A star

Prisha got a star on her cheek for singing "God's love,is so wonderful"She has just picked up the 1st line but she sang it all day.I had tears as I remembering in school I too had learnt it.We sang it together.
I spoke to her teacher in school and she was very happy with her.She was amazed how responsible she is with her hearing aids.As it is monsoon time in India I have made Prisha wear a linen scarf under the raincoat so that not a drop falls on the aids.But teacher said that prisha asks for help with raincoat, when it is raining .She is so tiny , yet how grown they are as far as their needs are concerned!I just told her if the aids get wet you cannot hear so be careful, now she is cautious.
For her holiday homework we have made a file where we have stuck some of her artwork she did all from waste.The teacher is excited about it .

Back to regular life

So here we are back home after a nice long European holiday.It was nice to be home .All the experiences are etched in our memory.We really went around site seeing, eating , shopping and seeing the country side.Prisha loved the shopping in super markets ,trying out dresses in the trial rooms before buying and above all the flower girl she is ,she loved the flowers.It was so funny the way she stood hiding behind the curtain waiting while she asked me to get more clothes for her to try.The moment she would see flowers, she posed perfectly for that perfect picture.

As we were all the time together,my son and Prisha ended up spending all the time together as there was not much TV and outing during the day.She learnt to irritate her big brother and learnt to give pit pat answers as I never got involved in their fights.It really helped them to bond as he too realized she was better company than no company at all.They would play hide and seek, do pillow fights,have some funny conversations and laugh out or simply fight.I have noticed it has made her conversations more clear and she uses a lot of her mind to make proper sentences.My friends found a great change in her level of confidence.She is going out to make more friends,trying to understand what they speak,and is actually mixing around a lot more.Problem in India is the number of languages she comes across.Many kids do not speak english and so closes up to talking with kids.She will come around I am sure.Back to school,speech therapy classes and pressures!

A funny incident

We are in Austria for a month and having a chilled out time.As not too many Tv channels are there , we end up watching only english news or the 2 hindi channels .all that we watch in hindi language ends up in a lot of melodrama, shouting , crying etc.Prisha has ended up watching all that and asks me why is the woman crying or sad or shouting etc.I try and give her logical answers.Last night she removed her aids and was preparing to sleep while I watched TV.There were 2 people argueing and Prisha watched intensely.After a while she got a bit worked up watching all the drama and she held her ears and shouted__"aunty is shouting, my ears are paining". we laughed so much as she never realised she wasn't hearing.I am so happy as she reacts very normally.
In fact this morning the house keepers came to clean the house.The father son team come every friday to clean the service appartment.The old fellow speaks the local dilect which is not easy to understand and to top it he has a drawl.He got us some sweets and Prisha was thrilled.The old man started to change the bed linen and I decided to help him.Prisha too started to pitch in by doing the buttons of the blanket covers.She started to blabber with him and he too started to chat up.My son and I laughed so much at the normal converstion that was going on with prisha blabbering with a few words of english thrown in between the gibberish and the old fellow yapping in german.It was a very nice thing to experience.Nobody could tell that they were blabbering and not chatting up.
she is having a good time.She loves going shopping to supermarkets.For that she prepares a list,and she reminds me what has to be picked up.There so many different things and the kids are enjoying this way of life

Gayatri mantra

Prisha has gone to school for about 3weeks.They have to say the prayers which are a combination of sanskrit and hindi prayer.Well she has mastered the 'Gayatri mantra' and the hindi prayer- 'itni shakti hame dena datta', she has got a bit of the tune and a few words.I was so excited when she just rattled it off.I did not want to teach her as I can get the understanding of how much she depends on her hearing.She is just listening and rattling off.
These days she is into a lot of art and craft.I stimulated her with a small box into making a landscape and then an engine.Now she gets so excited looking at any thing that we think is waste--soap cartons,tags,chocolate wrappers,etc.It is fun to see her getting engrossed.She has made flowers with old VCDs, a fan ,butterfly with a tag, a ship with stones and a toothpaste box which stands on the beach with a light house.We ask what to make and I lead her to her idea.
Next week we go to Austria with family for a holiday .we'll be away for a month.It will be good for all of us and specially for the kids to see a new country and see speak about it.Happy summer vacations to all!

concept of" made of"

A very important lesson on "what are things made of"done.It is difficult to explain the concept of "made of".How do you explain to a 4 year old -what is a table made of".I felt it difficult to put it across to Prisha this complicated thing as she looked pretty blank.Then we hit it off at an answer.She has seen cake being made roti being made.I asked her what is roti made of?she looked puzzled.when I put it simply as ...roti is made of atta.She looked educated!!I am now going to work on this .show her from things around and take her to difficult concept. to which Mrs.Hudlikar put across rules of teaching.We know them but it was only after she spelt them out that it struck us how it was so important.She said a good teacher teaches with the concept of teaching the child from simple to complex, from specific to generic and from known to unknown.How true.From simple things we learn difficult concepts,from a specific thing eg. a red apple ,golden apple , green apple,etc I know a generic or class they belong to..i.e . apples.So specific to generic and from known to unknown.If I know that what a living thing is I can learn what a non living thing is.What a way of learning.we are blessed to have her in our lives.

inactment and drawing

Mrs Alaka Hudlikar gave us 2 very important 'must do' with the kids.She told us that the kids must be able to act out or be able to dramatize things they are not able to talk about.It is not SIGN LANGUAGE.It is dramatization which even normal people use to express their views when they are not able to express in words.They will be in situations and they need to act out and find solutions.
The same with drawings.Teach them match stick figures doing various things. Prisha loved it.she drew man on a swing, girl sitting on the laptop, etc.It was amazing the eye for detail that she has.Now we are going to put these cutout on a black sheet and write the verbs under it.These will come in handy for kids.
Last week we had a lovely class where the kids were given paper, colors ,pencils.Ma'am gave them oral hints and instructions like -----draw a mountain, draw 2 birds flying in the sky,draw a house below the mountain, draw a mango tree on the side of the house, in the house make a chair and table etc.the kids learnt the prepositions, nouns,verbs,colours through drawing .we too were less stressed out.

