Communicating with each other?

Hi,

As a first time parents and being a deaf parents as well have us worried about their language up-to-date. I am a SAHM to my twins' who are hearing. They are about half way to be almost 22 months old. In our household we don't have a lot of communication with SIL/BIL or any families that visit us. We are pretty much on our own. As a parents we both worried what we are supposed to expect? Rianna and Justin knows sign language but they don't communicate unless I help them on what their 'needs'. Rianna is very vocal and talk clearly but she doesn't say in 2 sentences but she a nonstop talker. On the other hand, Justin is the quiet one where he would try to sign with me without using his voice. I keep telling both of them you need to use your voice and sign together.

When do you think the twins' supposed to communicated with each other?
What are they supposed to be doing at this stage?

**Both know how to count 1-10 (Rianna doesn't do it in orderly compared to Justin)
**They love (Fisher-Price online game) with Numbers/ABC's
(Justin can use his 1 finger to press keyboard / Rianna is all over the place) We do this twice a day AM/PM
**They both are into educational toys than playing with regular toys at the moment (Melissa and Doug wooden puzzles)
**Both love 'Signing Times' and Leapfrog 'Letter Factory' (I play this twice a day with AM/PM)
**Both love reading books (Rianna has lack of inpatience at times)

The only negative with us is that we're not into sing-along but we do "Teddy Bears" or "Twinkle Twinkle" and some other songs but never really play music all the time (not for us).

Is there something we're missed or what they should be doing?

Thanks!
D, w/Rianna and Justin (21.5 mos)

 

It's hard to know for sure, but they sound pretty much on track -- there's such a wide range. One thing to keep in mind is that they are essentially bilingual, and bilingual kids tend to talk a bit later. How much interaction do they get with hearing adults or other kids? I would imagine that's pretty important, though I have no knowledge of the issues involved in deaf parents raising hearing kids. If you're at all concerned, I'd suggest asking their pediatrician and/or a local organization for the deaf or hard-of-hearing -- I'm sure they have some advice on how to approach this.

As far as communicating with each other specifically -- mine made a huge leap in this right around age 2.5. Amy was talking well before that (Sarah not so much), but they didn't really start talking directly to each other and really have a 2-way conversation until about that time.

 

Diana,

I have always been amazed at how you and your family manage despite the hearing loss. I think you are doing a great job ensuring that they are getting the vocal exposure/stimulation they need with the tools/resources/support you have available.

Early Intervention (EI) will come out and evaluate the twins' speech if you request it. Here in WA, EI is run based on the school district in which you live, so we call our local elementary school's SLP for service evaluations. Since it is summer and schools are not in session, call your school district's administration office and they will point you in the right direction to get set up for an evaluation.

I would also ask them (the school district administration) about any special needs preschool programs offered by the district. Not saying that your twins have special needs, but that the unique situation at home may qualify them for 'needing' the program for environmental speech support or something along those lines. I would imagine that your concern in verifying that they are on the right track, speech-wise, would be easily justified as their goal as an organization is to prepare infants/toddlers/preschoolers to be successful when they enter the school district (so the school district isn't inundated with scores of unprepared kindergarteners/first graders for whom they do not have sufficient staffing resources to support getting them caught up to their school-ready classmates).

I was a school district administrator for 10 years before the boys were born. Someone in your situation would have certainly qualified for continuing EI services (even if only for semi-annual evaluations to ensure the kids were doing well), as well as a school-readiness preschool program.

I'm not an SLP, but I think it sounds like they are doing great for 22 months. We were a bit slow with our speech, but from 18-22 months I saw HUGE leaps in vocabulary, and from 22-26 months I was simply blown away with their exponential growth in sentence structure/length/complexity, pronoun use, sequential thinking, letter/number recognition. In the last 2 months (26-28m), they have improved dramatically in their pronuciation, including mid-word syllables and consonants that were previously dropped, and picking up a LOT of consonant blends (cl, tr, br, st, sp) they couldn't pronounce before.

Normally, I would say, don't panic...most folks will see an amazing transformation at 24m. However, with your unique hearing situation, I think an EI evaluation would be very appropriate, if only to ensure they are on the right track. Plus, you may find there's a wonderful program available for the kids to attend preschool at age 3 or 4 that will help you feel secure in the knowledge that they are getting plenty of exposure to in-person conversations/speech.

 

Diana, I was also going to suggest EI in order to just have their speech evaluated and make sure that everything is right on track. Siri is right -- you do encounter a whole new set of obstacles with your family's hearing loss. I think they sound like they are doing great though! Good luck! :good: :hug99:

Oh and to answer your question, my guys sometimes "talk" to each other but it's in this garbled twin talk that I cannot understand. I am sure when Kevin starts talking more they will really talk to each other... maybe by 2.5? :search:

 

Wow! First, I will get in touch with their Pedi to see if she can recommend EI to make sure that they are on track. If this is something I have to do from outside of the doctor's office. I will call the school district where they supposed to go to kindergartners/first graders and see if I can get a recommendation of EI.

In the meantime, my husband and I decided that we need our twins' need to be in "Parent's Day Out" for 2 years old. There is only one preschool that does that and they are one day a week and not need to be potty trained. I'm not worried about tuition cost at the moment for us. We just need to find out if they have a slot available once they turn '2' on September 30th. I went to an open house for preschool last Spring with a friend of mine. The lady says just give them a call after they turn 2, if slot is open or not.

On other hand, we did "My Gym" when they were 15 mos and they had a blast time! We are going to enroll to the next level to get them more structured and follow through later in August.

I can't even tell you if they are pronouncing their words correctly. I do credit "Leapfrog Letter Factory" does help them to understand individually with letters and fridge magnets too. The only relative living is my FIL come in town every once in a while and he tell me that they are but doesn't know what to expect from age/stage. I also get a bit of help with my playgroup Moms too. However, we have a lot of friends who are deaf have deaf children so in our case is a bit challenge for us.

I am about to get a new hearing aid and will finally hear my twins' voice after a year since the accident. It turned out all of this time it was the hearing aid itself was not working but at the same time I went through post traumatic stress (the timing incident) of the event. In all I hope I will have the 'sounds' to come back normal as before the 'accident'. I can't wait to hear my twins' again! I am going to need to be in speech therapy too because my brain need to be re-processed to all of the sounds that I lost over a year.

I really APPRECIATED the support and advice from each of you!
D, w/Rianna and Justin (21.5 mos)

 

You are such a strong lady! Your children are lucky to have you! I think you got some wonderful advice!

 

{Updated}

Hey....guess what? We're going in for their EI appointment on July 25th. Kim says it all about paperwork/assessment. On our 2nd appointment they will tell us if they are need further help.


Thanks for your support! :hug99:
D, w/Rianna and Justin