What a cruise! 3,800 deaf and hard of hearing people on one boat. The first two nights were quite a mess with seating arrangements not confirmed. We’ve finally straightened out our seating arrangements and should have a permanent place to park our family for the next few night’s dinners.

We have just docked in Grand Cayman and the winds have calmed down a bit since last night. The boat is amazingly steady despite 50 mph winds at times. We’ve had three days of sunny weather so far. The ship’s crew turned the route around and we stopped at Cozumel yesterday. Haiti has been cancelled and there’s talk that we might not tour Jamaica tomorrow. No matter what, we’ve got thousands of people to chat with and lots of nice activities on the boat.

Till later!

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Here’s a list of parent blogs with children who are deaf and hard of hearing:

I am Trish Marie

Adopting a Deaf Child with Ushers

Jazzie and Tahlia

Moot Thoughts and Musings

Mom to Toes

Tayton Matthew

Juliet Martinez

CI Parent

Turn On My Ears

Kauan Taylor, My Son’s Implant Journey

Issac’s World

Cochlear Kids

Ethan’s World

Growing Fruit

Lotte Sofie

My Son Tom

Jack’s Story

Lily Hear

Aiden’s Cochlear Implant Journey

Speak Up!

Hearing Exchange Blog

Laney’s Story

Deaf Progressivism

DeafMom3

Indiana Deaf Mother’s Babblings

Live, Laugh, Love

Jordan’s CI Story–Tuscan-American Style

Bionic Boys

Jodi Speaks Her Mind

Hear We Go

Loudest House on the Block

Say What Munchkins

Sound Check Mama

If you know of other parent blogs that could be included here, shoot me an email at parentsofdeafhoh (at) aol (dot) com.

Tags: Raising Deaf/HH Kids by admin
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On Sunday, October 7th, I headed down to Nashville for the “Investing in Family Support” conference. I met up with Libby and Don Matlin, (Marlee Matlin’s parents) and joined them for dinner. Libby was scheduled as the keynote speaker the following day.

The conference opened with a panel of parents and professionals lead by Leeanne Seaver from Hands & Voices, titled “Issues Worth Raising: Parents & Professionals Speak Out.” I participated on the panel and one of things I shared was this: I’ve learned that professional opinions are just that–opinions. I’ve learned that I could take those opinions and use them as I saw fit, rather than having those opinions direct my decisions as a parent.

The next day, Libby spoke about “Raising an Empowered Child.” Her message was a simple one: love your child. Libby spoke about parent support, noting that today’s parents have access to a variety of information, choices and unbiased support via organizations like Hands & Voices. Back then, information was harder to come by and parents were often limited to the information given by the professionals in their area. Libby recalled that she and Don attended regular meetings where they could meet other parents and obtain face-to-face support, something that today’s parents may find harder to do with both parents working.

After the presentation, we gathered with Libby and Don for a picture. From left to right: Karen Putz, Janet DesGeorges, Libby, Don and Leeanne Seaver. Janet is holding a copy of “Marlee Matlin, What My Parents Understood.”