Leadership Opportunities for Teens For Teens Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Meet my friend Nate. I was Nathan and his family’s Auditory-Verbal Therapist and good friends today.  Nate traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in AG Bell’s LOFT (Leadership Opportunities for Teens) program earlier this month. LOFT was established in 1996 and is dedicated to shaping and transforming the lives of deaf and hard of hearing teens by fostering valuable skills of self-advocacy, self-confidence, leadership, and communication. For five days, Nate bonded with 18 other kids, learned a lot, had a blast, and did plenty of sightseeing.  

Nate has a great personality advanced in academics, literacy, and social skills. A few of his achievements include:

  • Competitive Speech Team. Nate's events include persuasive speech and radio speaking

  • Honors French for his foreign language requirement

  • Nathan will soon earn the highest honor and national-level recognition for Boy Scouts of America as a Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

  • Photography became Nate’s interest and hobby during the pandemic. He bought his own camera and is taking photography classes.

Nate is personable, curious, compassionate, and a well-rounded young man. His speech, language, and academic abilities are commensurate with his hearing peers. This is a result of Nate's family's unwavering commitment to listening and spoken language, his cochlear implant hearing technology, the dedicated professionals on his team, and Nate's motivation and work ethic.

Nate’s Dad and Mom took turns attending our auditory verbal therapy sessions which was an essential part of his listening and spoken language success.

Nate and his Mom kicking off a new school year last week.

Over the years I have had many of my auditory verbal graduates attend LOFT. Part of what makes AG Bell's LOFT programs so important to these teens is the everlasting bond they establish with their peers who often become lifelong friends.

Learn more about the LOFT program at the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

10 Self-Advocacy tips for Kids with Hearing Loss - Free Download

 
 

Download the free self-advocacy tips I use with school-age kids! I created these tips to foster communication success in children that are deaf and hard of hearing who use listening and spoken language. They are the basis for the popular self-advocacy games and activities that you can check out in my Listen With Lynn TpT store.

 
 

The Secrets Beneath the Palm Tree by parent Angeliki Stamatopoulou-Pedersen

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.