Do Right

This is our 16 month old son, Levi.  Douglas and I make decisions left and right for Levi.  Douglas and I are raising our son with so much love and so much thought.

Those with children know the gravity of making decisions.

There is a ridiculous amount of literature out there on the art of putting babies to sleep.  Pick up one book and it rallies against deadly co-sleeping.  Pick another book and it swears that the CIO (cry it out) approach is mentally damaging.   In the end parents decide.  Yet we all have the same want: to do what is right for our child and the family. 

There is a plethora of medical advice in terms of picky toddler eating.  There is the laissez faire approach that is very French ("They eat what we eat.  If they don't, they will not starve).  Levi's pediatrician advises that.  Other doctors suggest that we don't worry and give the kid vitamins.  There are also the all-day grazing and nibble tray advocates (Dr. Sears!).  

We do not always sway to the doctor's advice.  Sometimes we do.  I took Levi's pediatrician's advice and went for immunization shots all the way.  So many of my friends took a different path. 

What about deafness and language development?  

In Levi's playgroup, the majority of the children have been implanted.  Parents make that decision with the deepest belief that it is the right thing.  Douglas and I chose not to implant Levi because of the very same belief.  He came into this world with brown hair, ebony eyes that catch everything, a birthmark resembling a country and congenital deafness just like his parents.

What pains me is the fact that there is a gross failure to inform parents about language development.  For deaf children, to learn how to listen and speak is a skill.   I want my son to have that skill.  The more skills my son has, the more I can sleep at night.  

However, language precedes skill.  

From the very start Levi has had access to the most natural language--sign language.

Deaf children face linguistic deprivation when doctors decide for families that sign language will prevent them from acquiring speaking skills.  What about cognition?  Critical thinking?  The ability to ask why?  

Language spurs the ability to function in so many other areas.  With language, children are able to rationalize and internalize the world around them and develop important skills such as math skills, reading skills and oh yes, speaking skills.    

It makes my heart sing when I see parents in Levi's playgroup signing to their implanted children.  It reinforces my belief that we all start out with the same intentions: 

We want our children to rock this world.