JTC Week 3

Top 10 Reasons I Don't Want to Leave JTC:

1. We have learned more in the three weeks we have been here than we did in the whole year we have known about Skylar's hearing loss.
2. The other parents and kids are such an inspiration. Today's mom n' kids hangout time on the lawn while the dads went to a Dodgers game was...blissful. Just having a good time, sharing stories with people who understand what we are dealing with.
3. Skylar's Audiologist tested MY hearing today, for free, after I told her I still have the plugged up feeling in my ear (day 8). Get this - I have a sudden SENSORI NEURAL (inner ear) hearing loss of 20-40 dB in my right ear - mild hearing loss. Don't know yet if it's permanent - visiting House Ear Institute on Thursday.
4. I have had time to reflect on our lives in Eugene. There will be changes when we get home. Things on my list include reducing my hours at work; visiting Tucker-Maxon Oral Deaf School in Portland; learning about available Audio-Verbal Therapy in and around Eugene; buying a round table for our dining room (better acoustics/access to visual cues); and bringing an advocate (likely another parent - Annie Z, you're at the top of my list!) to our annual IEP meeting in late August.
5. Deaf Adult and Deaf School-Age Panels. These sessions were so informational, reassuring, and inspirational. I am PUMPED UP to volunteer in the classroom, make a book with Skylar's picture on it to show all of her professionals and teachers, and tackle sibling one-on-one time and jealousy issues head on. Watch out. I'm turning into a giant Mama Bear (if I'm not already one).
6. Julie - Skylar's teacher - is such a talented, natural teacher who meets kids where they are, challenges them to reach their potential, and helps parents understand how they can best help and advocate for their children. I'm putting her in my suitcase.
7. Charissa - Skylar's Speech and Language Teacher - patient, knowledgable, strategic. She has instant rapport with all of the kids she works with. Is there room in the suitcase for her, too?
8. We have future vacation/JTC reunion options around the world! London! Paris! Nova Scotia! DC! Alberta!
9. The environment here is so supportive (thank you Mary Beth, thank you Angie, really thank you all of the staff at JTC) that I know it will be so much harder to make progress back home. We will be "on our own" again.
10. Cochlear implants are normal here. They are on almost every kid. I am not scared of them anymore. The adult panel especially, showed my how powerful a tool self confidence is. If Skylar needs them in the future, that's what we will do - and she will do great with them. The technology is such a gift.

Throughout the list is embedded the theme of the wonderful relationships we are forming here. They will last a lifetime.

Mom's Night Out

Popsicle Girls Avery, Briele, and Skylar

Ava, Skylar, and Paige at Disneyland