An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Implant Story

For DianRez...
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Hi. I mentioned in the comment section of another post that I would have responded to Dianrez' blogpost: Enough with blogs about CI surgery! that I almost missed. K.L.'s response to this post generated an interesting and intelligent discussion.The aspect of DianRez' post that I wanted to highlight was this:Far more interesting is if they revealed who they are, w...
Tech Culture Fri, Jun 26 2009
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Deaf- Through the Eyes of a Sister...
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear I've written a couple of posts about siblings before, but observing the sibling of another deaf child yesterday at an appointment in Pisa hit me in a totally different way. This was a family from Grosseto who contacted me requesting assistance in finding a speech therapist and I referred them to ours. Their child is four years old and was a preemie born with a congeni...
Art and Storytelling Tech Tue, Jun 23 2009

The Wise Child and the Ignorant Man
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear I left this post on the Circle and wanted to share it here...A week ago, while in a store waiting to take passport pix because of course mykids' were expired and we're leaving in two weeks, an old man started talking tome. I was concentrating on Jordan and Sofia who were getting into everythingthey shouldn't be touching, so when the man asked me, "What's that thing on...
Tech Sun, Jun 21 2009

CI Activation: Adult (My First:))
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear I've told everyone about Michele and his mom in previous posts. All I can say is that after Jordan's tragic activation (screaming and rejection)and another little girl's lack of reaction, living this experience with Michele and his mom was one of the most emotional experiences of my lifeMy name is Michele, I'm 28 years old and I live in Florence, Italy. I was born dea...
Language Art and Storytelling Education Tech Sun, Jun 14 2009

Christian: From Signs to Speaking- One Year Later
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Ok. First of all I LOVE The Dave Matthews Band, but that is absolutely not what this post is about. When I saw this video, I cried...not because Christian "hears" and "talks," but because I've followed Christina every step of the way. She has blogged openly about her fears, concerns, respect for Deaf culture and her driving need to "do the right thing" for her son and...
Language Tech Culture Tue, Jun 09 2009

Inspiration...Motivation
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear How do we get from here......To there?Hearing-impaired co-valedictorian delivering a message of inspirationDespite challenges, United Local senior Jenna Greene graduating with perfect grade point average"Parents, not only have you brought us into this world, but you have provided us with the nurture and care throughout our years. You have faced trials, struggles and o...
Higher Education Language Education Tech Tue, Jun 02 2009

Rome By Night...
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Subscribe to An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Implant Story
Art and Storytelling Fri, May 29 2009

Shhh! (Unofficial Announcement) Jordan Speaks
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear It's so strange to write blogs in different languages and tell secrets on each blog about things that happen in the different countries. I've lost my mind to the point that I now write messages to my American friends in Italian and my Italian friends in English. In any case, the new Pediatric Audiology Network is on line and since I don't know if I have permission to ...
Tech Culture Thu, May 28 2009

Hmm...Another Film Involving the CI-Deaf Community...
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Why can't anyone just make a nice, light, feel-good film with a character with cochlear implants??Why does everything have to be so damn controversial?Subscribe to An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Implant Story
Art and Storytelling Tech Fri, May 22 2009

WAHOO! GOVERNOR SIGNS CI BILL!!!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Governor Signs Wisconsin Children's CI Insurance BillPress release, Office of Governor Jim Doyle, Madison, Wisconsin - May 21,2009------------------For Immediate ReleaseThursday, May 21, 2009Carla Vigue, Office of the Governor, 608-261-2162Governor Doyle Signs Bill Requiring Insurers Cover Cochlear Implants,Hearing Aids for KidsMADISON - Governor Jim Doyle today signe...
Tech Legal Culture Thu, May 21 2009

The Buzz on the Ci Circle: Louder Than Words
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Check it out! From what I understand, it's coming soon- and it looks damn good!!Louder Than Words is a documentary following hearing impaired families and the struggles inside, facing the decision of surgery, giving life to one of the 5 human senses by implementation of the Cochlear device. Subscribe to An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Implant Story
Language Tech Culture Sat, May 16 2009

