Lily's first language is ASL, she has been using sign language since she was 5 months old. After she received her cochlear implants we introduced her to spoken English. It has been a really confusing battle on some fronts for us as a family. Most of the medical professionals we came in contact with insisted that we should not sign with Lily because it would slow her speech development. However, I have many deaf family members who do not have cochlear implants and use sign language to communicate. We felt it was very important for Lily to continue to learn ASL and be able to live in both worlds, the hearing world and the deaf world. This was somewhat difficult for us because we are hearing parents. We are learning sign to keep up with Lily, but she is a fast learner. Obviously the biggest part missing is that we are unfamiliar with the deaf culture. To truly be in both worlds she needs the language and culture from both, right?
Lots of learning through play in this picture!
A few months ago we were introduced to Stacy, who would soon become our family’s deaf mentor, through ASDB's toddler class that Lily attended this year. She had come in to give parents information about the deaf mentor program. Right away I knew it was something we were interested in! Within a few weeks we had our first home visit. We did not have an interpreter, but given the knowledge we currently had as a family with sign language we were able to communicate pretty effectively. Stacy was AMAZING at making sure we understood what she was signing. Soon we had a second visit with Stacy and this is where something happened that we had never seen before....Lily loved her! Lily is very shy and even still won't talk and interact with family outside of the members who live in our home. To see her sit in Stacy's lap, sign with her, and interact like she does with family almost made me cry. My daughter was connecting with someone she had only met once before and it was like she had known Stacy all of her life. I think both Stacy and I agreed that Lily knew they were alike and their personalities meshed amazingly well. Shortly after our third home visit I realized Lily was learning sign language incidentally during our visits. We had been told this happens with spoken language and assumed it must be the same with sign language, but had not realized it so obviously before. Stacy had brought a game called ASL Word Match to the third visit. Lily sat with us for most of the game while we played and eventually got up to go play with her baby dolls. We were all sitting on the floor playing and after Stacy had won the game she showed the boys how to sign "hahaha". Lily was in her own world playing so I would have never guessed that she picked that sign up. Little did we know she did pick it up and used it just a few days later! Lily has also picked up Stacy's sign name and uses it regularly when talking about her. Stacy has become a beloved member of Lily's world very quickly!
We have had regular home visits with Stacy over the last several months and it has been a great experience for our family. This program has given a great support system to help us understand the deaf culture, to help us in learning more ASL through immersion, and Stacy recently supported us with the IEP process which was all new to us. It was great to have a deaf persons perspective and not only that, but a parent of deaf children's perspective. It can all be very confusing and overwhelming, especially when you know you have to fight for what is most appropriate for your child. Stacy was a great resource when we had questions about learning both languages, what appropriate goals might be for school, and she gave us a lot of information on the IEP laws and how they pertain to deaf students. We are proud to say this helped us to place Lily at PDSD for preschool next year! We feel that the knowledge of deaf culture, ASL, and the relationship that we have been able to expose Lily to have been invaluable with this program! Stacy has quickly become a true mentor to Lily and our family and we will forever be grateful for the experience and knowledge!
A home visit with Stacy where she was teaching Lily how to fingerspell "Anna".
While we really wish this program would have been available when Lily was much younger, we are so happy that it is available now. We hope that the program continues to grow and many families like ours can benefit from it!
