deaf ed

[Tru2form]

Hmm.

Sean was born on November 16th 1978. He was born at Hvidovre Hsopital in Copenhagen and as soon as he was born he was rushed to another Hospital and into intensive care due to heart complications.

My wife and I both knew that there was a chance that he had been exposed to rubella as there had been an outbreak in the FOLO a few months earlier.

Sean was born with dense cataracts in both eyes and, as testing showed a few months later, completely deaf.

I realize that this is probably reading like a greek tragedy right now but it is not.

The first few months of Sean's life were hell for my wife and I, his first two weeks were spent in Intensive Care in Fuglebakken until his metabolism and heart started to calm down another two weeks and we were able to bring him home.

The Danish authorities monitor all new born children very closely - there are home nurse visits, the baby is checked and weighed and progress is oted. I think this did help keep the nurseries at both the FOLO and the AOSH much more on the their toes because officials were coming in and out on a regular basis, For Sean, of course, the attention was even greater.

At around 8 months of age the Doctors advised us that Sean should have cataract surgery on both his eyes so that light could get into his eyes and he would get visual stimuli. Oh my god, the back and forth we went through, surgery on the eyes, what did Hubbard say? Was there some sort of "natural" cure? We got bombarded by useless advice. In the end, I am very happy to say, we went with the medical professionals and Sean had the surgery. And a repeat of the surgery when the cataracts grew back and then, finally they removed the lenses. The original plan was to have soft contact lenses for him but he kept rubbing them out of his eyes and at 800 kroner a pair the danish state was getting a little concerned..

In the end it was decided to try glasses. But the stimulus worked - Sean did start using his eyes and he uses them a lot to this day.

One story to end this part with - Sean, when he was very young, made very little sound, he lay in his crib and hardly moved. Nancy (my wife) got in the habit of running her fingers along his ribs as a sort of affectionate caress and Sean seemed to like it.

One evening during family time no less) she was leaning over the crib and ran her fingers along his ribs and Sean screamed with laughter, My wife jumped up a foot in the air and burst into tears, she tickled him again - he laughed again.

He has a wonderful, infectious laugh and he still laughs a lot today.

Anyhoo - if you want to see him you can check out our blog



More later.

I am so sorry that I have not posted on here. School is taking up most of time. It amazes me that COS and OS treat people like this, especially children.

Mickwenlock, how is your son now? The classes I have taken at school have opened a door to understanding deaf people and deaf culture. What kind of communication does he use?

Tori, you have been a real inspiration for me.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Love to all,
Amanda

well I never did see your question, Amanda. Sorry I never replied. But seeing as this applies more to this site than any other I am going to answer.

Sean is fine - he lives with us, of course. He is 32 years old and requires constant supervision. He is healthy and happy.

His step brother is still in the CofS and lives in Copenhagen and disconnected from both my wife and I.

And has never once asked about Sean since that time.

So if you ever wondered if Scientology hurts families - there is a perfect example.