The right to choose -- Deaf or deaf?

I was planning to write another post about our time at JTC. However, I was struck last night by the memory of the choice that we made more than 3-years ago, to give Thomas the opportunity to listen and speak.

Now before I go any further, everyone should know that I respect the choices that all families make for the deaf/hearing impaired children. I don't pass judgement because every family is different. This is just a snapshot (well, a few videos) showing an example as to why we chose to have Thomas amplified.

At 6 months of age, Thomas began to lose his hearing in his left ear and his right ear was already severe to profound. Sean and I talked about what was best for our family and for Thomas...making sure that Thomas felt as much a part of our family as our older child, Sidney. Family is a big deal to us because Sean's family is minutes from our house and my extended family is quite large (with my father the eldest of 8 children). Our desire was for Thomas to participate fully in family events like birthday parties, holiday gatherings, and especially family dinners in our own kitchen. Also, we did a ton of research regarding the auditory nerve in pediatric cases. So, we decided to give Thomas access to sound and language, keeping his auditory nerve stimulated. Just as important to us, we vowed that if someday Thomas wanted to remove his CI and HA and become part of the Deaf community that we would support him 100%. We agreed that we would learn ASL right beside him. We felt that giving him access to sound as a child actually gave him the option of being Deaf later in life.

So, here is why I was thinking about the right to choose...my husband celebrated his 37th birthday yesterday. We had cake and ice cream with the kids and Sean's mom last night. We sang him "Happy Birthday" and then Thomas initiated the desire to continue on and have others blow out the candles.

These three short videos show how the "hearing and language" event transpired:

Happy birthday to Daddy!


It's Sidney's turn!


It's Thomas' turn!


Having Thomas is such a blessing...and hearing him sing and speak (and barking orders) is the best birthday gift my husband could have received this year. Happy birthday, babe!