Put yourself in the position of a person who is hearing impaired, or a person who lives with special needs; and, consider some environments they they may experience differently than you; such as a trip to the hospital or emergency room.  How different would the experience be for you if you were the one who had difficulty making your needs known to the health care professionals.  Or say you are an elderly person who is experiencing hearing loss…how are you going to communicate with other residents or say the staff?   How about shopping or getting educational services at college or in elementary school?   How about ordering a meal in a restaurant?   Do you see how the quality of life can be improved for people impacted in this way?   Can you see how sign language could open doors for people if others in the community took the opportunity to learn it from someone like Louise or through her DVD’s?

Click on Image to listen to Interview

        If you are interested in learning more about Louise and her educational services please listen to the interview here:  http://www.rapidcashmarketing.com/lorrainesinterview/signingfamilies.htm

I met Louise through an online contest, believe it or not.  It was run on Twitter.  I happen to have won a poetry contest; and the prize, that I chose, was a DVD that made by Louise Sattler.   Louise has a site called:  http://www.signingfamilies.com/ . There you will find all kinds of information about Louise and what she does; but, I didn’t know all of that, when I won the DVD.

I chose that DVD because of the title and what I could potentially use it for.  The title is, “Baby, Toddler, and Preschool Sign Language”.   I work with children in several capacities and I liked the idea of learning some sign language just in case I needed to know it in the future.  I was so excited when i got the DVD because, just watching it I could see the passion and the commitment that Louise had for teaching sign language to children and their families.

Bravery came over me and I approached Louise about doing an interview with me so that I could blog about what she does through her workshops, her speaking engagements and through her DVD’s.   Louise agreed to do that and I thought that I would share the news of what she does because it helps so many people.  By teaching sign language as a way of communicating it allows families to be more effective in advocating for their special needs loved ones.

http://www.signingfamilies.com/ caters to those who live and work with individuals with special education needs.  Signing isn’t just for the deaf communities…people who struggle with many issues of disability can benefit from communicating through sign language.   So if you work in education, in health- care, daycare, foster care, adoption, or you have a business or a family member who is impacted…this is a great way to brush up your communication skills so that you can strengthen your ability to communicate effectively in your relationships.

If you would like to contact Louise Sattler about her programs & her work she can be reached at Louise@SigningFamilies.com; or, you can contact her to do a workshop, give an interview or a presentation by calling her business line at:               410-715-9647       .    Louise is also on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Louiseasl . She is very down to earth and she also teaches in Spanish-she is bi-lingual.  Ask her about her programs….tell her that Writewhereyouare sent you and you will get a discount.    You can purchase her DVD’s at her site:  http://www.SigningFamilies.com/  or here on Amazon. com: http://bit.ly/913i5/. 

Ps.

  You can always stop by and see me also at:  http://www.writewhereyouareblog.com/ .

         Every family that faces issues in raising special needs children finds themselves learning how to do it in a way that is workable for their particular family.  No one can go to a doctor or a website and find a perfect way of coping that is workable for each and every person in that situation.  There is often no right way to do it.  Many times in raising our children we have to learn as we go.  Sometimes what worked the day before no longer works and we must adjust our technique.

         This book showcases the emotional and the practical side of parenting challenged children.  It is real and gut wrenching and truthful.  The physical difficulties that parents face as their special needs child grows and their abilities do not.  The doctor appointments that reveal multiple challenges that were unexpected.  The public perceptions that both hinder and inspire progress.  Siblings that are supportive and friends and relatives that are not.  Relationships that support each other and relationships that flounder under the strain.  Moments of denial and acceptance.   Judgements and advice by people who have no real idea of what it takes to raise a special needs child successfully.   Parenting is a strange mixture of courage and fear…searching for answers that we are sometimes unwilling to accept.  These are issues that we all find ourselves in when parenting special needs children.

           Often times, parents of special needs children feel isolated.  It is a fine balance of looking for opportunities to socialize and educate our children in environments that will impose no further harm or damage upon our children.  This book is a validation of so many issues, that we face, that it is somewhat comforting to know that we are not alone in our struggles.  It is a book worth reading.  It was written by Suzanne Kamata who is a fiction writer for an online magazine, Literary Mama.  The publisher is Beacon Press; their website is:  www.beacon.org and the book was copyrighted in 2008