discovery channel: deafblind triplets

Hear Again said:
There's a difference between allowing a Deaf child to make utterances because they can't hear and wanting them to speak so they have a wider variety of communication options.

You're teaching Miss Kat to speak, aren't you faire_jour? If so, why?

Aren't you also planning to place her in an oral classroom soon? If so, why?

Why not allow her to fully communicate in ASL and be educated in an ASL-only environment?

If you want her to speak and thrive in an oral-only classroom environment, are you doing this to help her conform to the hearing world?
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I don't want it for conformity, but for options, like you said.

I just want to hear about your opinion. I don't mean to offend or say that you are wrong.
 
faire_jour said:
I just want to hear about your opinion. I don't mean to offend or say that you are wrong.
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I shared my opinion. I said that if I had a blind, Deaf or deafblind child that I would immediately address any behaviors which make them look different from the rest of society.

For example, I was born totally blind. I was taught from an early age to look in the direction of the person I'm speaking to. It would be easy for my parents to say, "Why should Hear Again do that? She can't see."

Long story short, that's wrong and is using my blindness as an excuse. There's absolutely no reason why I can't learn to face the proper direction when I'm being spoken to instead of laying my head down on the table, swinging my head from side to side, rocking, eye poking or staring at bright lights on the ceiling (for those who have light perception).

There's nothing wrong with expecting a blind, Deaf or deafblind child to behave as normally as possible. It's no different than implanting a child. You implant them to give them more opportunities. I'm doing the same by teaching my child (when I have one) appropriate behaviors in order to increase their opportunities in life.

If an employer sees a blind teenager or adult rocking back and forth, swinging their head from side to side and/or eye poking, how professional does that look? Compare that to a blind teenager or adult who sits up straight and looks in the direction of the person who is interviewing them. Who do you think will be hired?
 
Hear Again said:
If you were my child, yes.

Since you're not, you can rock all you want.

As for myself, I'm glad my mother forced me to stop my blindisms.
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As a child my mother DID attempt that too. In fact she put a lot of effort into it.

It made me a miserable child, that's all.
I have a feeling it wouldn't work for Zoe or Emma either.

I don't agree with making a child as NORMAL as possible. What's so great about being normal anyway.

A parent should focus on teaching a child to be as independant as they can. Give them a long cane, teach them sign language, braille, daily living skills, etc etc...

Just curious, how would you have handled a blind kid who clicks their fingers or makes noises to assist them in ecco location?
 
my parents tried that aproach, but unfortunately it didn't worked. It just made me miserable.
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Come to think of it, it did have an affect although I still rock. But sometimes when I tell people I am autistic they don't believe me. So errasing all outside signs of my disability may have worked, but I wish they had focused on other things more important then my outward apearance.
 
Aleser said:
Not all people with autism stim, and not all autistics that do stim do it the same way- I know someone who beatboxes. For those that do, in whatever way, it's not a 24/7 event- when someone is excited, upset, overstimulated, or on the flip side UNDER-stimulated and seeking arousal, would be examples of times that stimming generally happens.

Essentially, people with autism that do stim generally do it as a form of self-regulation- either to reduce or react to some sort of overload, or to -create- some sort of positive 'feeling' if hypo-sensitive.
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That's true.
 
Hear Again said:
Regardless of why they do it, this behavior should be stopped. If I had a child with autism who acted this way, I would redirect their behavior to something positive. A child does not need to stimulate themselves in this way.
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Maybe you should learn more about autism?

I can feel every object I come across with my hands just because I'm blind. That's ridiculous.
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No it isn't. When I travel with my long cane I stop now and again to feel my environment so I know where I am. If my hand feels a tree, I like to examine it. You're saying a blind person shouldn't be alowed to touch their environment at all, that to me IS redicoulous because how can you possibly be mobile if you aren't alowed to explore your environment. How can you truely benifit from beautiful objects in your path.

If I had a blind child, I would actively encourage them to explore their environment to the max.
 
