April Rose
April Rose is our 8th child and she is deaf and has autism. I am documenting her growth in a series of videos to see her growth and accomplishments. Come along for the wild and awesome ride. All the videos are on the second page.
ASL: American Sign Language
ASL is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. It is the primary language of many North Americans who are deaf and is one of several communication options used by people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder
What is it?
-
sound enters the inner ear normally (through the ear canal eardrum) but the transmission of signals from the inner ear to the brain is impaired because of the auditory nerve.
-
Because of the impairment, the brain is not able to make a sold auditory memory
-
Think of trying to tune a radio station too quickly: you get static, blips of speech, music, static or unsynced sound
Friday, August 2, 2013, Scott and I confirmed that our 8th child is deaf. I had had my thoughts and worries ever since I had caught the flu while being pregnant with April Rose. I was concerned that something would happen. Was I super imposing that it would be deafness? Did it just turn out that way? Or, was it a small thought placed there by the Spirit…something to help me to start chewing on the idea so that I could prepare for it.
In giving more thought to this, I felt impressed that this is an answer to a prayer I’ve been praying for, for about a year. That pray is said so often it almost has a title to it, “Please help Marianne to gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and to not be alone in our neighborhood”. I know, catchy title. But really from the pains of my heart I have cried my heart out because I don’t want to have Marianne feel alone, unwanted. Adults understand and love her. Kids ask her questions and she full on ignores them (oh that’s right because she can’t hear them), so they stop responding to her and avoid her. It pains my heart to watch it.
So the answer to this prayer, has come little April Rose.
Communication
Through it all, communication for my children has been my foundation. If children can communicate their wants, needs, and desires, then life can be richly fulfilling. For us, ASL is that mode of communication.
