. I also have some pretty dark things in this journal.

The thing is, this journal is not disseminated for ALL to see. I also never and WOULD NEVER chronicle my life with spina bifida. Why show case it? I don't GET this at all. I don't understand why it's such a fad to have these "hearing journey" blogs. Honestly, I think it's just another extension of the medicalized view of deafness; much like other issues are medicalized. I have no problem if an adult wants to write about themselves, but to do that to a kid even before they're aware of what it means to be deaf or have a device?

Ugh!!! :barf:
 
shel90 said:
There is another side that I can understand the blogging. I am a proud parent and sometimes I want to brag about my children's so in those parents', who are coming from a medical pointview, see their children overcoming their "disabilities" and want to brag about them. Have books been written about children's journeys by their parents? I cant recall any right now.

Like I said, I have mixed feelings about it.
Click to expand...

The only one I can think of is "Deaf Like Me" -- I have the book. There may be others?
 
Oceanbreeze, I think a better idea would be to mandate counseling. But the problem with THAT is that the counseling that the medical world offers is usually very very negative, and tends to be impartial to oral only.....and it also doesn't really give a good illustration of the impact of oral only or sign only or whatever.
 
deafdyke said:
Oceanbreeze, I think a better idea would be to mandate counseling. But the problem with THAT is that the counseling that the medical world offers is usually very very negative, and tends to be impartial to oral only.....and it also doesn't really give a good illustration of the impact of oral only or sign only or whatever.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what point you're addressing... I'll take a stab and say my thought regarding de-medicalizing deafness by not screening for it. It was just a thought given the fact that screening is already a given, but in a perfect world, I WOULD love to see deafness handled from more of a culturally perspective instead of a medical one.

As to your counseling point, I agree with you that counseling should take place! It doesn't HAVE to come from someone with a PhD, and, it SHOULDN'T come from someone who is geared towards the hearing perspective. A Deaf mentor program would function as such. Create a program where you have someone who is Deaf that can come in and talk to a couple with a newly diagnosed deaf infant. This would, ideally, give them information regarding ASL and the Deaf community.
 
shel90 said:
Was it written with the son's permission?
Click to expand...

Hi shel, it was written about the daughter. She was still very young when written. The book is in my storage now so I'm not sure of the publication year, but I would assume from where they left off in the book she was probably less than 10 when it was written.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
I'm not sure what point you're addressing... I'll take a stab and say my thought regarding de-medicalizing deafness by not screening for it. It was just a thought given the fact that screening is already a given, but in a perfect world, I WOULD love to see deafness handled from more of a culturally perspective instead of a medical one.

As to your counseling point, I agree with you that counseling should take place! It doesn't HAVE to come from someone with a PhD, and, it SHOULDN'T come from someone who is geared towards the hearing perspective. A Deaf mentor program would function as such. Create a program where you have someone who is Deaf that can come in and talk to a couple with a newly diagnosed deaf infant. This would, ideally, give them information regarding ASL and the Deaf community.
Click to expand...

I agree. I remember seeing the movie, Your name is Jonah. It left a lasting impression on me when the mother gets introduced to Deaf people and the Deaf community and where someone from the Deaf community took time out to teach Jonah sign language. The utter joy and release of that child finally able to communicate has never left me. Everyone who as a dhh child should be afforded that opportunity.
 
shel90 said:
I think DD meant by "hardcore" as is someone who is against CIs or any deaf learning speech skills?

I am not sure that would be the correct description of me but if DD meant someone who is passionate about ASL after growing up not being exposed to it, then yes, that is me. :D
Click to expand...

I took it to mean passionate about ASL. Sorry if I misinterpreted DD's post. I was going on the fact that we have both been called "hard core" by the oralists.:lol:
 
deafdyke said:
Ha, no I know we have a lot of full toolboxers, who were orgionally oral onliers here.
I was just wondering what PFH's experiance was in Colarado. jillo.....I assume you're pretty involved in the Deaf community in Ohio...do you see a lot of former oral only kids discovering ASL after struggling in the hearing world? The thing is.......why does AG Bell portray the Deaf Community as a whole, as being anti HA/CI and anti speech skills? I don't get it. Many of us were raised orally and mainstreamed. Even many DODAs wear hearing aids or CIs and get speech training.
Click to expand...

Yep; too many for my way of thinking.
 
Back
Top