Laughing Buddha

My cherished memories of my daugher, Alina's first few signs - she signed 'laugh' everytime she saw the Laughing Buddha in the hotel in China. Enjoy the photos!

A Life Lesson for my 7 yrs old Son

Local Sign fading away.. dying..

Kim shares her local sign as 'a dying sign'.

Good Bye March! Hello April..

April 1

No one get hungry
All people are fed
The oceans are clean
ASL is the law for ALL babies being born in 2008
Closed captioning on ALL TV channels,
DVDs, Movies in the Theaters, and Internet News
AGB loves ASL community
AGB promotes ASL by sharing power & money
Now ain't that good news?
The water's delicious
The air is so clear
On the top of mountain
Couples stay married
Parents having license to have children
Children are jewels
Deaf children are educated
In Dual language/Bilingual environment
At ALL times, inlcuding homes
Sure got you going!

APRIL FOOLS!

DBC: Not my problem? Think again..

Kim shares the moral story of the "NOT my problems". Enjoy...

My teaching experiences with Deaf parents & 2 boys with Cochlear Implants

This videoclip discusses my teaching experiences with Deaf parents who did not want me teaching their Deaf child because they felt that I was not qualified to teach only because I'm Deaf.
As the time went by, the Deaf parents changed their minds and appreciated my work with their child and with them.

I had taught approximately 100 Deaf preschoolers in 3 states for a decade. I had taught some preschoolers with CI. My experiences with CI preschoolers varied ~ I wanted to specifically discuss 2 boys with CI who made differences in my personal opinions.

First, a boy came to the Deaf preschool at age 3 half, and appeared to be autistic in his behavior ~ no eye contacts, not being able to follow the daily routine, and not being able to interact with his peers and teachers. Then, we got the detailed information on his condition ~ Auditory Neuropathy (his brain sometimes processes the sound, and other time the brain does not process the sound information) The mother who is a RN (nurse) appeared to be very knowledgeable in her son's medical issues, and had a terrible time trying to make decision for her son. I watched her struggling with the idea of CI with lots of tears, anxiety and grief. Finally, she and her husband decided to try CI on their son. The school closed for the summer. The following year, the boy transferred to other school where speech/auditory training was emphasized. About a year later, I met the boy when he was 5 years old. I was truly amazed and very surprised to see how much the boy had changed/improved. He has great eye contacts!! He is able to have conversation with me, and appears to be 'normal' child (His past autistic-like behaviors disappeared).

Second, a boy came to Deaf school with CI. He was a true "America Boy"! He was full of energy and ideas! Ahhh.. I discovered that his dad is in the military ~ No wonder! His mom is a true FUN person for me to work with. I really enjoyed this mom so much, as well as I enjoyed her son. The boy is able to speak, hear and SIGN well! The mom signs pretty good, too! Many days later, I finally had guts enough to ask her why her son has CI.. They all sign and the boy is doing great in all academic areas, in ASL, etc.
The mom explained her reason for having her son CI is because they move around so much, very often - due to her husband's military. They move around in many states, and other countries. They knew that their son may not have Deaf program to attend in some places, and felt that CI helps their son to maintain his education in various school settings.
I can see their valid point. Then,the mom just had a cute baby boy - Deaf! I asked her if the baby will have CI, and she says yes. Then, I never saw them again for years. One day, I saw that boy with his young deaf brother on the Youtube video and enjoyed viewing them playing with Legos. They sign and speak - I cannot hear how they're speaking, and they look great!

With those experiences, I gained my ability in being open-minded and appreciation for the families allowing me being in their Deaf children's lives so briefly.

"Deaf Friendly" Deaf school campus?