Friday, January 24, 2003

hearing test, teaching signs

Hum bah! I have a hearing test set up for Monday at 11:00.. PFFT! I hate hearing tests! I hate sitting in that sound-proof booth with those huge headphones on my head, trying to figure out if I'm actually hearing the sounds from the headphones or if they're just sounds I'm hearing in my mind!

My mom and I are also going to talk to the audiologist about the possibility of getting a CI done for my left ear. Mom and I got to talking about it again last night, and I kept telling her I was serious, so when she called the Audiology department to set upt he Hearing Test appointment, she asked if we could discuss CI too, which we will.

And another thing... I FINALLY can teach this disabled student I work with at school more signs, and help her improve her signing skills. My interpreter Jo and I started teaching her signs LAST year, hoping it would help her communicate more (seeing how she can't talk with her voice, she can hum and scream, but can't talk, and she can't use a talking board very well since she doesn't see the pictures on the screen). Boy did she pick up on the signs quizkly last year.
All semester last semester, I couldn't work with her on her signs since the class went out into the community or did some cooking. But this semester, we have the time to work on signs during 4th block/period. I'm so happy to be able to continue working with her! It's the 2nd day I've worked with her on her signs, and she's doing real well. I'm going to start working on the signs that she started learning last year but never got the hang of (seeing how it was just about the end of the school year). I'm going to make sure she knows how to sign LOVE, MOTHER, responses to "How are you" and stuff like that. She's doing really well with book, ball, juice, mirror, finish, help, drink, please/happy, more, shoe, bubbles, etc.........
I'm telling you! Once we started teaching her some signs last year and she started using them, her frustration levels definitely decreased. She wasn't screaming or mad all the time, and she was able to communicate a little more than usual. It was just wonderful. So I'm truly happy to be able to work with her on her signing skills once again. And I know my interpreter Jo will be extremely happy to hear about this once I tell her on Monday morning!