Chance is having flashbacks..

It is kind of funny, but Chance seems to have flashbacks sometimes to when he was little before he could communicate as well as he does now.

He'll say something like,"Remember when we went to Disneyland and I saw Mary Poppins? Remember how big the penguins were?"

Or, "Remember when I got this dolphin?"

I do remember that particular trip quite well actually. Not only was it a fun family vacation full of wonder and magic there in Fantasy Land, but we got a real dose of having a deaf child there in Disneyland.

As luck would have it, the morning of the day we left on vacation, Chance's doctor diagnosed him with ear infections and told us that Chance should not wear his hearing aids. The day before our vacation. We were still relatively new to the whole deaf thing too and Chance was not able to communicate a whole lot with anyone either.

My husband and I spent wonder filled days with our kids. We also were in code red aloof the time. We were constantly looking around to make sure that Chance was right by us and had a system going where one of us would track the other 2 kids while one of us tracked Chance. Chance would see something exciting and dash off. He could not hear us and unless he turned to look back at us (as if), we could not talk to him and call him back.

Strangely enough though, Chance was the most daring out of our kids when it came to the big rides. We had no idea how to sign roller coaster or explain in detail about Splash Mountain and how he would be sliding down a steep hill being splashed with water, and by the way how did he feel about that. He loved all of the roller coaster rides and wanted to go on them several times.

We had one horrifying moment in Sea World when Chance got lost. Chance had been running around in a circle from the climbing ropes to the tunnel to the slide with his brother. They had been going strong for about 20 minutes when suddenly, Chance's brother appeared and Chance did not.

At first, we just looked around figuring that he was getting tired and was going slower etc. But then, it got to be long enough that I felt a sick feeling in my stomach. My deaf child was out of sight, and out of range to hear. We could not have him paged, he would not hear it. If he did find an adult, he could not talk to them or tell him who his parents were. He would not even be able to tell them his name. It was truly one of the most horrifying moments of my life as I tried to figure out how we could locate Chance and how he could get help if he was found by a park employee.(that was the optimistic scenario...that he would be found by a nice, decent person and not someone who would do him harm and take advantage of his plight).

We sent up prayers that only a parent whose child is in distress can send up. I climbed all over the play area looking in every cranny and tunnel while my husband canvased the ground.
As if an angel had been sent to help us, a woman found a park employee in a little kiosk across from the play area trying to talk to Chance. He looked scared and could not answer her. The woman said, "Maybe he is deaf. My friend has a deaf child." I know that woman was sent to the right place at the right time for Chance and for his parents who were trying not to have a heart attack. The woman suggested that she walk with Chance over to the play area and see if any parent came up and recognized him. They gave him a stuffed dolphin to help him feel better.
There are few people that we have ever been more happy to see than that woman who walked over with Chance to the play area.

So yes, Chance we remember when you got that dolphin. Quite vividly.

We have come a long way since those early days after diagnosis. Chance has gotten older, can tell people his name, knows our names and he can hear us when we call. Maybe from not as far away as his brother can hear us, but he can hear us.