Letting go

Last whole week has been very trying for me, particularly the last few days as Prisha has started a proper school from today.I have been a lot nervous and looking at her excitement about going in the bus made me happy as for now.The whole night I could barely get sleep and in the bits of naps I dreamt of her going to school and those long 6 hours she will be away.I had lumps in my throat , churning in my heart and tears in my eyes all of y'day.Does it happen to all the moms or it is more with this special child with who I have spent every moment together in the last 4 years.I understand every thing before she speaks.Will she be able to communicate well?Will my hard work pay off?I have dreams for her to be able to lead a fulfilling and happy life and I am working towards it.Why is motherhood so difficult?I had difficulty letting go my older normal son but letting go off Prisha is tougher .Being hearing impaired I have spent more time and energy and emotions on her, so maybe it is more emotionally draining.It was like opening the cage to let my little bird take her 1st flight of freedom.No more protection, only her own personality and her communication skills will see her through.I have given a list of instructions and a very motivating letter to the teacher. I hope she cooperates and helps my Prisha to be confident and lively child that she is.Are all other moms with special need children going through the same thing?Today I was lonely and no one to share my thoughts with after I sent her off in the bus, as my husband too has shifted to Austria for a growth in his career.She was running to go off in the bus and when I told her "i will miss you" she said " don't worry I'll come back.".After leaving her , entering the quiet and dead house was so depressing.Ther were things all around which remind me of her liveliness.She drew an insect that she saw on a plant in our balcony and I kissed it.I hope I am able to cope with this phase of my life.

Activities

This tuesday mrs. Alaka Hudlikar made all children stand in a row in her garden and we had a fun time.She gave them activities keeping in mind the use of the verbs and their uses with various nouns, the loud open voices to be heard of the kids, the ability of the kids to remember the verbs and their actions along with having fun.Well the kids loved it from the sit down classes for a change.
Fly like an aeroplane.......the kids had to open their arms and fly around making loud sounds-ooooooo...........
Fly like a bird
Fly like a butterfly
Clap your hands
turn around.
turn your hands round and round
walk fast and slow
wave your hands
skip
hop
we even told the kids to repeat what ma'am was telling them to do.well I would do at home with Prisha more things like roar like lion, bark like a dog,etc

Places we visit

Today with our kids in the hearing impairment classes , Mrs. Alaka Hudlikar did an interesting speech therapy class.The children were asked simple questions which are very commonly come across.Eg.-If you want to catch an aeroplane, where do you go?If you want to take a train where do you go ?And if you want to take a bus , where do you go?
Most kids could not remember the places though they knew what she was talking about.A kid put her hand in front of her mouth and hooted.Then she explained to them all about these places and told the places - airport, railway station and a bus stop.I took it up from there and asked Prisha few questions and gave her the answers.
If I want to buy vegs where do I go......Veg market{sabzi bazaar}
If I want to buy medicines , where do you go........medicine shop
For books ,pen paper etc.......stationary shop
If I want to pray......Temple
Like this one can go on endlessly.For the child it is fun to recall all the places and they are able to revise the names of these places.

Tantrum control-2

After 6 weeks of trying to train Prisha to behave and not to throw a fit in speech therapy class , a break through was achieved.I had been wondering why she was so adamant about not talking in class and crying the moment Mrs. Alaka Hudlikar looked at me or crying the moment she corrected her .I was going through a typical low period as I could see that it was affecting her performance in speech.She would , at home too, run to her dad the moment I corrected her, or run to her grand Parents whining and giving a false cry with no tears just to get their sympathy.I tried to get control by bribe, coaxing and pleading her to attend the therapy and she would show her eyes and ask me to be quiet.I was at my wits end and decided not to go for therapy as Ma'am was upset about her behavior and I was the one who was not able to correct her.Today My hubby too got wild and she got a dressing down from him.SHE WAS SHOCKED....well dad never yells!!I took over and in a commanding voice I told her that I did not want any crying in the therapy and she has to go there even if she did not want.She immediately looked like she would break out into the ugly cry and I took cue and warned her if a tear fell out.Well well the trick worked We kept a straight face with a certain firmness and for the 1st time she ate her lunch on her own, went for therapy and was a perfect student.All was well.
From this I have realised that she was testing our patience and was getting her way out of situations as she knew we would melt as we love her immensely.She reacts to me when I am alone differently.I realised my hubby was a cushion to her.The moment she saw that he too can be wild with her for wrong behavior she knew she had no one to manipulate , she controlled her emotion and was ready for learning.An emotionally strong person is a good learner as they have nothing to fear. The moment she knew I was not supporting her crying in the class, she stooped her whining and the insecure behavior.We have decided to not let her control us and our emotions. It needs a strong will power and keeping the stiff face when you actually would want to hug her, is difficult.But then who says motherhood is easy.Having a hearing impaired child and a teacher like ma'am has changed my life.Today she is able to stop her crying the moment I ask her to just stop the big tantrum.I hope to keep it going for a few days till it is reinforced that I would not allow bad behavior and her manipulative power play. I know many of you would not agree to this but I feel being firm and being consistant is the only way of training a child.Today Prisha behaved as their was no one to support her wrong behavior and as there was no cushion she stood for herself and controlled her oun self.I have to prepare her for all kinds of people she would come across.She will have to fend for herself when I am not around.She has to learn that life is not easy and we need to take care of ourselves.