Bottesini said:
Anybody who thinks they should keep them is just an attention seeker in my opinion.
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Who the parents or other autistic person who disagrees with you? because I attract enough attention as a deafblind person thanks very much. I don't need to attract more.

I get about independantly with 5 disabilites. So what if I rock sometimes. It's no big deal. I accept myself and I have apsolutely no interest in being normal.

I don't know how severely affected you are by your autism but there are degrees of autism. Some Autistics really can't help the way they behave, and some might not want to either. Why should they get themselves major stressed though trying to keep up a 'normal' apearance and not sim which helps calm themselves down.
 
dreama said:
Who the parents or other autistic person who disagrees with you? because I attract enough attention as a deafblind person thanks very much. I don't need to attract more.

I get about independantly with 3 disabilites. So what if I rock sometimes. It's no big deal. I accept myself and I have apsolutely no interest in being normal.

I don't know how severely affected you are by your autism but there are degrees of autism. Some Autistics really can't help the way they behave, and some might not want to either. Why should they get themselves major stressed though trying to keep up a 'normal' apearance and not sim which helps calm themselves down.
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I will tell you how severely. I got the diagnosis as a young child fifty years ago when it was not applied to every minor eccentricity.

I had a lot of behaviour modification and a lot of very hard work by my parents.

Thanks to much hard work I managed to marry, have children, and enjoy an adult life of independence and self sufficiency.

I also got an upgraded diagnosis of Asperger syndrome, and I credit a lot to my parents for working with me and not leaving me in the depths.

In other words, I started life as a classic Kanner autistic and overcame.

You won't ever meet anyone who know more or at one time was affected more than me.

People who play with the diagnosis and got someone to pass them with Asperger's new diagnosis as an adult will never know and can just enjoy how cool it makes them feel as it seems fashiionalbe now.
 
Bottesini said:
I will tell you how severely. I got the diagnosis as a young child fifty years ago when it was not applied to every minor eccentricity.

I had a lot of behaviour modification and a lot of very hard work by my parents.

Thanks to much hard work I managed to marry, have children, and enjoy an adult life of independence and self sufficiency.

I also got an upgraded diagnosis of Asperger syndrome, and I credit a lot to my parents for working with me and not leaving me in the depths.

In other words, I started life as a classic Kanner autistic and overcame.

You won't ever meet anyone who know more or at one time was affected more than me.

People who play with the diagnosis and got someone to pass them with Asperger's new diagnosis as an adult will never know and can just enjoy how cool it makes them feel as it seems fashiionalbe now.
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So what your saying is that parents with more severely affected Autistics aren't trying hard enough?

Why do you want people to think you are severely affected by autism?

I didn't even realise it was fasionable to be autistic?
 
dreama said:
So what your saying is that parents with more severely affected Autistics aren't trying hard enough?

Why do you want people to think you are severely affected by autism?

I didn't even realise it was fasionable to be autistic?
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My point is I overcame it and I have contempt for people who use it to excuse their behaviour.

And I should point out you asked me, and I told you.

I don't know why you are always talking about how you enjoy your disabilities. :scratch:
 
Bottesini said:
My point is I overcame it and I have contempt for people who use it to excuse their behaviour.

And I should point out you asked me, and I told you.

I don't know why you are always talking about how you enjoy your disabilities. :scratch:
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Wow. What if an oral deaf person said this to a signing Deaf person, how offensive would that be?? Why is this case different?
 
faire_jour said:
Wow. What if an oral deaf person said this to a signing Deaf person, how offensive would that be?? Why is this case different?
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Yeah, this.

Bottesini: Woo, someone rediagnosed you with a milder form of autism. one you've had forever but had a different name for 50 years ago. That doesn't mean you've 'overcome' anything.

You may see autism as a flaw in you, but I don't, and I resent being told that being content with the more public manifestations of autism means I'm attention seeking and deserve contempt.

