What would you do if your child could hear or talk?
By kaysue4
@kaysue4 (951)
United States
July 26, 2008 9:37am CST
Ok, here is what is going on and why I ask you this question.
Backround on the family: Grand daughter is 4 1/2 years, dad: works and also on the vol. fire department, and mom: stay at home, disabled because of health issues with epalepsy(sp?), and sugar gets either really high or really low and I think meds effect her also.
Lived currectly with dad's mother and his step-father, both of them work also.
I have a step grand daughter and when her and her parents lived with me a couple years a go I kept telling them that something is not right because she wasn't even walking yet and she was 2 years old. I also would tell them that she should be talking by now also. She does make sounds, but not words. She is a really, really good little girl.
So they moved a couple towns away and I would have her a few days or weeks and my one son had taught he how to walk, we were SO excited. I did everything that I could to make her legs stronger also.
I kept telling them that something is not right and they should have her tested and see why she is not talking as of yet. So, they moved back to dad's parents house that is four hours away from here.
My step grand daughter started Head Start last year and they had her hearing tested and found that she couldn't hear! So the parents did take her to the proper doctors, and even had tubes put in her ears, but that didn't work either for her to start hearing. Now a year or so later, she just got hearing aids for both ears and some sounds scare her now and she doesn't know what the sound of things are, example, hearing the phone ring made her jump.
Well they came down for a weekend and I got to keep her over night and she is not even potty trained and they have her in pull-ups and diapers at night and they will still sit her in a high chair to eat because she is small for her age, only 3 feet and around 30# finally.
So, in Head Start they are teaching her how to do sign language and she is learning about different things at school, but the parents don't even try to sign with her at home because the doctors said that her hearing might come back as she grows!
The poor baby STILL does NOT talk and no one there wants to learn sign language to even see what she wants.
I talked to my step son yesterday and asked him about what signs does she already knows and he has NOT a CLUE to what she knows!
So, my grandbaby has a month off of school and she is going to come down here and stay with me. Do you think that I am going to be crossing any lines with potty training and teaching her, my sons, her grandfather, and myself to start signing so she can talk with us and tell us what she wants?
What would YOU do in this situation and also, what if it was your kid and by the age of 5 they couldn't hear, would you learn to sign even though the hearing aids help and when the aids are not in you just talk louder? How would you communicate with your child?
Would you think the grandparents were crossing the line?
Thanks for your input on this issue.
1 person likes this
1 response
@reckon21 (3477)
• Philippines
26 Jul 08
You are very kind to the girl . It's okay if you help her.
She needs all the help she can get. Sign language is very
difficult thing to learn but she will be used to it soon.
i just want you to know that you are not crossing the line.
You just want to help. And i applauded you.

1 person likes this


