"Hear Now and Always...."
TO SOUND FROM SILENCE...
When I was age six I was diagnosed with profound bilateral degenerative hearing loss. In layman's terms I was losing my hearing slowly. A process that doctors claimed would take a long time. Naturally I was worried that one day soon my hearing would diminish completely. From age six to the sixth grade I went through school with little help. The only help that I received was from a hearing consultant and little speech therapy.
When sixth grade hit we (my family and I) knew that the path I was taking with my schooling was not going to cut it. Eventually I would need more help. First we decided to try and figure out the mystery behind my hearing loss, up until then we had no idea why I was losing my hearing. And sad as it is to say, today we are still left in the dark. Also that year with all the doctors appointments, I was looking into a school 25 miles south, at the request of my school district, that had a large Deaf population. I visited the school, talked to some of the student and some interpreters, but ultimately I wanted to stay where home was, where my brother was and where my friends were. In the end we told the District that our, well my, decision was to stay at Clarkston. As hard as it would be , it turns out that this choice would be a grand blessing in disguise for me.
Since I decided to stay in Clarkston, we drafted an IEP and assigned an interpreter to me. Janet was my first one and was with me for a year. Eighth grade to graduation Andrea Baas was my interpreter. Andrea helped me in more ways then she believes. I hope one day another student will be as lucky as I was. Thank You Andrea.
I'd be lying if I told you that thee rest of high school was a breeze. Unfortunately high school is never a breeze.
Since having an interpreter and learning ASL I have developed an interested in ASL songs.
When sixth grade hit we (my family and I) knew that the path I was taking with my schooling was not going to cut it. Eventually I would need more help. First we decided to try and figure out the mystery behind my hearing loss, up until then we had no idea why I was losing my hearing. And sad as it is to say, today we are still left in the dark. Also that year with all the doctors appointments, I was looking into a school 25 miles south, at the request of my school district, that had a large Deaf population. I visited the school, talked to some of the student and some interpreters, but ultimately I wanted to stay where home was, where my brother was and where my friends were. In the end we told the District that our, well my, decision was to stay at Clarkston. As hard as it would be , it turns out that this choice would be a grand blessing in disguise for me.
Since I decided to stay in Clarkston, we drafted an IEP and assigned an interpreter to me. Janet was my first one and was with me for a year. Eighth grade to graduation Andrea Baas was my interpreter. Andrea helped me in more ways then she believes. I hope one day another student will be as lucky as I was. Thank You Andrea.
I'd be lying if I told you that thee rest of high school was a breeze. Unfortunately high school is never a breeze.
Since having an interpreter and learning ASL I have developed an interested in ASL songs.