Early Drawing Gives Children an Advantage in Gaining Literacy

Some 20 years ago a group of parents, teachers and academics got together to foster mental development and literacy in preschool children and beyond. They called themselves the Drawing Network. Language in the broadest sense would be the key and spontaneous drawing the special emphasis. Children begin to draw about the same time they first use spoken words, typically in the second year of life. Nature apparently meant this to be used as a language medium. A fairly consistent unfolding takes place, but only when parents and teachers nurture it in a daily routine. Drawing begins with random scribbling, becomes crude representations and, by age four and with daily practice, emerges as a medium of expression so rich and detailed, so useful in expressing a subtle and complex content, that the definition of language is richly satisfied.

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0 comments - Posted by Bob Steele at 9:16 PM - Categories: Dec 2009 Newsletter

My Daughter Swallowed a Battery!

I would like to share a story that as a family we laugh about now, but at the time it did not seem that funny.

My daughter was about 19 months old and had had her hearing aids for about a month. She was getting used to them and was starting to leave them in and not pull them out constantly. I was cooking dinner and she was sitting on the floor in the living room playing with toys. I was busy in the kitchen and when I looked to see what she was doing, because she was being very quiet, I saw that she had the hearing aid close to her mouth and then I realized she had something in her mouth.

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0 comments - Posted by Bobbi Best at 9:14 PM - Categories: Dec 2009 Newsletter

My Personal Challenges in Dealing with My Son’s Hearing Loss

My son Connor was diagnosed with a mild bilateral hearing loss at birth. At the time of diagnosis, I went through the typical grieving process but Connor having a hearing loss really didn’t affect me because I myself have a mild bilateral hearing loss and I’ve managed just fine. However, I didn’t anticipate the personal challenges I would face as a parent with a child that has a hearing loss.

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0 comments - Posted by Jenn Kipling at 9:12 PM - Categories: Dec 2009 Newsletter | From Families to Families

Parents Sharing Their Experiences

On Friday, October 16th, BC Hands & Voices held its 3rd event, this time hosting a parent panel. The event was held at Provincial Services for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing, at the Victory Hill site in Burnaby. We would like to express our gratitude to them for allowing us to use their boardroom for our event.

The panel was made up of parents who are either or both on our BC H&V board or who are members of BC H&V and are parent guides from the Guide By Your Side Program. Participating on the panel were: Amy Ho, Bobbi Best, Terri Dauvin, Monique Preer & Chris Mallinson. Each of the parents on the panel hoped to share their experience and knowledge in raising a child with a hearing loss with the parents in the audience and to answer any questions that the audience might have.

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0 comments - Posted by Chris Mallinson at 9:00 PM - Categories: Dec 2009 Newsletter | Events

Bilateral BAHAs

Our 14 year old son has bilateral atresia (no ear canals).  He wore a traditional bone conduction hearing aid for several years, and has used a BAHA for the past six years.   This past November he "went bilateral," getting a second BAHA.  You are welcome to check out his blog, where he describes his experiences going from one to two hearing aids: http://bahadude.wordpress.com.

0 comments - Posted by Teresa Kazemir at 9:20 AM - Categories: From Families to Families