My A to Z theme concerns the joys and challenges of being the hearing mother of my Deaf son, Alex.
They say being deaf makes the eyesight better, but I had no idea what that meant until I took American Sign Language classes. Not hearing doesn’t improve the quality of a person’s eyesight – no one is going to from 20/200 (being able to only read the giant “E” at the top of an eye chart) to 20/20 because they are deafened. “Having better eyesight” simply means the brain works faster with visual stimulation. Take, for instance, the alphabet. Say it out loud as fast as you can possibly say it, and then consider a native signer can fingerspell it as fast as you can say it, and the average Deaf person can understand every letter as well as someone who hears can understand your speaking of it. Mindboggling, isn’t it? I used to come home from my three-hour classes once a week exhausted like I’ve never been exhausted before, and just because of the level of concentration required.
A to Z in ASL
What this means for me as a parent is that Alex doesn’t miss much. Even as a toddler, he was far more observant than the average kid. His attention to detail was such that, even before he knew what the letters of the alphabet were, he could match seventy-odd black VHS tapes by the labels together with their covers. It also means that he can easily pick up on facial cues.
Alex watches the show Ellen every day. He loves the way she dances and often mimics it. Sexy hip-grinding stuff? He’s on it. He’s also the size of a six-year-old, even though he’s fifteen, so he looks very cute doing it. This makes it very difficult for me to tell him to stop dancing like that in public. No matter what I sign, (stop, that’s rude, etc.) there’s a part of me that finds it funny. It’s easy for him to ignore what I’m saying with my hands, when the slightest twitch of an eyebrow tells him that he’s amusing me.
Believe me, you never want your teenagers to be able to read your mind. Mine can.
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April 8, 2016 at 6:37 pm
He was going nice and slow in the video but I know I would be so lost trying to understand any word.
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April 8, 2016 at 6:40 pm
I’ve been doing it for 12 years and I’m still lost after the first four letters. 😛
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April 7, 2016 at 11:53 am
I can’t tell you, the biggest thing I hear from people is “oh, so since you can’t see your hearing must be amazing.”
🙂
I focus on what I hear, of course.
Interesting to hear this from the opposite end.
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April 7, 2016 at 12:03 pm
It’s such a huge preconception, isn’t it? I know I had it too, until I was set straight by my classes. 🙂
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April 6, 2016 at 9:15 pm
I’m still at the stage where I try to convince my children that I can read their minds…
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April 6, 2016 at 9:48 pm
Haha! I don’t think we ever get past that stage. Eventually it’s all we have left to keep ’em in line. 😉
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April 6, 2016 at 8:24 pm
Amazing bond you have with Alex Linda. Well done – he will flourish under your love.
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April 6, 2016 at 8:27 pm
I hope so. But you never know what will happen when they get older and independent – assuming he ever will be.
Thank you, Paul. 🙂
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April 6, 2016 at 6:26 pm
I Can Only Imagine how difficult it was for you to use a totally different part of your brain, it’s more than a learning another language, isn’t it?
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April 6, 2016 at 8:03 pm
It really is more than just a language. It’s relying on a sense you don’t even know you only partially use. It’s like a rarely used muscle.
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April 6, 2016 at 5:27 pm
I worked with a deaf guy and his attention to detail was worse than mine, and mine is terrible. Your son has a tremendous skill.
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April 6, 2016 at 8:01 pm
I have to wonder if the guy you worked with was born Deaf or if he became deaf in later life…
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April 6, 2016 at 3:57 pm
I’ve once been on a train with a group of deaf teenagers chatting in sign language. I’ve never seen anyone “speak” so fast in my life. That was mindboggling. Thanks for sharing your experience with Alex :-). It helps to understand more
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April 6, 2016 at 7:58 pm
I know – you wonder how they keep up! Thanks for your comment, Bee. 🙂 I’m glad my experiences help you in some way.
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April 6, 2016 at 3:23 pm
Haha! You’re right. You don’t have that advantage at all. I must admit, I look more than I listen. I think I’m just more visual. But not like Alex, not at the speed you write of, I’m sure. Spelling things out in ASL was never my strong suit. The Mister is much better than I. Trying to be secretive, I’ll go with French and he’ll go with sign. *sigh*
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April 6, 2016 at 7:54 pm
Maybe you need to learn French Sign Language. 😉
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April 6, 2016 at 10:16 pm
Heh
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April 6, 2016 at 3:15 pm
I knew a few of the letters, that is a great video. Thanks for sharing. I love Ellen.
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April 6, 2016 at 7:50 pm
You’re welcome. 🙂 The video goes nice and slow, doesn’t it? I love Ellen too! 🙂
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April 6, 2016 at 3:15 pm
I can understand your challenges but I know that every son -child- in spite of disabilities is precious to the parents. Glad he makes you laugh.
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April 6, 2016 at 7:48 pm
He certainly is precious, and he makes me laugh often. 😀 Thanks, Deb.
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April 6, 2016 at 2:54 pm
Bless him! !!!
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April 6, 2016 at 3:12 pm
🙂 Thanks, Ritu. He really is a character.
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April 6, 2016 at 3:13 pm
And I always love characters!!!!!!
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April 6, 2016 at 7:46 pm
😀
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