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Malina

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Hi, my name is Veronica and I am here on behalf of my daughter. She wanted to be called Malina so that is what I chose for the screen name. Neither of us are Deaf or hard of hearing, please don't hold that against us. But Malina suffers from a social communication disorder called Selective Mutism. She cannot speak more than a whisper when we leave the house or are around unfamiliar people. At first she would not sign either due to the anxiety caused by the condition. By some miracle, we have gotten her to start to use ASL signs for communication. Many people do not understand SM, not even trained professionals and erroneously think that she chooses not to speak. It's not that she doesn't want to talk, she just can't when she is nervous, which is just about everywhere other than home. It is terribly painful to watch her go through life like this because she is so smart and fun loving at home but in the community or at school, she is so different. When we first tried to get her to use signs, we had a really hard time just getting her to sign "thank you", but then one day there was a little girl who won a stuffed animal out of one of those claw machines. Malina was watching and I guess the little girl could tell that Malina really wanted it. The little girl offered it to her and she was so happy and excited, my older daughter grabbed her hand to help her make the sign but she completed it on her own. The little girl signed your welcome. The little girl knew sign language because her sister was Deaf. That is when Malina began to get over her fear of signing. She uses many signs and non-verbal gestures for communication which has really allowed her more participation in school, so much so that the school refuses to offer her special ed. We still want her to learn to speak to people in school and the community, but she also needs to be able to communicate now and if ASL allows her to do that, I want to support it. I would like to learn more about the Deaf community but I'm also interested in learning signs for things you can't always find in a regular ASL dictionary. I hope I can be accepted into the community. I'm not trying to take advantage, I'm just looking for a place that we could find some acceptance and more information. Thank you.
 
You know....maybe the St. Rita's Apraxia program might be of help to you......I also lose my speech when I get excited, emotional or upset.....
I know it's not an exact match, but these are high functioning kids with expressive spoken language delays.....Apraxia
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf Forum. How old is Malina? She can come if she is a teenager. That is good that she can sign so that she can communicate with you.

I hope you both enjoy reading and posting here. See you around here. :wave:
 
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