One Family’s Journey

To My Daughter’s Hearing Teacher

By Angela Martinez, Colorado H&V

To My Daughter’s Hearing Teacher,

Please don’t let my daughter’s hearing aids intimidate you. They are a tool, just like those glasses on your face or that cell phone in your hand.

Please remember, that just like any tool, she is NOT her hearing aids. She is a child, just like the other 24 in your class.

Yes, just like the others in your class.

Yes, I know that my daughter is special. I knew that before she was even born.

We don’t need a 504 or IEP to differentiate her from the other kids. Her personality does that by itself.

She is bold. She is hilarious. She is kind. She is dramatic. She is creative. She is compassionate.

But she is NOT:

– her hearing aids.

**She is still herself even if she chooses to have a quieter day or takes them out.

She is NOT:

– inspirational just because she is hard of hearing.

**She is a miracle for a whole list of reasons. But please don’t put her on an automatic pedestal just because of what she can or can not hear. That is not what defines her.

She is NOT:

– a perfect child.

**She will want to please you, but she will also challenge you. Don’t let her get away with misbehavior just because of those little hearing aids on her ears.

She may not hear how you expect, but she understands so much more than you know. She reads body language as well as lips. So be careful when you are speaking to that other teacher about that other child’s mother who is driving you crazy. She knows what you are saying.

She will ask you to repeat things, please repeat them kindly. She has worked hard to learn how to use her spoken voice so that the world can understand.

She works hard every moment to understand what the sounds are around her. But when she asks you to repeat something, it is not out of disrespect but RESPECT because she wants to understand you fully.

Expect her to succeed.
Expect her to fail.

Be kind without giving her excuses.

Push her past her limits.

And teacher, I want you to know that I am in this with you.

I’m a “hearing” parent. After 5 years with my daughter, I still have moments that remind me how much I don’t know.

Those moments where I am scolding her about disobeying because I told her to

“Get in the car”

but she heard “Get in the yard.”

But my hands were full of her brother’s diaper bag, my purse, and the books from the library, so I hadn’t used my hands to tell her the directions.

Those moments when she is listening to her favorite singer (Lauren Daigle) and she gets angry because she heard the lyrics:

“there is no princess” when the true lyrics are “there is no distance.”

And it takes me 15 minutes to relax her because Lauren Daigle knows that princesses are at Disneyworld.

Whether she had hearing aids or not, I would have to constantly learn how to parent her because kids grow and change daily.

I thank you for caring about her and all of her friends.

I trust you with her little mind.

And as far as the rest?

If you can capture her heart, regardless of what she can or can not hear, than she will be a stronger little girl who is more prepared for this crazy world when she leaves your classroom in year.\

Kindergarten, here she comes!  ~

Editor’s note: Martinez is a parent of two and regularly blogs at agapesgift.wordpress.com.