My kiddo ROCKS!

ContessaC

ContessaC

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So I have to share...Today I went to school with Conner, though for the first half I remained "hidden" so I could observe him. He was SO good! He is learning so quickly! He did his ABC's with minor help (his little fingers needed adjustment with A and again with S) in a sing-a-long where he used his voice and tried to follow along. They read a number story and he counted along on his fingers and did his experience book. The experience book has pictures of everyday toys/items/people and then we sit and sign out what they are...we've just started doing this in the classroom. I walked in, and when he saw me he turned to the page where my picture was...looked up at me and signed "Mother"!!!!!! And then ran to me...I am not ashamed to say...I cried.

Next week I start my sign classes and I am so excited I can't stand myself!!!
 
Good! Involvement with your son's education will keep you close and build bonds. :)
 
Bottesini said:
Good! Involvement with your son's education will keep you close and build bonds. :)
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Oh yes! Absolutely! I TRY TRY TRY to go to his school 1x a week but definately 2x a month to observe, and I am in daily communication with his teachers who do a wonderful job in keeping us up to date and/or training us help Conner!
 
Cool, I remember when my Mom( in 1980s) would go to school to visit me as I was growing up. Nice to know it's still alive now.
 
Isn't it amazing?The effortlessness of actually learning content?
I think that's a point that certain parents here are missing. it takes a lot of energy for dhh kids to hear and speak. Our argument is that dhh kids can very easily learn content by capitalizing on their natural visual processing strengths.
I think you are going to be amazed at what sign can do for your son......it's no longer about speech therapy, but actually learning content.
 
deafdyke said:
Isn't it amazing?The effortlessness of actually learning content?
I think that's a point that certain parents here are missing. it takes a lot of energy for dhh kids to hear and speak. Our argument is that dhh kids can very easily learn content by capitalizing on their natural visual processing strengths.
I think you are going to be amazed at what sign can do for your son......it's no longer about speech therapy, but actually learning content.
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Tonight, Conner and Daddy are watching Finding Nemo and out of nowhere Conner just started signing FISH. And then Blue Fish...and then Orange fish. THAT's MY BOY!:D
 
Btw, just wondering....how do his teachers think he's doing in comparison with the other kids? Are they saying that he's really catching up and learning ASL really fast? He sounds a lot like the students my friends who are teachers say they see at their schools....like a bit behind, but when they learn ASL.....BOOM!
 
His teachers are saying that he is picking up ASL quickly. The main problem they are having is that my poor boy is part squirrel and gets distracted easily...I don't know where he gets that fr......OOOHhh LOOK SOMETHING SHINY!!!
 
ContessaC said:
Tonight, Conner and Daddy are watching Finding Nemo and out of nowhere Conner just started signing FISH. And then Blue Fish...and then Orange fish. THAT's MY BOY!:D
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Not surprised, children are sponges when it comes to languages. Glad to hear he's doing so well....:)

Laura
 
Oh and he does have some oral ability too? That's good, as that means he'll have another good skill. Is he still getting speech therapy? just wondering....Did he have oral ability, but just didn't have the ability (for whatever reason) to develop sophiscated spoken language ability? If he is still getting speech....THIs is the way to do it, speech as a supplement rather then the be all and end all of a dhh kids existence.
 
So glad he is really acquiring language so fast. And Connor is wicked lucky that he got to go to FSDB in kindergarten. I was wondering......are you going to keep himin kindergarten for an extra year or so? FSDB offers services up to 21, so it would give him more time to develop his asl skills. (I actually had an extra year of preschool myself)
 
Conner is in his 1st FULL year of preschool at FSDB. He did part of the school year last year, but the hubby and I decided that Conner would really benefit from another year in preK. Conner TRIES to be oral (though in truth...I think my husband and I are losing hearing at his current attempts) he knows what voice on means. And he goes to speech therapy 2x a week. When he becomes better with ASL and we are able to communicate with him we will probably raise the amount of speech he gets to hone ALL of his communications skills.
 
