She also mentioned that Ellie is longsighted and has astigmatism. Astigmatism is caused by and irregularly shaped cornea or lens located behing the cornea. Neither of these are a massive problem now, but just need to be monitored.
What it may mean is that if either of these get worse, then Ellie may need glasses, but this would not be till she is about 3yo or so.
Today I also had some people come visit me from a school for the deaf. Ellie isnt deaf, but has been hearing impaired up until now due to her cleft lip & palate. My plan by being involved with these people is that they can offer home visits fortnightly where some one will come and try and teach Ellie and me signing. I dont even know if Ellie will be ready to learn this, but as we are aware that alot of WHS kids are non verbal, I am trying to be proactive, and ensure Ellie has this way of communicating.
I am very interested in seeing how this all goes. The plan is they will probably start doing the visits in the next few weeks.
Once Ellie has had a hearing test in 4 weeks or so, if this comes back positive, we will do another one 1 month latter to ensure this is correct. If it is and Ellies hearing is good, then the deaf school will cease to see her, and they will refer me onto a independant place to continue with the signing.
I am interested in anyones feedback that has tried to learn signing or teach it to a baby/child.
Violet learnt some sign language when she was aroound the age of 2 onwards. It's amazing how quickly they pick it up actually...you will be amazed.
ReplyDeleteI have astigmatism actually and have glasses but most the time I am naughty and don't, although I know I need them.
Good luck with Ellie's hearing test.
Is it Makaton that they are talking about or Auslan? I am trained in Makaton and we use it with Ryley to reinforce what we are saying. He doesn't quite have the motor skills to sign back (though he has his own versions of things).
ReplyDeleteI think signing is really great because a sign lasts longer than a verbal word. When you think about it, people use gesture all the time to help describe things. So something like Makaton is great for kids with disabilities. Whether they can sign back or not!
Glad all went well with the grommits and good luck with the hearing test!!
Norrah knows a few signs - maybe 7-10. But it is great to see her using them without our prompting. Now when she sees her Daddy coming she will start waving "hi" so hard her arm looks like it will fall off. And she says "bye" as soon as someone gets their coat to leave the house.
ReplyDeleteSigning is great because it is a little window into their world and you can tell that your child really is learning and understanding so much more than they can speak.
GO Ellie!
PS - In the beginning Norrah didnt track all of the time either. The doc said the same thing - not because she couldn't because she was essentially lazy or didnt want to. She is great with that now and has been for a long time. So it does get better.
Also she too has a small astigmatism. Not causing any problems... she gets that from her Dad! I have always known they had the same exact eye shape.
YAY, Thanks for all the positive feedback regarding signing. I am actually looking forward too it... But I am still sceptical wether Ellie is ready to pick it up... she isnt very good at copying things we do. But I remain positive that it will work.
ReplyDeleteAnna: It is Auslan, they also did mention Makaton. But isnt something they teach. What is the difference between the two
She is so sweet! Good luck with signing!
ReplyDeleteIt's so fun to meet another sweet "winking" kiddo!