My classroom learned about another type of disability today. We all envisioned what it would be like to be deaf or hearing impaired. I went around the circle and asked them what sounds they would miss if they could no longer hear. Most of them said they would miss the sounds of their friends voices and one of them sweetly said, "I would miss hearing my dad say, 'You are the best boy in the whole world!"
We did a variety of exercises to simulate hearing impairment and what it would be like. I asked them if they would like to hear a person who is deaf speak. I really think they thought they would sound the same. I shared a YouTube video with the kids. When the young lady started speaking a few of them started to laugh. I just let them listen to her message for a little bit. Then I asked them, "Can you imagine how difficult it would be to learn how to talk when you have never heard speech before?" Their faces became concerned as they realized how difficult that would be.
I told them they would probably hear a deaf person speak at some point in their life, or a person with another disability that might impair their speech. We talked about how we should never make fun of each other for things that are challenging for us. We should only encourage one another.
Our guest speaker came early this week since he had to work around his patients. I have to say I am a little partial to this guest speaker, he is my husband. Bill is the Director of Audiology for an ENT office. He shared a clip from You Tube about how the ear works. He went through the anatomy and function of each part of the ear. The kids were amazed when he told them that the bones in their parents ears are the same size as the bones in their ears. Bill talked about the function of ear wax, how to protect their hearing and showed them some hearing aides.
The kids loved learning about the ear but they became fascinated by Bill's impairment...he had a serious hand injury. All of the boys especially wanted to know about the table saw accident. Bill shared about the things he was no longer able to do and also shared about how he has learned to do a lot of things differently. Bill wears a golf glove most of the time because it provides grip and stability for his hand. He also wears it because your brain cannot interpret pressure and pain at the same time very well so wearing the glove makes his brain think about pressure, rather than pain. Since he no longer has a pinkie he asked the kids who would like to pinkie swear and they all laughed.
As I thanked Bill before he left the girls all started chanting, "Kiss him! Kiss him!" Five year-olds are always full of surprises!
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