This is Sebastian, one of our favorite stories from the
whole trip. His grandmother brought him to see us on the 1st or 2nd
day of therapy and we almost didn’t see him because we already had so many kids
lined up outside. Sebastian doesn’t have a cleft, but he is deaf. His family
was concerned that he was not talking, and at about 9 years old he still wasn’t
in school. Theresa and I began teaching him some signs we knew when we realized
he was probably profoundly deaf. His eyes lit up and he quickly learned
everything we showed him. His excitement brought tears to my eyes as I thought
that this might have been the first time that was able to communicate with
others in a way that made sense to him. He had never been exposed to sign
language and he was so eager to learn more. At the end of the session his
family asked about an operation for his tongue (a tongue clip), thinking that
would solve his problem and allow him to talk. We had to explain that his
tongue was fine, and that without the ability to hear, he would never speak
like they did. It seemed like hard news for them to hear, and the grandmother
told me the next day that her family cried over the realization. We were so
concerned about what would become of Sebastian, because he had already gone so
long with no language input. The only option was for him and his family to
learn sign language. As luck would have it, Jose, our regional government
guide, said he knew a local woman who knew sign language and had connections at
the local special education schools who might be able to help. The next day she
arrived and was able to explain again to the family (in much better Spanish
than me!) that Sebastian needed sign language instruction in school and they offered
adult classes as well for the family. We told his family that they should take
him right away to be enrolled in this school, and that they could teach him
more sign than we ever could. As far as we know, he is now in school and
hopefully learning tons. Theresa and I would love to return in the future to
visit the special education schools, and hopefully find that Sebastian is able
to communicate with his friends and family.
Entered by Jocelyn Noble
