BEA Volunteering.

Whoo hoo! I don't only want to write about my cranky two year old CI kid, but am SO EXCITED that I will be going to an "event" at the end of the month as a Bionic Ear Association volunteer! This event is specifically geared toward teachers of the deaf, audiologists, special educators and parents from several states, about Hearing Loss and Learning Disabilities. I get to man the Advanced Bionics booth as an exhibitor, which sounds like work to some folks. But I am always excited to talk to people about the cochlear implant, how it can help children, and how educators can work with the implanted children. Advanced Bionics has a ton of material specifically geared toward educators and parents, and I absolutely LOVE sharing, too! Having two CI boys, one who's been in six different schools now (constantly moving army family), I know a little about the educational aspects of working with CI kiddos, too. Not as a subject matter expert like these folks, but as a mommy. :)

My oldest son, Matt, may be on hand with me at the booth, but that's not a given. We'll see how he's doing that day. First things first, focus on Advanced Bionics. Their material for educators is so great, introducing it to the audience is very easy. Matt has been with me to such a conference before. Most folks like seeing not only the implant in a display, but actually on a user, too. And I like spending the day with Matt doing stuff like this. He is a really cool kid!

The CI had been around for a while by the time Matt was implanted four years ago, but I think educators were just starting to see it more frequently in their classrooms. The school district we were in at that time just didn't seem to know what to do with implanted kids, how to reach them. Some didn't "get" the idea that these kids were hearing sound in a very different way for the first time in their lives. The educators I've met recently are much more open to the CI students, have seen the benefits good therapy can provide.

Matt is free to be in mainstream classes now, only using his FM for assistance. This is a small adjustment to the educator who wears the FM, but no other adjustments are needed. He doesn't need an interpreter, the teacher doesn't have to face him to make sure the sound gets to his CI, he doesn't have to sit in the front of the class. He DOES still go to speech therapy, though. I think more CI students like him in the system will help others see how a little work in the beginning (therapy, therapy, therapy, TC/oral/AVT/whatever) can really have great payoffs in the end. In the big picture, I think the work that goes into helping an implanted child can only alleviate stress on an overburdened educational system.

Well, those are my thoughts. I don't really get the chance at the conference to expound, that's not my job as a volunteer. But I'm excited that educators are exposed to CIs more now than ever before, and that AB has such good materials to assist them, too. Yeah! Sharing at functions like this really gets me excited. I've taught my boys that we aren't just telling people about their cochlear implants, we're "educating" them. Helping them understand and maybe change their perspective on the implant. Get them excited, too! :)