More thoughts on Deafness

Since I am new to blogging, I have started sharing the link to this blog on my Facebook page.  Well, yesterday, I received a number of comments from my deaf friends - mostly positive, thank you!   However, most of the comments were made on my Facebook page vs. this one.  Please, if you have comments to share, post them here, and not on my Facebook page.  Thanks!

Something came to mind since sharing my last post.   My youngest son, Ethan, is adopted.  He was severely abused when he was two months old.  He was hospitalized for a month, when our family received a call asking if we would be his foster family.  When a family receives a phone call, they are also given a description of the child, including age, gender, race (I always told them, they're a child.  I couldn't care less if their skin was black, white, yellow or purple), and any medical/behavioral issues.  Ethan came with a lengthy list of medical needs.  They forgot one medical issue that was really significant to me - he was blind from the abuse.  Fortunately, I didn't find out until I had already seen him for the first time in the hospital.  It took one look for me to fall hard for this little boy.  But, let me tell ya, it was a shock to my system.  Why, you ask?

Well, being deaf, I am extremely visually oriented.  When one sense is compromised, other senses make up for it.  I asked myself if I was going to be able to readjust my thinking and provide the help that this little boy who needed me.  My hearing wasn't going to change.  If he asked me what a noise was, I wasn't going to be able to give him an accurate answer.  Why, Lord, did you grace me with a child who was blind?  Don't you know that my "expertise" lies with deaf children, not blind children?  God's sense of humor was eluding me that day!  Well, I adapted, took some workshops, talked to people, made lots of mistakes and he's doing just fine.  His blindness bothers him not a whit and his philosophy to having a deaf mother is: "you see for me, I hear for you, and we make a good team".   Can you see why I love him so much?  Thank you, Lord for Your grace for the moment and providing all that we need - even when we don't even realize there is a need.