Text VI a hearing mom of a deaf middle schooler talks about her son's deafness

Task 1. Read the text for detail.

Task 2. Make up an annotation of the text.

Ann Park, Ian's mother, shares her story about how she discovered her son was deaf and how her family's life has changed since this discovery:

In February 1984, I learned that my 17-month-old son was deaf. He had been playing with the stereo controls and inadvertently turned them on. It was so loud that the windows rattled in their casements. Even though Ian was only inches away from the stereo speakers, he did not flinch, blink, startle, or cry. We knew at that moment he did not hear like he should, confirming what we had suspected for almost a year. A couple of weeks later our fears were confirmed. Ian was profoundly deaf!

At that moment, I knew what I could do. I would do everything I possibly could to give my son language and a means to communicate. As we left the audiology booth, I started signing, "Let us go down the hall. Then go home," my son watching my hand as we went.

It has become a family joke of sorts, the irony of life. I had wanted to be a teacher of the deaf since childhood. So every opportunity I could find, I learned or used the sign language I knew.

Ian went to a special preschool for deaf children. When he was 6 year old, he attended a class for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in our local public school. Since second grade, he has been fully mainstreamed. He has had a certified interpreter and been given preferential seating and his classrooms have been specially adapted with acoustical treatments and special carpeting. Ian has also had special equipment such as hearing aids and auditory trainers with an FM microphone worn by his teachers.

Ian has been raised to be independent, to know what his rights are-like having an interpreter. Regardless, the responsibility for communication rests on our shoulders. Ian's oral speech is often intelligible, especially when the content of the topic is known by those who are listening to him. He tries very hard to speak clearly and slowly for people. But the best of situations would be if others knew how to sign. In our home, we sign so that Ian is included in all of our family time together. We also get the benefit of reading the TV as well as hearing it by using closed captions. We have a flashing-light system attached to various lights throughout the house that flash in different sequences to tell us when the doorbell or phone is ringing.

It is my deepest hope that Ian will be a self-sufficient, contributing member of society. Ian is a positive example of what children who are deaf can attain, and I know he will always be a positive example for others. I want Ian to bridge the gap between the hearing and the deaf worlds.

The future for deaf and hard of hearing children is so much better than in the past. Children can remain in their homes, and they and their families can receive support services to help them. Early intervention services are now available as soon as the disability is diagnosed, and language development work can begin much sooner. This is important. The disability, and its effects, cannot be erased; but with knowledge, understanding, and the family, people with this disability can experience together.

(Regional and Nationa Summary Report of data from the 2002-2003 Annual Survey of Deaf and hard of hearing children and youth. – Washington DC: GRI Gallaudet University.)