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Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Chance goes to soccer camp

Up until this year, although I have signed Chance up for community sports with out mentioning that he is deaf, I have always told the coaches on the first day.

This year however, Chance signed up for soccer camp for the first time and so did two of his really good friends in the neighborhood. We moms set up a carpool and one of the other moms drove the first day of camp. After Chance got home, I asked him if he had heard what the coach said and he said yes.

The second day of camp was my turn to drive so I dropped the boys off and then had to hurry to drop off Chance's brother at another camp in another part of town.

I arrived a little early to pick the boys up so that I could observe how things were going and if Chance seemed to hear what was going on. The camp was held in a park with several college students helping the kids. I saw two teams playing each other as the coaches gave directions and observed. I found Chance's two friends right away and watched them play while looking for Chance. I figured he had to be in the vicinity , but I could not see him on either team. Finally, I realized that there were two more teams out further on the field playing each other. Chance was out there running his little guts out to get the ball. Chance was doing just fine, getting in the game and playing along like any of the other kids.

When it was time to come in because practice was over, Chance just ran in with the rest of the kids and heard the coach remind him to get his hat which was laying on the grass. Chance scooped up his hat and ran to the van with his friends.

I asked Chance how soccer camp was and if he heard what they said and he said yes. He loved it. His dad went and observed a little early the next day and found Chance just playing along like any other kid. He is not afraid to get in the game and hustle. He can hold his own.

Chance is not just the little deaf boy but a good and valued asset to the team. He wears implants to help him hear, but he is just like the other kids. This is just what we were hoping for when we decided to get Chance the implants. That he would be able to just be like the other kids and be able to interact and play with all of the other kids. He is doing that. Our next step needs to be helping Chance learn to advocate for himself... letting people know when he can't hear something and asking them to repeat it etc. He has no problem doing that with us and people that he knows. We'll have to observe closely this summer and make sure that he asks coaches to repeat what was said if he didn't catch it, and make sure that he is confident in asking people to repeat things if he needs them to. I want to make sure that Chance feels confident doing this and does not feel funny at all. He is amazing, hearing what he does. Self advocacy will just be part of his life experience.

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