The movie...
...was great! For those of you that missed it, it was announced at the end of last night's movie that it will be released on DVD on May 15th (I plan to have my own copy!). I don't have ordering information but I know that a lot of the Hallmark Gold Crown stores sell those movies. I still haven't seen the first half hour of it...we had dinner last night at my mom and dad's and we missed a little of it. I recorded it at home, though, and plan to watch the first bit of it tonight.
I thought it was very educational and explained both sides of the debate fairly. A decision was not reached at the conclusion of the movie whether to implant or no...the parents, who had separated over the stress of the difficult decision, got back together and agreed to work things out together, as a family. In my opinion, a child that age (the boy was what, seven or eight?) should have some say in the matter...perhaps not be the one that makes the final decision, but at that age, their wishes should certainly be considered. If he wanted to hear...or if he didn't...would carry a significant amount of weight. Babies are an entirely different matter...their parents have the very weighty responsibility of making that decision entirely on their own.
As an adult CI user, I have the best of both worlds! I can finally hear...and hear well...and that's awesome, except for days like yesterday. Yesterday I was already a bit overloaded from a loud lunch and went to the Goodwill for some browsing time. No sooner had we started to shop than I realized that there was a particularly loud little girl exercising full lung capacity as her father wheeled her around the store. He would occasionally shush her, but it seemed to have absolutely no effect whatsoever. I gave it about five minutes, and was near the point of coming unglued from the sound, when the thought belatedly occurred to me to just take my ear off. And I did, and I shopped in total, complete silence...ah, bliss.
When I lost my hearing at age 4, my parents gave me everything I might possibly need...a hearing aid, sign language classes, a teacher's aide in school. They gave me the opportunity to have good speech, fair hearing, and sign language. As an adult, I'm now in the position to hear...or not...it's my decision. The computers inside my head don't mean anything without the processors I wear on my ears...without them my world is completely silent. I am in a position to decide for myself whether or not I want to hear...and I'm grateful that it's my decision...I'm grateful that my parents gave me the opportunities. I love hearing, and I love being able to have total quiet. My speech is fairly normal...I have deaf and hearing friends...I can work, listen to music, talk on the phone. I feel like I have the whole world available to me...and I can choose which path to take on any given day. I love that :)
I was tickled to see that Bionic Buddy, the Advanced Bionics mascot, was prominently featured in the movie...Buddy is one of my very favorite monkeys. One of my friends sent him to me after my bilateral surgery, and he is sitting here in the bedroom on top of the bookcase!! Word has it that the poster on the audiologist's wall featured my buddy Mike Royer, and that is WAY cool...I can't wait to see that part again and see for myself!
In unrelated news, I turned in my notice at work last Friday...May 2nd will be my last day to work. I might go back later on, in the fall perhaps, but we have family vacations, I have the Reno convention, and we have doctor appointments, end-of-school-year events, and just plain old being outside in the sunshine dates to keep :). I can't possibly get a tan standing at the register at the store! The kids miss me, I miss them, I hate how disorganized I've become, and am ready to be home for a while. I like that I am leaving on great terms, and have already been told that I'm very re-hirable...so I'm excited about the time off :)
OK...enough rambling for one night...my mom and Laurie both have been telling me how good "August Rush" is and I want to watch that before bed! Love y'all.... :)
I thought it was very educational and explained both sides of the debate fairly. A decision was not reached at the conclusion of the movie whether to implant or no...the parents, who had separated over the stress of the difficult decision, got back together and agreed to work things out together, as a family. In my opinion, a child that age (the boy was what, seven or eight?) should have some say in the matter...perhaps not be the one that makes the final decision, but at that age, their wishes should certainly be considered. If he wanted to hear...or if he didn't...would carry a significant amount of weight. Babies are an entirely different matter...their parents have the very weighty responsibility of making that decision entirely on their own.
As an adult CI user, I have the best of both worlds! I can finally hear...and hear well...and that's awesome, except for days like yesterday. Yesterday I was already a bit overloaded from a loud lunch and went to the Goodwill for some browsing time. No sooner had we started to shop than I realized that there was a particularly loud little girl exercising full lung capacity as her father wheeled her around the store. He would occasionally shush her, but it seemed to have absolutely no effect whatsoever. I gave it about five minutes, and was near the point of coming unglued from the sound, when the thought belatedly occurred to me to just take my ear off. And I did, and I shopped in total, complete silence...ah, bliss.
When I lost my hearing at age 4, my parents gave me everything I might possibly need...a hearing aid, sign language classes, a teacher's aide in school. They gave me the opportunity to have good speech, fair hearing, and sign language. As an adult, I'm now in the position to hear...or not...it's my decision. The computers inside my head don't mean anything without the processors I wear on my ears...without them my world is completely silent. I am in a position to decide for myself whether or not I want to hear...and I'm grateful that it's my decision...I'm grateful that my parents gave me the opportunities. I love hearing, and I love being able to have total quiet. My speech is fairly normal...I have deaf and hearing friends...I can work, listen to music, talk on the phone. I feel like I have the whole world available to me...and I can choose which path to take on any given day. I love that :)
I was tickled to see that Bionic Buddy, the Advanced Bionics mascot, was prominently featured in the movie...Buddy is one of my very favorite monkeys. One of my friends sent him to me after my bilateral surgery, and he is sitting here in the bedroom on top of the bookcase!! Word has it that the poster on the audiologist's wall featured my buddy Mike Royer, and that is WAY cool...I can't wait to see that part again and see for myself!
In unrelated news, I turned in my notice at work last Friday...May 2nd will be my last day to work. I might go back later on, in the fall perhaps, but we have family vacations, I have the Reno convention, and we have doctor appointments, end-of-school-year events, and just plain old being outside in the sunshine dates to keep :). I can't possibly get a tan standing at the register at the store! The kids miss me, I miss them, I hate how disorganized I've become, and am ready to be home for a while. I like that I am leaving on great terms, and have already been told that I'm very re-hirable...so I'm excited about the time off :)
OK...enough rambling for one night...my mom and Laurie both have been telling me how good "August Rush" is and I want to watch that before bed! Love y'all.... :)
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