Boxers or Briefs: Michele Speaks Out
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear *Blushing* I should have known he would have read the blogpost- "Slick" doesn't miss a trick. The guy I was talking about in the post "You Need to Speak TO ME" caught me in the act of anonymous sharing *smile* And this is his response: (Note: his English is far better than anyone I've ever met in this country!)...Hello everybody! I'm Michele, the guy Jodi talked about...
Tech Thu, May 14 2009

Help: Booklet for Parents of Newly Diagnosed Deaf Children
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear I'm working on a booklet in Italy to be distributed to the parents of newly diagnosed deaf children, so I posed the question: Looking back on your experience as a parent, what would you include in this booklet to empower new parents upon recieving the diagnosis?I received various responses:Parent 1: I only hope they find Docs who don't brush it off and crack jokes as ...
Media Language Education Tech Culture Wed, May 13 2009

You Need to Speak TO ME!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear *Smile* I've received about five MAJOR emails in the past two days. All of them touched me, majorly. So sweet. Thank you...I'm like a walking sensitivity hormone these days, so my experience at Pisa blew me away. I met a guy who I've been corresponding with via Italian forum and facebook- he is ADORABLE!!! It was like meeting Jordan fifteen years from now. This guy wa...
Tech Culture Tue, May 12 2009

Jordan's Back! He Brought Presents...
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! I must be 1-800-Suffer. My last three calls have been from crying mothers who need a swift kick in the ass. I'm pretty sure I could use one too, actually. My iPod is the greatest cure for stress ever. I've said this before, but I never went through a grieving period when Jordan was diagnosed, I just went into action. Come to think of it, I ha...
Language Tech Culture Wed, May 06 2009

Can't See, Can't Hear...Bedtime in your House??
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Well...since I've had bed on the brain lately, I thought I'd address the argument. I left a post on the Italian forum discussing whether or not the fact that Jordan was born deaf could have caused the dreaded bedtime-I-refuse-to go to sleep-if I don't-twirl my mommy's hair issues, which led to five years of sharing the marital wrestling mat until finally we graduated ...
Culture Mon, May 04 2009

Keep Your Eye on That Hearing Aid!!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Anne, an American Mom living in Rome, who is also a member of the Italian support group Sorditaonline Forum, translated a post left by a dad (so adorable):My son's hearing aids and the dolphinIt was August, 1998 and we were in the seaside town of Cattolica, Italy. One evening we went to the aquarium to watch the dolphin show. There were a lot ofpeople, but luckily we...
Art and Storytelling Tech Mon, Apr 27 2009

Go Jordan!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear This was the television advertisement for the writing competition "Different, yet the Same: from Cultural Barriers to Architectural Barriers" held in the Province of Grosseto, sponsored by the Committee for the "Breaking of Architectural Barriers"Jordan broke the sound barrier... *SMILE*Subscribe to An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Implant Story
Media Art and Storytelling Education Tech Culture Wed, Apr 22 2009

Unstoppable Rachel
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Rachel Chaikof's blog is soulfood. Her neverending coverage of children living the cochlear implant experience blows me away- remaining true to her hurricane reputation. The woman rocks, she is now an official journalist! Check this out: a Deaf woman with bilateral cis interviewing a Deaf little girl with bilateral cis! Introducing...Megan...and Rachel:Subscribe to An...
Tech Culture Mon, Apr 20 2009

My Second Cochlear Implant Surgery
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear 1. My kids have been on vacation since last Monday, I love them, but thank God they are returning to school.2. I'm going to Pisa tomorrow morning to support my first Mom. She contacted me three months ago with a question regarding the cochlear implant and her 18 month old beautiful baby girl is having the surgery tomorrow morning.3. I'm freaking out.I love that I have...
Art and Storytelling Tech Culture Tue, Apr 14 2009

For the Record: NAD=ENS Has Still not Responded
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear NAD = ENS in ItalyAgBell = FIADDA in ItalyIf you have been following this blog and what has been going on in my Italian Newborn Hearing Screening Saga, then you know that I have met with the President of the Italian Pediatric Federation and he has approved an initiative regarding the screening at a National level.Three weeks ago, I wrote a letter asking for support fr...
Language Education Tech Culture Mon, Apr 13 2009

