new service for hearing impaired at WDW

[lisapooh]

I'll be honest with you. Unless you as a family use ASL the interpreted shows will be of little use to you except to introduce her to others with similar hearing loses. What she misses is what she misses. Go for visual activities. Rides that she can see and feel and not those dependent on dialog. Characters if she likes them. Make sure she is not sitting behind someone taller. Assistive listening devices if she will put up with them. Captioning at her age is not an option.
I know she is getting hearing aides but consider having her learn ASL as well. It is not true that ASL will hinder her learning English and speech. It will lower her fustration levels when it comes to communicating.
Welcome to the world of deaf and hard of hearing. It can be a rough road but we still live very great, productive lives if we want. Be her advocate. Treat her as a normal kid and she will do great.

 

[slyster]

Hi there....It may be a good idea to contact Mark Jones at Disney. He is an expert and can probably give you different options and tell you specifically what shows may not be beneficial or enjoyed by your daughter.

Although I totally agree with Lisa about signing lessening communication frustrations and barriers, I encourage you to check out all possible communication modes; and most importantly find out what your daughter feels comfortable with. Hope this helps

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree with using whatever works to communicate. My daughter is not hearing impaired, but she is multiply disabled and can't speak. She has used ASL since she was about 3 and is pretty good at getting her point across even though she has motor problems that keep her from being able to sign well. ASL is used in a lot of Early Childhood and Special Education classes, even when none of the students are hearing impaired. It just helps them to be able to start communicating and is one of a menu of ways that are used to communicate. And I agree with Lisa that it doesn't hinder learning speech skills. In fact, I have read some things that suggest it even helps.

I almost forgot, one good show that I would recommend is the Festival of the Lion King in AK. It is a musical show, but there is so much going on with dancing, gymnastic monkeys, characters to see, etc. that I think she would enjoy it a lot even without being able to hear it.

 

[lisapooh]

Festival of the Lion King Show is a must. I enjoyed it even before I found out about interpreters at Disney.
Do ask Mark for suggestions. He is wonderful and very well versed in making things great for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Can you believe I didn't meet him at Disney but at a Deaf Studies Meeting put on by Gallaudet.

 

[slyster]

Great comments above I too have heard of the wonderful stories of children/adults who learned ASL as means to communicate and overcome their communication barriers. I really admire how Disney provides different accomodations for different kinds of disabilities, specifically hearing losses. My parents are deaf and 20 years ago when we went to DW, these kinds of accomodations just weren't available. I went 7 years ago with my partner who is also deaf and they were providing interpreters when no other amusement park was. Just wanted to say that Thanks Disney!

 

[AbbyKate]

I can't thank y'all enough just for replying. You are my first introduction to this new world. I will contact Mark.

 

[teri]

My son is no longer deaf but he has a severe auditory processing disorder. We adopted him at age 3 1/2 and he had had untreated ear infections with severe scarring and retraction pockets. We started doing basic signs and a communication board with him right away, it was great. This was a kid who didn't understand anything - not even pointing to an object, and he picked up on a few basic signs and cb very quickly. After he had his ear surgery and tubes put in, every sound was overwhelming to him. When we went to WDW the first time a couple of months later, we made sure to indicate to any characters or CMs that he was a bit autistic and hearing impaired... the characters were ALWAYS wonderful. They would take extra time with him, and a few of them signed to him (although he didn't really get it) and believe me - we appreciated it. Be sure to let them know, every time you meet a character, or a server in a Disney restaurant - tell them. You will be at amazed how many of them make an effort to connect.

 

[AbbyKate]

Since y'all have been so kind I thought I'd tell you a little bit more about my sweet dd. She was adopted at birth and has developed normally. Her speech is better than many of her friends. I started noticing some behavior issues that made me think she might not be hearing everything. I am thrilled that she will have the benefit of hearing aids to help her. We actually taught her to sign as an infant so that she could communicate with us before she started talking...basics like "thank you", "more", "please", "all done". We still occasionally use signs, so she is comfortable with it as a communication method. Like I said in an earlier post, I am so brand new at this that I don't even know what options will be appropriate with her level of hearing loss. I've been all over the web, but if y'all have any favorite sites, I'd love to know them. Thanks again for your advice and encouragement. WDW is my favorite place on earth, and it does my heart good to think about sharing it with my dd, especially in light of all of this. Happy Valentine's Day!