By that standard, a signing Deaf person deserves contempt by not trying to 'overcome' their deafness and blend in via oral communication. And if you happen to think that, you're really on the wrong forums.
 
dreama said:
Who the parents or other autistic person who disagrees with you? because I attract enough attention as a deafblind person thanks very much. I don't need to attract more.

I get about independantly with 5 disabilites. So what if I rock sometimes. It's no big deal. I accept myself and I have apsolutely no interest in being normal.

I don't know how severely affected you are by your autism but there are degrees of autism. Some Autistics really can't help the way they behave, and some might not want to either. Why should they get themselves major stressed though trying to keep up a 'normal' apearance and not sim which helps calm themselves down.
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In cases where an autistic can't help the way they behave, I have no problem with their behavior.

However, if the parents of an autistic child doesn't even try to address negative behaviors, this is where I think they are wrong.

I happen to have 4 disabilities and do quite well myself. Having said that, just because I see rocking as a form of inappropriate behavior does not mean I don't accept myself for who I am. There's nothing wrong with a person trying to improve themselves in order to look as presentable as possible. I say kudos to them.
 
No it isn't. When I travel with my long cane I stop now and again to feel my environment so I know where I am. If my hand feels a tree, I like to examine it. You're saying a blind person shouldn't be alowed to touch their environment at all, that to me IS redicoulous because how can you possibly be mobile if you aren't alowed to explore your environment. How can you truely benifit from beautiful objects in your path.

If I had a blind child, I would actively encourage them to explore their environment to the max.

I'm not talking about traveling with a cane. I'm talking about feeling every object in one's enviroment. I suppose that since you think it's okay for a blind child or adult to feel everything they come in contact with that you condone feeling someone's face as well?

How appropriate is it for a blind child to stand in line at the grocery store feeling every object he finds on the counter? If I had a blind child who did that, I'd punish them for that behavior because it's inappropriate and rude.

Telling a blind child not to feel every object he or she comes across isn't restricting their ability to explore their environment. There is an appropriate time and place for exploration. Just because a child is blind doesn't give them the right to knock things over because they can't see and are "curious."
 
dreama said:
As a child my mother DID attempt that too. In fact she put a lot of effort into it.

It made me a miserable child, that's all.
I have a feeling it wouldn't work for Zoe or Emma either.

I don't agree with making a child as NORMAL as possible. What's so great about being normal anyway.

A parent should focus on teaching a child to be as independant as they can. Give them a long cane, teach them sign language, braille, daily living skills, etc etc...

Just curious, how would you have handled a blind kid who clicks their fingers or makes noises to assist them in ecco location?
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A parent can focus on skills like Braille, sign, daily living, etc. Stopping inappropriate behavior doesn't have to be done while excluding others.

If you had a miserable childhood because of your mother trying to help you, I'm sorry about that, but I didn't. My mother emphasized the importance of acting as normal as possible so that I could be fully accepted by the sighted world. Thanks to what she taught me, I had many friends in school, went to Homecoming and Prom and dated several boyfriends. I don't think anyone would have wanted to befriend or date me if I spent all my time poking my eyes and rocking.
 
Originally Posted by dreama
Maybe you should learn more about autism?

And maybe you should stop underestimating the capabilities of autistic children by learning more about the things they can do as opposed to what they can't.
 
dreama,

How do you know that modifying behavior wouldn't work for Zoe for Emma? It worked for me. That proves it has the potential to work for them as well.

Besides, Liz hasn't even addressed this with them, so we don't know either way if it will work.
 
Aleser said:
Yeah, this.

Bottesini: Woo, someone rediagnosed you with a milder form of autism. one you've had forever but had a different name for 50 years ago. That doesn't mean you've 'overcome' anything.

You may see autism as a flaw in you, but I don't, and I resent being told that being content with the more public manifestations of autism means I'm attention seeking and deserve contempt.

By that standard, a signing Deaf person deserves contempt by not trying to 'overcome' their deafness and blend in via oral communication. And if you happen to think that, you're really on the wrong forums.
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Couldn't have put it better myself.
 
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