Talk in a church with deaf community

   

 

Having started the series of talks around Jakarta to spread awareness in deafness , I do not leave any opportunity that comes my way to spread my wings more. Yesterday was one such chance to "talk" to the deaf community at the church here. I was skeptical as well as nervous about it wondering if I would be able to handle it, how would Prisha react to sign language as the last time she went to one such community was when she was 4 and I took her to a deaf school in India. The day came and I trusted my instinct , my dedication to Mrs. Alaka Hudlikar , the cause and her blessings to me. I decided to give the best I can within the limitations. 

    They introduced me and I started my presentation. After the initial hitch where I was delivering more in one go, faster and complicated words .. I realized I need to slow down, use simple words and less complicated stuff as the audiences had limited understanding otherwise. The translator who works on national TV of Indonesia had little English but did his best to understand and sign soon after I spoke. Soon enough it started to work smoothly. 

      It was talk that made me grateful, humble, appreciate more what I got in terms of Mrs. Alaka Hudlikar , made my will power stronger that I need to keep going and keep talking that deaf can live integrated lives. I learnt not to doubt my intention not be put down by anyone trying to undermine my intention or efforts. I learnt that I can communicate and handle  different audiences and receive more than what I give. It was one of the most exciting and awaited afternoon for me and I wondered if I could deliver here. But using simple English ,short effective conversation aided with good sign language helped me to show this community that even if they could not get language their next generation has a chance to learn language and be integrated into the normal system. 

     I left the place more humbled and glad that I did it. I hope to do more in the future with them. A brief of my talk there is on the link below. I learnt it's never enough to share the knowledge you have and never enough work done for what you believe in. People will try to pull you down in various ways but if your intention is clean , it shall come through. To hear on YouTube .... Click below. 

https://youtu.be/it2AmnyZfM4

Prisha talking about her connection she feels with Helen Keller (+playlist)

I am so happy to post this on my blog after a very long. Just caught up with so much ! But here is Prisha all of 10 and she feels connected to Hellen Keller. Blessed to hear her talk this way, accepting her disability and being confident about it. This is all I can ask as a mother.... She should be proud of what she is. Not saying there may not be days when she is upset and questions me..." Why me mum" , yet as of now happy that she is taking it in her stride. All thanks to my mentor Alaka ma'am!
Hope this inspires many parents to come forward and see deafness more seriously and take up speech therapy even more seriously. Hope it gets the place it so deserves.

Prisha has friends !!

    I am so delighted at how kids can be so warm and caring. I have got such good feedback from school and the teacher said that she found me very interactive and warm with the kids and it did bring a change in their own attitude as well as the kids too in class. So I offered that I could talk to other sections too about it as some moms have shown a lot of interest. And she said it would be a good idea as they all play together during lunch in the play area and also they would be shuffled in grade 3 too. She even said that Grade 4 has disabilities as part of their unit of inquiry right now and probably it would help if I could have a word on this with them. That excited me immensely. So looking forward to some good news from school.
         The kids who were a part of it yesterday went and spoke so much to the parents at home that I had a lot of moms coming and appreciating our journey and were very supportive. Now Prisha had a girl coming over, giving her a card which says they are going to be forever friends...lol. I was so happy and Prisha seems to be beaming with joy, now I really don't know how long this would last, but am happy that the little girl had those thoughts for Prisha. She now has a playdate this Friday at a  classmate's home and the next week another one has called her home. So things are looking up, just hope she is able to make use of this in a big way. I hope the change in attitudes of all around her at school would bring more learning experiences at school.I am happy I spoke out and took this step.

Educating the 8 year olds

Today I am going to educate 8 year olds from Prisha's class about deafness, its effects and constant fight to be a part of the social structure. I am hoping to plant seeds of empathy into the little minds where in they learn to empathize with not only people with deafness but also other disabilities and become a bit more sensitive to the needs of such people. Taking hearing aids so that the kids can feel them, hear through them and would know what is life for the deaf. Keeping fingers crossed and hoping to make it exciting and fun enough to make them listen up. I am excited, a very young audience !

Ear is clear

      This morning we got the call from the ENT specialist eventually. We have been waiting to hear good news and we did. She is clear of any fungus in the ear and now we just need to de-wax her ear. We have an appointment where he would put ear drops and clean her ears. So maybe the ache is also due to the hard wax which hurts her when she presses her aid in her ear. We would soon sort that out.
       Meanwhile Prisha is quite unhappy with her PE period. Her teacher asked her to do a somersault and when she said she cannot, he still pushed her to do it and then helped her to do one. In the process she hit her chin badly on the chest ! She was hurt badly and her chest has been hurting her a lot since then. More than the hurt she is scared of now going to school and when she saw there was no PE, she reluctantly got ready. She is developing a fear I don't like. I have a meeting with the PE teacher next week and we need to sort this issue out. 