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm glad you feel welcome here.
Here's a website I think is good: EXCEPTIONAL PARENT

 

[lisapooh]

AbbyKAte I applaud you for having both sign and voice in place for you daughter. You are truly a wonderful parent. I can't tell you have many children I have worked with who never communicate with their deaf and hard of hearing children.
I remember on track meet we were at where a father was yelling at his deaf son. WE offered to interpret because we know the child is not oral but the father said no. That the kid understands everything I say. Well Dad turns around and the son signs to us, What was Dad saying? THe boy did not understand a word of what his father was saying. Happens all the time.
Btw I am hard of hearing and I also work as a sub with the deaf and hard of hearing plus I am an interpreting student and have already started doing some interpreting. And boy do I know the fustration of hearing but not necessarily understanding the words.

 

[AbbyKate]

Hi y'all! I just heard from Mark who sent me a list of all of the interpreted performances and parades. Do you think it would be worth it to sit in that section or do you think dd will be distracted because she doesn't understand the signs? I think I might give it a try and see how she does. If nothing else, by the end of the week she'll have been introduced to lots of new signs.

 

[lisapooh]

I would definately sit in the area where the interpreters are. They are very visual and she will see many new signs. If you see Jennye and Vince, tell them Lisa says hi. Vince is probably the most visual of the guys. Incredible facial expression. Angela (older hispanic woman) is the best of the women but Jennye and Tara are also excellent. All the guys are great. Theresa is also good. She interpreted a talk for me. Not something that needed a lot of facial expression but then she did the Tapestry of Dreams parade and used a lot of facial expression.
Btw they will stop and talk to you and after a week you get to know the different interpreters.

 

[DisneyPhD]

AbbyKate, best of luck with your daughter. There are so many resources avilable out there on deafness. The most important advise I would give is talk to deaf adults, they were once deaf kids. Keep an open mind regarding your families options for education and remember the most important thing is communcation, not the mode used.

I am not deaf, but am a social worker and I speicalize in working with deaf people, and family members of deaf people. I can't tell you how many times I have encountered families who feel they can communicate well with their deaf child, but the deaf child does not feel the same way. Giving your daughter exposeure to the Deaf World is a wonderful gift that she will share with you and be thankful for.

Have a great trip to Disney, she will love it. Babies after all don't understand what the words are to atractions, but my 9 month old loved going to WDW 2 months ago. Your daughter doesn't know what she is missing, only what she is getting.

 

[teri]

I'll bet you all have already seen the German movie (with subtitles and sign), Beyond Silence.... what a great movie about family issues.

 

[SueM in MN]

One of my dad's sister's had several sons who were deaf. That was a long time ago and I know at that time they were told they had to choose between ASL or speech/lip reading. Not both. I remember going over there and it being SO LOUD at their house. The boys talked loud because they couldn't hear themselves speak and they didn't know how loud they were. I don't know why the parents talked loud because my understanding was that the boys were profoundly deaf.
So much better to have a menu of things to choose what works best for the situation.

 

[DisneyPhD]

Originally posted by teri
I'll bet you all have already seen the German movie (with subtitles and sign), Beyond Silence.... what a great movie about family issues.

Have you seen Sound and Fury yet? it is nowout on viedo tape and was on PBS last month. It is a documentry about C.I (Coclear Implants) and one familes choices regarding 2 deaf cousins. It is very interesting. I don't know if I would recomend it to someone just learning about the deaf world just yet. It is very emotionally charged and getts into some very true issues regarding how a deaf person views themselves and how they fit into their world. It is really intersting and the people in it are remarkable people. One thing is for certin, the battle between oralist and signers is still going strong and today and every emotionally charged.

 

[lisapooh]

Hey, let's not get into that arguement. It is a subject that holds very strong opinions especially among the Deaf community. I would hate to see it debated here. BTW I do have to DVD of it.

 

[MikeScott8]

Back in Jan I was flipping channels while at OKW and stopped on "Sound and Fury" My fiance and I found it a very interesting show. I thought it was produced very well and showed some both sides of the issue (IMHO).

I think I will leave it at that

Mike