Mrs. Block
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear My Elementary School Guidance Counselor Shirley Block, a plump, jovial, golden blonde who always smelled like powder saved my life when I was going through my parents' divorce. I would spend an hour a week in her little office playing with finger puppets, but above all reading books. We read books about strong women who travelled the world and fought for causes they b...
Art and Storytelling Education Tech Thu, Apr 02 2009

Tuscany... In the Clutch
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Okay, here's the story behind the story:I have been psychotic for the past seven months because I have been struggling to reach an objective: Pediatric Courses on Newborn Hearing Screening and Deafness for the Region of Tuscany.It all began just after the NHS 2008 conference in Cernobbio. I went surfing the net regarding Newborn Hearing Screening and found this ...
Tech Culture Mon, Mar 30 2009

The Queen and I
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear I'm on the train travelling between egos, listening to my ipod and trying to collect my thoughts. I've been wanting to write about a conference that was held in Rome on Tuesday where I met a member of the CI Circle for the first time. Anne!!!!!!! Kind of an emotional experience for me. As we speak, little Ci Circlers are convening in LA- Rachel, Naomi, etc. It is a gr...
Tech Culture Fri, Mar 27 2009

Congratulations to Rachel and Val!!!!!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear The charity book project, I Don’t Believe My Ears, is finally completed after several months of assembling it together. Val Blakely from Cochlear Kids and Rachel Chaikof from Cochlear Implant Online would very much like to thank all these contributors who submitted wonderful and humorous stories:Abbie Crammer at Chronicles of a Bionic WomanAmy Kwilinski at CochlearImp...
Media Language Art and Storytelling Education Tech Wed, Mar 25 2009

Pasta, Olive Oil and NHS
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear It's that time once again for a poem...MOON-CATCHIN' NETBy Shel SilversteinI've made me a moon-catchin' net,And I'm goin' huntin' tonight,I'll run along swingin' it over my head,And grab for that big ball of light.So tomorrow just look at the sky,And if there's no moon you can betI've found what I sought and I finally caughtthe moon in my moon-catchin' net.But if the ...
Education Tech Culture Sun, Mar 22 2009

ABC...I Got a Full Ride to College! Proud Moments
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear One of the greatest parts of support groups is that while we offer support in the difficult moments, we also scream for joy in the proud ones...Two parents shared a couple of those moments this past week.Here's one!!!!*And here's another*From the mouth of a proud Mother...Hello All. I've been sitting on this news for a couple of weeks now. I have hesitated to share it...
Higher Education Art and Storytelling Education Tech Fri, Mar 20 2009

"Oh, The Good That Can Come Out of Pain"
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear ...I cried when my friend wrote these words. Cross your fingers, I'll have the news I've been waiting for for the past eight months in four hours. In the meantime, I'd like to share some of the "Good" that has come out of so many parents' experiences...Ann Porter of Aussie Deaf Kids and founding GPOD member has placed a description of the GPOD and the survey on her we...
Education Tech Culture Wed, Mar 18 2009

Parents Raise Their Voices: Anyone Listening?
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Take the Parental Support GPOD survey here: [link] comments:We were living in Minneapolis when our twin sons were diagnosed at age 2 with moderately severe hearing loss. We were soon involved with early intervention teachers, then later on educational audiologist, speech therapist, TOD through the school district YET somehow I managed to not be aware that I should ta...
Media Language Education Tech Culture Mon, Mar 16 2009

Go GAGE!!!!!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Val, Gage and the group have passed a very stressful period and they have taken an entire community with them, enabling so many people to learn from their experience.Here is a recap:Thursday, Dec. 11:So as the conversation deepened on the subject, I asked Gage what would he miss most, while he couldn't hear should we need to remove his ci. His answer? "Music" No...
Tech Sun, Mar 15 2009

Parents and Children Abandoned by the System
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear This was a recent post to an Italian support group:You may not believe me but I have never found support in any aspect of our situation with Marco. Not one person has stepped forward to assist us, not even the Federation dedicated to helping families with Deaf children- and I'm afraid to mention names. I will say that I received a response from them saying that they c...
Audism Education Tech Culture Fri, Mar 13 2009