ContessaC said:
Conner is in his 1st FULL year of preschool at FSDB. He did part of the school year last year, but the hubby and I decided that Conner would really benefit from another year in preK. Conner TRIES to be oral (though in truth...I think my husband and I are losing hearing at his current attempts) he knows what voice on means. And he goes to speech therapy 2x a week. When he becomes better with ASL and we are able to communicate with him we will probably raise the amount of speech he gets to hone ALL of his communications skills.
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Oh he's in preschool! Awesome! I did three years of preschool.
 
Glad to read he is enjoying school and his language is starting to come along.
 
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ContessaC said:
Conner is in his 1st FULL year of preschool at FSDB. He did part of the school year last year, but the hubby and I decided that Conner would really benefit from another year in preK. Conner TRIES to be oral (though in truth...I think my husband and I are losing hearing at his current attempts) he knows what voice on means. And he goes to speech therapy 2x a week. When he becomes better with ASL and we are able to communicate with him we will probably raise the amount of speech he gets to hone ALL of his communications skills.
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So right now you're mainly concentrating on asl, with speech as a supplement? AWESOME! are you finding that FSDB is very all in one inclusive with its services? I would think that FSDB (bc its so large)would be one of those deaf schools that have a very specialized speech therapists.....not only are they experienced with teaching dhh kids, but they also may be experienced with teaching unaided/unimplanted/kids who get minimal speech understanding with their devices students how to speak.
 
Hey contessa, are you a member of American society for deaf children yet? google it. I think it would be the perfect organization for you.
is Connor going to stay at FSDB for his entire school career? I think Florida has regional programs. But I also know that mainstream Ed in Florida is really bad. I think it's awesome that he ended up at FSDB early on, rather then having to suffer through the "graduate from oral deaf preschool/kindergarten and then experience inclusion" model, so prized by oral deaf experts. I hate saying this. But inclusion has major flaws, and hasn't been innovative since about 1985. Inclusionists fail to realize that not everyone lives in an area with really good resources, and that most mainstream teachers (including special Ed teachers) aren't all that familiar with how to teach kids like us. heck my friends who are mainstream teachers say that they see a lot of the same stuff I went through...I think in a couple of years there'll be a lot of dhh kids from hearing families transferring to FSDB.
 
deafdyke said:
Hey contessa, are you a member of American society for deaf children yet? google it. I think it would be the perfect organization for you.
is Connor going to stay at FSDB for his entire school career? I think Florida has regional programs. But I also know that mainstream Ed in Florida is really bad. I think it's awesome that he ended up at FSDB early on, rather then having to suffer through the "graduate from oral deaf preschool/kindergarten and then experience inclusion" model, so prized by oral deaf experts. I hate saying this. But inclusion has major flaws, and hasn't been innovative since about 1985. Inclusionists fail to realize that not everyone lives in an area with really good resources, and that most mainstream teachers (including special Ed teachers) aren't all that familiar with how to teach kids like us. heck my friends who are mainstream teachers say that they see a lot of the same stuff I went through...I think in a couple of years there'll be a lot of dhh kids from hearing families transferring to FSDB.
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FSDB is popular for offering a large part of the day mainstreamed in local schools to students who qualify, so it seems misleading and wrong to say how Fla mainstreaming sucks.
 
Bottesini said:
FSDB is popular for offering a large part of the day mainstreamed in local schools to students who qualify, so it seems misleading and wrong to say how Fla mainstreaming sucks.
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Whoops sorry Botte I should have said neighborhood school mainstreaming sucks. Most if not all, deaf schools offer mainstreaming in the local schools, in their community. That type of mainstreaming can be very successful as the local school has a ton of experience with educating dhh and blind/low vision kids, and also can take advantage of the support and resources from the specialized school. Solitaire neighborhood mainstreaming tends to really suck, unless youre a tiger mom type....unfortunately most mainstream solitaire placements get ripped off with accommodations and things
 
Hey Botte, can you do me a favor and post the link to American society for deaf children for contessa? I'm on an iPad right now and haven't learned how to cut and paste on this thingy yet
 
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