Tishia’s Thoughts

I had a flashback, so I’m writing it out by writing a letter.

To: Everybody whom has ever asked me to smile.

Please don’t ask me to smile. I hate it.

When I was little, I had to do things and I cried when I did those things. Now they couldn’t have that. I must smile. Even if I didn’t feel like it, I must smile. They put their thumbs in my mouth and stretched my cheeks so far it stung and they put duck tape on my cheeks so that I was always smiling even though I was crying. I shut my eyes so I couldn’t “hear” or see them. They made me keep my eyes open when they put some tape on my lids so they stay open. Now I’m a good little girl. I’m naked and they do it to me. I was finally a “good little girl” because I had to learn to smile for the camera.

So, please, when I do not feel like smiling, don’t tell me “oh come on, you’ll feel better if you smile.” I just don’t like it a bit. Now maybe you’ll see why it offends me so much being asked to smile. I will smile only when I feel like it.

Regards-

Tishia Chambers

I’ve had lots going on. But I plan to start periodically updating my blog again soon.

Ella Eakins is coming to Springfield!

Ella Eakins, President of Missouri Association of the Deaf (MoAD), will be in Springfield Saturday, May 9. Pres. Ella wants to listen and talk with you about mental health services and other issues for Deaf Missourians. This is a great time to share and listen to what is happening in the State of Missouri. She is very interested in hearing from people in Southwest Missouri. Everyone is invited!

Place: Longhorn Grill
Time: 10:00a.m.-1:00p.m.
Food and drinks available from the menu.
No interpreting services are provided.

Someone pinch me! Both of my babies are napping at the same time! Wow! I’m on here without a baby hanging off my arm and I don’t know what to do with myself. *smile* So I thought I would take a minute to post to my blog. My husband is still searching for a job and I’m both sad and happy to say that we have applied for food stamps. Some of you already know the crazy things we went through to get my son onto special needs Medicaid+. So I was dreading what it would take to sign up for food stamps because we got turned down for unemployment. It took quite a while because we needed, among other things, two character references and it took me weeks to find somebody willing to be my reference. It’s so sad that so many people say they will help you, just call them when you need it and when you do take them up on that offer, it turns out they didn’t mean it or that help came with conditions. I strive to help others to the best of my ability. I’d like to remind all of you to also look out for your friends and neighbors. Do you have a friend who needs a babysitter so she can job hunt? Offer to take her kid for one day a week. Do you have a neighbor that you know to be struggling to feed both her pets and herself? Leave a huge bag of pet food sitting by his front door for him to discover in the morning. Do you have a friend of a friend at church that has trouble feeding her family? Discreetly mail that family a gift card to the grocery store. All of those small gestures can and will have huge impacts on their lives. I’ve either done these or had those done for me and the small act of kindness had huge rewards. In my case, the small gesture was a mere signature and phone number on my application to the food stamp office. I just found out we were approved. I am sad we are now on welfare/government aid, but thrilled that now I can continue to buy food for my family and bless others with baked goods and meals.

I know the economy is very unstable at the moment, but does that mean your giving has to suffer? Only you can answer that question for yourself. As for me… well, that’s between me and God. *wink*

The deaf community have decided on a sign name for Obama. You can see Kirsti’s vlog here where she tells all about it. You hearies, it is captioned.

It’s about the cost of food. Go vote on what you think the maximum cost a frugal meal should be. *NOT a normal meal, but a thrifty meal*
http://cheapchow.wordpress.com

I thought that I would share about Wigglebutt’s delays; more specifically, his physical development. I still am waiting on the results of what kind of delays he has in speech, occupational, fine motor skills, and cognitive areas. He will have a different therapist for each of these, in addition to the evaluations for him to be fitted with leg braces. I will share more as I get his results in the other areas. He already has physical, cognitive, and in-home occupational therapists established and we call them “his special friends” that he gets to play with.

For now, I will share what I have discovered about his physical ability. He is 30 months old and he is physically like a 15 month old. Here is the broken down list that the physical therapist provided me with.

