“A Foot in Each World”

When S and A had their first child, “baby sign” appealed to them for a number of reasons. Research showed that “baby sign” (derived from American Sign Language) helped reduce frustration and help babies learn to speak earlier. They didn’t find out until their son B was 3-years-old that it would be the major language he would be exposed to as a child. After months of tests by several different audiologists, B was diagnosed as severely deaf at the age of 3.

This didn’t come as a total shock to S and A, however. B had been born almost 3 months premature and as a result had bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) levels 3 and 4, hydrocephalus, 5 pneumothoraxes, 4 chest tubes, operations on both eyes for Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), a VP shunt placed, 100s of Xrays and heel sticks, ultrasounds, 3 CT scans, and an MRI. But as S puts it, “For having been through hell and back, he’s a pretty healthy guy.”

A, a librarian by profession, began researching deafness immediately. After careful thought, B’s parents decided to have him receive a cochlear implant, despite its controversy in the deaf community. “I wasn’t sure where he’d belong. I wanted him to be able to have a foot in each world,” says A. A and S continued to help B learn sign, despite audiologists promoting a solely oral method. He became enthralled with “Signing Time” a set of videos designed to help children learn basic American Sign Language vocabulary while A began attending ASL classes at the University of Oregon. “He was ready for language and sign came naturally to him,” says S.

Now 5-years-old, B communicates by both ASL and English and often utilizes code-switching depending on his environment. He attends speech therapy twice a week, a school for kids with hearing-impairments where he also receives auditory training, and a child-care program as well. However, Boris has only a moderate grasp of both languages and his years of barely any language has left his social and communicative skills sub par to his peers. Boris has developed a pushing problem at school and at home, likely a result of his peers not having the patience to understand his requests. He often has difficulty making connections with other kids and ends up pushing, tackling and body-slamming other kids for attention.

Though Boris is neither a bully nor a hermit by any means.  With adults, Boris is “the life of the party” says his mother.  He loves to talk and sign and aches to be the center of attention. And it is in these years critical to Boris’ development that in his choice of communication, he is deciding which world he wants to live in, though that has yet to be determined.