Monday, January 3, 2011

New Year New Beginnings

I went home to North Dakota for Christmas vacation, thoroughly expecting the two-week break to prove insufficient to rejuvenate me. Then I had to leave two days earlier than planned to attempt to evade the impending snowstorm that the weathermen had been predicting to hit most of the Mid-West. Feeling a little robbed of my vacation time, I was pleasantly surprised when I got to stay with my cousin, Jared, at Vail and spend the day on the mountain with him. Even though the drive out of the mountains took three times as long as normal due to bad road conditions, I was able to enjoy time with friends in Colorado Springs that night and even get back to Pueblo Pintado early enough on New Year's Eve to start moving my belongings to my new residence. That's right friends, I no longer live in Pueblo Pintado. Instead, I live in a small town named Thoreau (pronounced thuh-rue). It has a Post Office and cell phone reception! I'm moving up in the world.

Rewinding a bit, at the end of the semester a large group of people gathered around to discuss my student's progress, struggles, and some potential options for better services. Since we've been struggling from the beginning of the year to make Tse'Yi'Gai into a location in which multiple people can encourage him, teach him, socialize with him, and hold him accountable, it was acknowledged that the school probably has more triggers for frustration than effective supports. So, either he could be bussed to Thoreau every day (67 miles each way), because there is another deaf student at that school, two interpreters, and another Teacher of the Deaf. Additionally, the school is bigger, has more class options, and has a bigger, more comprehensive Special Education program. Option two? Go to the New Mexico School for the Deaf (NMSD). But since my student has insane amounts of anxiety even at the mention of going to Santa Fe, the family decided that Thoreau would be a better option. And it is a much better option than Tse'Yi'Gai even with the long transport time. I've loved moving in and getting to know the staff at this school. They've been very open, hospitable, and supportive so far. It has me feeling very optimistic about this new beginning. So here I am. Waiting.
And waiting.
And trying to get some work done while...waiting some more.
Why so much waiting? He hasn't shown up for school yet. First problem: transportation. A long series of hiccups occurred in this process and they were finally sorted out (temporarily) so that he could come to school today. But he didn't. Apparently the temporary driver wasn't thrilled about his change in roles and the mother needed to "make some arrangements" today. Therefore, it just wasn't a priority to get him to school. I've been in touch with the mother regularly throughout this process and got a lovely email from her tonight. This email informed me that my student would not be in school until next week Wednesday. There is only one day left this week (Thursday), which apparently isn't worth making, then Friday and Monday there is no school, and Tuesday, he'll be going in to the doctor to do a hearing screening (for the first time in 16 years) for the possibility of using hearing aids (also for the first time in 16 years).

There is a good possibility that most of you reading this blog are thinking, "Great! That is very helpful! Better late than never!" So, I'm going to give this decision a little bit more context and perspective. My student is 16 years old. He is profoundly deaf and mute. He has has had excruciatingly limited communication for the first 13 years of his life, and has since started to learn correct ASL and develop deeper levels of communication (mostly with white, hearing females from outside of his Navajo community). He has gone through multiple Navajo healing ceremonies and visited the Medicine Man on various occasions in desperate, misguided attempts to have his hearing restored. He is intelligent and picks up on interesting social cues. Therefore, he knows that his People have not made a valiant attempt to try to communicate with him. He knows that his deafness is considered to be a very bad thing. Something to be fixed. He knows that he is an "inconvenience to accommodate". He also knows that hearing aids would be another attempt to fix him. He desperately wants to be fixed. He wants to have access. He wants to be included. He wants to be valued.
Now, if he is accepted for implementing either Hearing aids or Cochlear Implant, there is a lot more to consider. If you look at the statistics and information involved with Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants, you will find the following information. Hearing aids and Cochlear Implants are most successful in individuals who have substantial residual hearing. They are most successful in individuals who have at least some speech capacities developed. They are most successful when implemented at a young age. They are most successful when the individual has easy access to high quality services with great frequency. My student has none of things going for him. Even in the success stories, they require extensive speech therapy in order to get to that level of successfulness. And even then, they do not make a deaf person into a fully functioning hearing person. And so, when they are approached as a way to fix deafness, like the healing ceremonies, they are typically followed with substantial disappointment.

And so, it breaks my heart. To think of him having to deal with another huge disappointment that he can't be fixed. Another realization that he's an inconvenience to tote around to all of the speech therapy appointments. Another huge blow to his self-esteem and self-worth. When we could be accepting him for who he is. When his parents could morph this effort and money put into the hearing screeing into an attempt to learn ASL on a level in which they could effectively communicate with their son. When we could be interacting with him in ways that tell him he's not an inconvenience, that he's not a problem that needs to be fixed, and that he is valuable.

Maybe you disagree. Maybe you think I'm being pessimistic. Maybe that was depressing to read. So here is a fun video of Lola playing with Chaco (Pete and Kimber's pup) to end this blog entry on a lighter note.

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