Another success story in the deafness world

     I feel so privileged to be guided by such a wonderful teacher who has many such success stories to her credit. The hard work of these parents, kids and the force behind them-Mrs Hudlikar is commendable. She fills up each of the parents with her spirit of never say die and pushes them to achieve greater heights against all odds. In India life for the handicap is very tough but teachers like these inspire and makes life worth the fight and struggle. Thank you Ma'am Hudlikar for giving the hearing impaired kids a second chance in life and making them contribute positively to the world around.God bless you.

http://epaper.dnaindia.com/newsview.aspx?eddate=10/08/2011&pageno=4&edition=40&prntid=151430&bxid=30767542&pgno=4

Thank you for all the efforts Ma'am Hudlikar !!

Another signing family

   Yesterday on the way to the speech therapist, we came across a family with 2 little kids struggling to get into the tram while we sat on our seats. Mt attention was drawn towards the woman as she had exaggerated mouth movements with no sounds.I realized she was deaf and was struggling with the kid's buggy,a little baby on her hip and trying to communicate with her husband through lip reading. He too had his other kid and bags.The struggle they had climbing in while having a tough time looking at each other trying to understand what the other was saying, was very touching for me too.The buggy toppled over,they could not hear it topple over and a person standing by tried to help them. In between all this struggle when they could not lip read, they tried to sign too. I was so frozen trying to understand their struggle. The isolation was obvious as no one in the tram could understand what they were trying to say. But just watched as silent spectators.
    Prisha too watched this thing and was busy staring at them. the family settled down opposite us and started to sign and were busy sorting out the issue, arguing away. After a few minutes,the person looked at me and smiled, I looked at the woman and I told her that my daughter too had hearing aids. She nodded and pointed to her eyes and then to Prisha ...to say that she saw it. The man was without HA but was able to say few words in English. In the hushed tone and signs he asked if she spoke. I learned to lip read and so I said that Prisha wears aids and speaks.He wanted to know if she went to special school.When I told them that she spoke and went to International school like other normal kids,he kept silent.The woman looked on too...I wonder if it was a wishing look. The older kid was deaf too but as he threw away HA, they had got used to it and so did not insist on him wearing them and were comfortable that he too could lead a life like theirs as they knew no other.The man then communicated with a thumbs up for the younger one about his hearing....he could hear perfect ......with a victorious smile. I smiled said goodbye and left at our station.
      Prisha then asked me if these people too could not hear. I had a session with her a few days ago when she was clear she did not want to sign. I told her and reinforced to her about why we keep working on her. She said "mum, I love talking, I always want to talk and talk.I don't want to do signs,you will help me more? And maybe when I grow up,my ears would be alright and I can hear without hearing aids." I was so touched, I held her hand tight and told her that we love her non stop chatter in the house and we love her singing and noway are we going to stop that. I just smiled at her wish , I have told her earlier though that as of now she is always going to have them till science makes progress and we are able to use stem cell to cure her deafness maybe some day.
     This incident made me realize the struggle of the people who have had no access to AVT. The struggle between signs and lip reading, to people not understanding them and also the isolation due to lack of modes of communication made me realize how blessed I was to have Prisha lead a near normal life.She talks, sings and has no issues with communicating her needs to people even when I am not around.No one has to ask me what she wants to convey as she is able to do it herself.She makes friends, plays games and there are gaps in her understanding but that could happen to even hearing kids who has relocated into a new environment.We are all working on her through reading, writing, blogging, activities, games and doing loads of work sheets. It is just......a matter of time.

Year ending IEP update at school

Prisha's birthday card for her Class teacher

      This morning we had a meeting at school with the IEP teacher who gives 50 minutes per day in class and also the head of the department. There were some great points and some points where we need to work with her.The 50 minutes were earlier alone in a room but now Mrs.K comes to the classroom and sits with her and explains her things where she needs help.She finds that Prisha is benefiting more this way.
       Some great feedback from them was about her personal attributes.She is very motivated, humorous,enthusiastic , great concentration, has good memory,eager to learn and takes correction very well.She is very spirited and takes correction very positively. It made us very happy to hear this.They were also happy that we worked with her and there was immense growth in her learning.

Her progress with IEP -
1.Able to sequence and retell story using pictures and gives an appropriate end too.
2.Uses singular and plural and understands the difference.
3.Has achieved goals in articulation of speech sounds.Words ending in blends still need to be worked on.

