Hi from the Sunshine State! :)

rbandy91

rbandy91

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Hi, my names Becca and I live in Florida. Im 19, and not to long ago I found out that I have a baby sister (besides the other siblings I grew up with) and that this sister is deaf. I don't what type of hearing loss she has, but she does have cochlear's. I'm learning to sign and want to know as much as I can about the deaf community and its culture as I can. I just want to be able to communicate with my sister as much as possible, when I do get the chance to meet her.

I hope everyone is having a great day! :)
 
I'm not really sure, its my fathers daughter and when my stepmother was pregnant they decided not to tell my siblings or I, because we lived so far away, and were "no longer apart of their lives". They also asked my grandparents not to tell us. But when we did find out, she was just starting kindergarten. So shes about eight or nine. That side of the family doesnt like talking about her, and I had to really pry and ruffle a few feathers to find out what little I do know about her.
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum. I am sorry that you did not know much about your sister's plight as being a deaf child.

I do hope her family especially her mother will do the signing with her for communication but if she is in the mainstream elementary school with no ASL. That would be tough to swallow as your half sister will struggle in the mainstream school. ASL is very important for the deaf child so she will be easier to understand what is going on in the teaching classrooms so that she can learn better with good grades. CI (Cochlear Implant) does not make the child listen and understand perfectly at all. She will struggle as much as I was struggled in both mainstream elementary and high school.

I was wearing one hearing aid on my left ear and total deafness in my right ear which I could not use the hearing aid at all. I hate oral only program and I need ASL but I was never allowed to learn ASL and not have ASL interpreters in the classrooms so that I can understand and learn with good grades. But the principal said no to me and other oral deaf students. That really piss me off.

So I hope you can talk to your father about it or talk to your stepmother about it. You will learn about us here on this forum.

So I hope you enjoy reading and posting all the threads here. See you around here. :wave:
 
Thank you to everyone. :) I know she's attending what my family calls a "special" school. My grandmother doesn't sign, and the last I heard her mother wanted her to be oral and not depend on ASL, so she doesn't sign either. My other siblings and my mother, can sign better than I can at the moment, because a friend of theirs has deaf parents. (So they are all a little bit ahead of me, lol)
From my understanding that was reason my baby sisters parents got the cochlear implants. It doesn't make one bit of sense to me, because even in the limited amount of research I have done, it clear that the implants are not a cure and even with them the person getting the implants still should learn ASL. At this moment I m not entirely sure why they are doing it the way they are.
 
rbandy91 said:
Thank you to everyone. :) I know she's attending what my family calls a "special" school. My grandmother doesn't sign, and the last I heard her mother wanted her to be oral and not depend on ASL, so she doesn't sign either. My other siblings and my mother, can sign better than I can at the moment, because a friend of theirs has deaf parents. (So they are all a little bit ahead of me, lol)
From my understanding that was reason my baby sisters parents got the cochlear implants. It doesn't make one bit of sense to me, because even in the limited amount of research I have done, it clear that the implants are not a cure and even with them the person getting the implants still should learn ASL. At this moment I m not entirely sure why they are doing it the way they are.
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They are hoping their CI daughter will understand and listen without lipreading like a normal hearing person. They want her to be like them. They are not thinking about the child's needs at all. If their child had difficult trying to understand in the hearing classrooms with no ASL. It will take a toll on her and she will hate oral-only unless she can manage to go through with little or no problem. So please talk with your father about the full toolbox that will help her adjust in schools and outside activities including at home, too. In the home, she should be signing with her parents and her siblings so that she will not have to struggle like we do in the past. Every parent want his or her deaf child to be like them with CIs or strong hearing aids. That is wrong, way wrong. :(
 
rbandy91 said:
Thank you to everyone. :) I know she's attending what my family calls a "special" school. My grandmother doesn't sign, and the last I heard her mother wanted her to be oral and not depend on ASL, so she doesn't sign either. My other siblings and my mother, can sign better than I can at the moment, because a friend of theirs has deaf parents. (So they are all a little bit ahead of me, lol)
From my understanding that was reason my baby sisters parents got the cochlear implants. It doesn't make one bit of sense to me, because even in the limited amount of research I have done, it clear that the implants are not a cure and even with them the person getting the implants still should learn ASL. At this moment I m not entirely sure why they are doing it the way they are.
Click to expand...

That is because your father and his second wife are in denial and they do not accept their daughter being Deaf. Plus, the audiologist/doctor told them about CI and they went for it without hestitation without thinking twice about other safety option such as learning ASL and hearing aids. I thank God my parents did not put CI on me. They learned ASL right after my older Deaf brother was found to be Deaf. I am Deaf too. Nothing is wrong with being Deaf. It is not a contagious disease or whatever. Deaf is 100 percent normal, period.
 
:wave: wish there was more ppl like u.. someone who cares and made effort! There's going to be tons of ideas how your sis should develop, however u have the most important Ingredient your love! Welcome and hope u find tips and ideas here. :slap:
 
rbandy91 said:
Thank you to everyone. :) I know she's attending what my family calls a "special" school. My grandmother doesn't sign, and the last I heard her mother wanted her to be oral and not depend on ASL, so she doesn't sign either. My other siblings and my mother, can sign better than I can at the moment, because a friend of theirs has deaf parents. (So they are all a little bit ahead of me, lol)
From my understanding that was reason my baby sisters parents got the cochlear implants. It doesn't make one bit of sense to me, because even in the limited amount of research I have done, it clear that the implants are not a cure and even with them the person getting the implants still should learn ASL. At this moment I m not entirely sure why they are doing it the way they are.
Click to expand...

rbandy, you could pass on the info about Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. they are oral friendly. You could also maybe find research that says that ASL doesn't inhibit literacy etc....a lot of parents think mistakingly that ASL inhibits literacy, or that this new generation of dhh kids can be educated orally without the problems of ASL. They are unaware that oral kids face virtually all the same issues educationally that Sign using ASLers do.
 
Welcome Becca! Your sister is lucky to have a sister like you. Would be nice if the two of you would get to know each other. Good luck with learning ASL. I hope you stick around, it can be fun here sometimes! :)
 
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