Kickin' Off Parental Support Week: Don't Hide the CI!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Okay, it's Thursday, and I don't think that a real, official Parental Support Week exists, but what the hell, we bloggers are CREATIVE!!!!! And I have a survey to push, so the Week starts now- never did like Mondays!One person who completed the GPOD survey wrote:...I could write a book. My daughter, now 18, was born before the age of the Internet. Even so, I am convin...
Audism Tech Culture Thu, Mar 12 2009

THE POWER OF PARENTS IN THE PROCESS: RAISE YOUR VOICES
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear THE TIME IS NOW. The little group under the tree at the Newborn Hearing Screening International Conference 2008 took the oath to try to make a difference in improving parental support on a global level. Now we are requesting your help.PLEASE TAKE TEN MINUTES TO COMPLETE THIS SURVEY: [link] OF SURVEYThe results will be used to produce formal recommendations for Best P...
Wed, Mar 11 2009

Guitar- Strummin' Jordan: Video
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Okay, I'm losing my mind. I don't know if any of you have realized this, but I don't post videos of Jordan because my flippin' computer refuses to upload. So, finally, I hightailed my butt to a computer technician, brought along my laptop and begged him to figure out a way to upload. He still hasn't figured out how to fix it, but in the meantime, he let me tinker on h...
Art and Storytelling Tech Thu, Mar 05 2009

Hiding Your Deafness = Being Ashamed??
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear After translating into Italian Karen Putz's post: Are You in the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Closet? I received a response that I really liked. I wanted to re-translate it into English just to give you a better idea of how experiences are universal.The gentleman who responded, Giovanni, wrote the following:I read this woman's experience on Jodi's link and the insensitivity o...
Education Culture Tue, Mar 03 2009

Sunday Morning Sex
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Slammed. And struggling to recuperate. This has been one of the heaviest weeks all year. Dealing with doctors who have to deal with patients, surgeries, paperwork, emergencies while trying to meet MY agenda is exasperating. I have been patient, understanding, respectful and weak. No longer. This week, I had two heated arguments with two professionals and FINALLY asser...
Language Art and Storytelling Education Tech Sun, Mar 01 2009

12 Year Old Jordan Writes on Being Deaf
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Jordan's Essay (translated from Italian to English) for a writing competition with the title of the competition being: Different Yet The Same I was born deaf. And, I was born in the USA. These two things make me very different from other people. I began going to speech therapy when I was twelve months old, four times a week. I hated it, I would have preferred pla...
Language Art and Storytelling Education Tech Mon, Feb 23 2009

Lay Off Miss Kat!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear You should only know what a strong proponent of ASL Miss Kat's Mom is on the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Circle. She asks direct questions and always responds to mothers seeking assistance with regard to ASL. SHAME ON THE PERSON- AND I'M SURE IT WAS AN ANONYMOUS COMMENTER- WHO INSULTED HER!*Thoroughly DISGUSTED*Miss Kat's Mom has been through an extremely difficult per...
Language Audism Education Tech Culture Wed, Feb 18 2009

Anonymous Commenters BEWARE
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear People are beginning to get a little pissy...MM left the following comment:Why are people 'Anon' anyway ? If you have the conviction of your stated view, then why not be up front about it ? It used to be scared deaf people who disagreed with the communual view, and were afraid they would get ostracised by peers if they knew that. (Which said more about the closed shop...
Culture Mon, Feb 16 2009

Cochlear Implant + AVT= No Deaf School?
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Apparently not always! See, life is like a McDonald's Happy Meal- you can ask for that girl toy - without fail they give you the boy toy...and you can ask for the six-piece chicken nugget- but without a doubt-every now and then you get the four-piece. What does a good mom always do??? Check that Happy Meal before driving away...Kim left Jaden's Story on the comments o...
Language Education Tech Thu, Feb 12 2009