Needs improvement here -
1.Needs support with existing language goals relating to syntax and semantics with additional complexity of language.
2.Needs additional experiences to develop a wider "world knowledge".
3.Should benefit from activities and experiences that give her more points of reference with her peers.Needs to know what they celebrate,play watch on TV or talk about.That would help her interact socially.
      So we have loads of plan this summer.We are in India for just 3 weeks so that we are back here for 7 weeks and can attend the 2 times a week speech therapy classes.I don't want her to slide back in the vacations.We need to work harder on ourselves.Need to get some grammar books from India of grade 1 and 2 and let her practice it at home.Read loads to her and help her use new vocabulary. I am just keeping my fingers crossed and really hope and pray that when we start school in August, she has achieved more in her learning and understanding.The abstract has to be worked on and make her learning and understanding from 2 dimension to multi dimension.

International Fest

      Yesterday was the International fest at school here.Prisha enjoyed wearing her dress from India and showing off while she had her best friend from Korea wearing hers.Both came to show it off at our Indian booth and loved to get clicked.She learnt all new games,new foods,new cultures,names of new countries and had wonderful exposure to the world.She represented India in the parade and it was nice to see them proudly show off their country's flags.She bought her own stuff with coupons and she had a tough time what she would like to buy with them. In all a great day with perfect weather.

Status Update

Yes I have been away for a really long time from something I really love doing-blogging and uploading movies on the subject of hearing impairment.These 3 months nearly flew by as I am in th process of shifting and having changes in my life which did take a toll on my mental frame too.I have not been able to visit blogs and need to catch up on my favorite blogs.
My husband decided it was time for us to shift in with him to Germany.So the whole process started of applying for the change and getting our papers ready(it can be so tedious). Another big job I took was to start learning the language! I saw it as a chance to learn a language as well.I enrolled into private tuitions as the Max Muller was full. As the time was short , I had to really have to study hard and studied like 4-5 hrs a day apart from the tuitions that I attended with a teacher who put in her best to accommodate 24 classes into 12 classes, which meant hard work for me.At the moments where i was pressed by time and the lessons sometimes went over my head specially with the grammar, I would have cold sweat and would wonder why in the world I decided to get into it.Fortunately the hard work paid off and I made my teacher proud with great scores achieved in half the time.So now I am more comfortable in Germany with the language and hope to acquire more hands on.But one thing I learnt from this, how difficult it is to learn a language. i could identify with the deaf kids and could feel that due to lack of mouth muscles, they become lazy and as the years roll by, they find it difficult to pick up the language.As my mouth was not used to moving according to the German lingo, I found it extremely tiring and painful to talk the language. Though my teacher would insist on talking in German, at the smallest opportunity I would actually avoid and speak in English.So is with the deaf, as signs are easier, given a chance the deaf kids prefer to use signs as against spoken as it is less tiring. The process of remembering the words, the order, the grammar the intonation and the nuances of the language can actually be like a burden and the we find easier ways of getting out of it. I really feel learning a new language was a great insight for me to understand how challenging it is for the deaf to speak. There were times that I would be answering a question , trying to figure out the grammar, the order etc, and I would not hear what I was speaking as my total focus was on getting the statement right.In the process i never knew what I said and could not repeat if required. My teacher would keep reminding to listen to what I was saying and I remembered how i used to force Prisha to listen to what she is saying so that she could correct herself.That is how a normal child learns to correct and speak. They are not conscious about speech and as they grow older they listen to what they are saying and correct themselves.THEY LISTEN TO THEIR OWN VOICES!
I am now in Germany after a last minute gaenac surgery too done in India with no time for recupperating. Settling down with a new home to shift in next week, furniture to buy, furnishing the new place, schools to still confirm admissions, new environment, phew, it is a whole new life!Somewhere this is taking a toll on my mental stability as you are having to make too many decisions and too much stress.Prisha's speech too has taken a back seat somewhere as I am dealing with my own mental and physical makeup.I need to pull up my socks and make sure that in the next 2 months I should homeschool my girl and fill her up with all that has gone by and do more more more.Hoping to have a very nice stay in Germany where my kids' education is taken care of and Prisha has more chances of learning more. My biggest challenge of leaving India was leaving my BIGGEST support, motivation and help- my speech therapist Mrs Alaka Hudlikar.We have become very close in these 5 years and she is more of my mother to me. We have promised regular calls and inputs would be there regularly but things are not the same when you do not attend hourly classes twice a week. She has been a life changing experience for me and there is not a day , not a moment when I do not miss her. She will always be my guiding light wherever I am.Thank you Alaka Ma'am for being a part of my life.