Locomotion skills:

• 15 month level: Creep down three steps backwards without support – Fail
• 15 month level: Walk up four steps without support – Fail
• 16 month level: Walk 10 feet quickly – Pass, with limitations for it wasn’t in a straight line
• 16 month level: Walk backwards 5 steps while pulling something – Fail
• 17 month level: With support only from adult’s finger, walk down four steps – Fail
• 17 month level: Walk backward 5 steps without support – Fail
• 18 month level: Run forward 10 feet – Fail
• 18 month level: Stand on curb with one foot in front of other – Fail
• 19 month level: Walk sideways for 10 feet, leading with same foot – Fail
• 20 month level: Jump at least 2 inches off the ground and both feet leaving ground together – Fail
• 21 month level: Jump forward 4 inches without falling – Fail
• 22 month level: Jump down off step without assistance – Fail
• 24 month level: Walk up 4 steps without touching rails or walls – N/A Knew he couldn’t
• 25 month level: walk down 4 steps without touching rails or walls – N/A Knew he couldn’t
• 26 month level: Walk backward 10 feet- N/A (this is a goal we want to reach)
• 27 month level: Jumps up while reaching to touch toy 2 inches above standing reach – this is a goal we want to reach.
• 27 month level: Walk up 4 steps while placing one foot on each step (we’ll worry about this later)
• 28 month level: Jump down from object 16 inches high without assistance (later)
• 29 month level: With hands on hips and without heels touching floor at all, walk on tiptoes for 5 feet (Later)
• 30 months old: Runs 30 feet (Later)

Reflexes and Manipulating Skills:

• 15 months level: Throws tennis or other 3 inch ball by extending arm at shoulder or elbow – Fail
• 16 months level: Lifts foot to make contact with a soccer or other 8 inch ball – Fail
• 17 month level: Maintaining balance: throw tennis or other 3 inch ball ball by extending arm – Fail
• 18 month level: Kick ball forward 3 feet – Fail
• 19 month level: Throw small ball overhead 3 feet before it touches floor – Fail
• 20 month level: Throw small ball underhand 3 feet forward before it touches floor – Fail
• 21 month level: Extending arms directly in front, palms facing upward or each other, attempts to catch ball – Fail
• 22 month level: Initiates overhand throw by moving arm upward and back; small ball travels 7 feet before touching floor – Fail
• 23 month level: Using opposing arm an leg movements and initiating kick by extending leg back with bent knee, kicks ball forward 6 feet – Fail
• 24 month level: Catch ball with arms extended – Fail
• 25-30 month level: Using an underhand toss, hits target with small ball – Fail
• 25-30 month level: With arms bent and palms facing each other, catches ball with hands – Fail

Wow, it’s sobering to see how he should be able to move at his age. There’s a lot of work to do and that is the sort of thing they work on in his physical therapy sessions and they tell me to work on it at home too. For example, to get Wigglebutt to do the side to side steps, take his hands and tell him we’re dancing! They said it would take a little bit for him to catch on and it could take longer if it turns out he needs leg braces to correct the way he moves his legs as he walks. We (my husband and I) will work harder on making games with balls seem more fun for him to improve his seemingly nonexistent reflexes. This is the kid who does not flinch when a ball is thrown at him! He even failed the 8 month old level reflex tests, where they had him sit down and they came up behind him and shoved him to see if he would fling his arms up in front of him to plant on the floor. He didn’t. The other 8 month old level test was the same in reverse- they shoved him from the front to see if he would fling his extended arms backwards to plant on the floor. He didn’t… but his sister did! I took the chart home with me and did all the same tests on Snicklebritches. She comes out to the 13 month old level, which is a little over 2 months ahead and makes the two of them very close in ability. For now. I hope with therapy, Wigglebutt will shoot off the charts and go way ahead of her, where he should be.

Dear Springfield Deaf Community,

Shawn and I will be returning to Springfield on February 4th from 6:30pmto 8:30 pm at the Library for Legislative and systems advocacy training. We will focus on the legislative process, how to talk with legislators and their staff, the elements of good talking points and other methods of effective advocacy. This will help you prepare to voice your concerns and advocate for appropriate services in mental health.

If you are planning to attend, please RSVP to Jeff Prail: Jprail(at)paraquad(dot)org

We look forward to seeing you all again.

Jeff Prail
Paraquad, Inc.
Coordinator of Deaf and
Hard of Hearing Services
Voice: 314-289-4254
Videophone: 1-866-765-1160
Fax: 314-289-4201
E-mail: JPrail(at)Paraquad(dot)org