The Deaf One

Yes, I have a deaf child,too. She is the girl I prayed to conceive for years. We didn't realize she was deaf until she was 16 months old, and since her birth predated mandatory hearing screanings performed on newborns, that was considered early in our state.

We managed to make some progress with hearing aids and had much resistance from the school district when she was reaching kindergarten age. We begged them to allow her to continue with the special services preschool for another year (especially since her birthday is Aug 29th!). They refused. We spent months and thousands of dollars fighting for some allowances but weretold they suspected she might not be smart enough to learn to talk.

Our school district had nver taught a deaf child to talk. She was, and is, part of the hearing world. We ended up sending her to another state to a specialized school for 3 years (the last year we maintained an apartment), but a week before she turned five, we left her in a dorm.