Deaf School Cuts: A Mother Speaks
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear There has been a very interesting discussion ensuing on the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Circle regarding Deaf School Closings. I have stayed out of the discussion as I have no experience in the matter of Deaf schools. However, one of the comments left by this mother, who will remain anonymous by choice, touched me and I wanted to share it with you...There are certainly...
Language Education Tech Tue, Feb 10 2009

Bridges and Baggage: Passion and Power
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear One of my friends once said to me, "Why do I have to pay for what you've lived?"That made me think. (happens every now and then:))We all have baggage. Our parents' parents have baggage that is then transmitted to our parents who then transmit it to us and we, in turn, to our kids.When you look in the mirror, who do you see? Look past the physical presence straig...
Language Audism Culture Mon, Feb 09 2009

Switzerland City, Baby!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Dianrez said,Just because Jodi mentions inclusion of sign language doesn't mean she is a proponent of it. Reading her comments, I see a balanced viewpoint that attempts to include all methods.*The point is to offer as many resources as possible to parents of newly diagnosed deaf children- not to advocate for one method over another- to give the parents a fighting chan...
Language Education Culture Sun, Feb 08 2009

Enough Dialogue- Build the Bridge!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear I've been reading a lot of posts on Deafread lately regarding Deaf Schools closing and the various issues regarding hearing parents and incorporating ASL.Rachel was correct when she said:ASL is not a "magic" method, and it requires as much effort as using the Auditory-Verbal approach or Auditory-Oral approach because parents would need to take the time to attend cours...
Language Education Tech Culture Fri, Feb 06 2009

Paula and McConnell: Just Like Old Times!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear I've locked myself in my bedroom to blog and suffer from the flu in peace as six kids run rampid in my house and the dumb-ass dog chews Sofia's shoes. There is no rest for the weary in this house. Anyway, the post Parents Always Make Mistakes has generated a bit of activity on the blogosphere motivating Paula to come out of hibernation...and guess who came to debate??...
Media Language Education Tech Culture Wed, Feb 04 2009

Deafness and Eating Disorders- Related?
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear She pauses, purse in hand, and looks at me. “If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same thing. If these were the cards you’d drawn, you’d play them. You would.” She grabs a scarf and waves me out the door, past her cane. Tony loudly yells good-bye. While she hails a cab on the corner, I tell her about a poll that says Americans are more afraid of blindness than of AID...
Media Culture Tue, Feb 03 2009

Parents Always Make Mistakes
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear On the last post, John left a comment and said, referring to Jordan:"Let's hear what he has to say when he is 21 years old."I hope that he says that I was a good mom. He will one day reach that age where he sees me as a person, not just as a mom, and he will judge me, my lifestyle and my character. We all grow through that period at one point in our lives, it's never ...
Art and Storytelling Tech Culture Sat, Jan 31 2009

Response to ASL RISEN-The Deaf Community Virtue
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear In response to my post on Aidan Mack's new film,I Sign and I Live, ASL Risen asked me: How can we cure the Deaf community virtue??? Can you tell me that? Thanks.Let us define Virtue:Main Entry: vir·tue Pronunciation: \
Tech Culture Fri, Jan 30 2009

Aidan Mack: New Film Will Promote Awareness
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear Aidan Mack has pissed me off. She's said things that I completely disagree with, and she most certainly is anti-cochlear implant. Aidan Mack has just launched her new project "I Sign I Live," and this is the synopsis:SynopsisThe 25-minute dramatic film, I Sign and I Live, is about Daisy, an impassioned Deaf teacher who constantly faces prejudices and stereotypes in so...
Media Language Audism Art and Storytelling Education Tech Culture Wed, Jan 28 2009

Univ. of Pisa...Here I Come!
An American Mom in Tuscany: Jordan's Cochlear My life is insane. My poor husband. I told him he had eleven years of "peace," and now he must deal with the beast: me. I think that when a woman awakens, everyone around her awakens. And my awakening was pretty strong. Yesterday, we dropped my car off for an oil change at 8:30 a.m. and had to be in Pisa by 10 when I had a meeting with Jordan's ci surgeon. He told me ...
Tech Culture Tue, Jan 27 2009