I am excited to introduce my guest blogger, Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen, a parent of a grown son with profound hearing loss who uses listening and spoken language. Angeliki shares that, September is International Deaf Awareness Month! This September of. 2020 is not like every other year. This September of 2020 is GOING BACK or NOT GOING BACK to school month. There are global changes and different ways of approaching the current pandemic crisis. Fortunately, books can be used in the same ways as always. So can the internet.
Angeliki wrote The Secrets Beneath the Palm Tree, a book geared to address children that are deaf and hard of hearing. She shares the her story can bring joy to each child who encounters hearing loss at a young age, whether it’s their own or someone else’s. This book is veritable documentation on effective communication tactics; it also imparts information on hearing dogs, friendships, and much more. A lip-reading game is described in the book. Today, because of COVID-19 every one is required, in a group situation, to wear a mask. The game cannot be played with regular masks. Instead, a smart adaptation would be to use clear masks, a fun way for all children to understand their necessity.
A reflection from the past. I am the mother of a now-adult deaf son, diagnosed with a hearing loss at age three. Initially, he was aided with a bi-cross hearing aid. The very difficult diagnostic journey lasted two-and-a-half years. After that we were very lucky, we worked with several dedicated professionals in the field, and my son developed spoken language. At age 12, he suddenly lost his residual hearing overnight. Soon after, he got his cochlear implant. While I cherish all the miraculous technological advantages and the related science behind them, we all know the limitations of existing assistive hearing devices. Good communication tactics are therefore so essential.
For a long time, every September was a very stressful month for me, simply because my son was attending mainstream school and he would start a new year. How I wish I had a fun book like this, a book of hearing loss would have been most helpful, to introduce him and explain his hearing loss, to his class. That was when I conceptualized the theme of my book and the fact that we have to educate “hearing” children about deafness. It took me many years of hard work to bring it to fruition. By then, my son was already in college.
Today, I am happy to say that my book is published in two languages. My native language is Greek. Naturally, the book was first published in Greek. The English version came later. I have always loved children’s literature. That is how I learned English, by reading illustrated children’s books. As a doting grandmother, I continuously share my love of illustrated children’s books with my beloved grandkids and I am passionately involved with children’s literature in my retirement years. But I have to confess that my favorite books are the ones that have protagonists with hearing loss!
The Secrets Beneath the Palm Tree was released in February of 2019. Today it is available in paperback, hardcover and on Kindle. It is a rich story embedded with tips for children, educators, speech language pathologists, audiologists and others. It is a must to add to your library.
Thank you Anglelki for your heart, journey and words of wisdom. I am proud to share you and your son’s story with my readers and followers.