Re: Introduction

[Guest guest]

Hi,

We have an audiologist, but she is not part of the school district. I

submitted her report, with recommendations such as using the FM system,

using visual cues, and making sure that instructions are understood, to my

son's IEP meeting last Friday. The committee bypassed the report until I

asked to read the recommendations. I then asked that they be included in the

IEP, but was told that the recomendations were not appropriate for an IEP. I

was told to discuss them individually with the therapists. The problem is, I

have discussed them, and nothing ever happens! Why wouldn't those

recommendations be appropriate for an IEP? I really don't understand the

process very well, it seems.

I don't know the acronyms all that well. I don't know what Auditory Verbal

is, for example. My son has normal expressive speech in that he uses 5 and 6

word sentences, and has normal vocabulary. However, his articulation is very

poor, meaning that most people can't understand him. That leads to social

delays of course, because the other kids don't want to try to relate to him.

He has a speech therapist working on the articulation issues.

I'm also wondering how kids with poor phonemic awareness ever learn to read.

Elias cannot distiguish between " m " and " n " for example. The kindergarten

that he will be attending in another year is very phonics-heavy. I cannot

imagine him learning to read that way. He is an very visual learner.

Generally, what do you guys do to get your kids ready to read when they

can't hear that well?

thanks,

Bonnie

>

> Welcome Bonnie, You and your son have already been through so much to get

> to this point! (I was a nurse in a children's hospital for much of my

> career) Glad you found us and hope we can be a good support for you. Does

> your child use oral or manual communication?? We did Auditory Verbal and

> they stress mainstreaming so the child can have good language and social

> models for classmates. My youngest child has a mod-severe loss and we have

> always mainstreamed her.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

We have an audiologist, but she is not part of the school district. I

submitted her report, with recommendations such as using the FM system,

using visual cues, and making sure that instructions are understood, to my

son's IEP meeting last Friday. The committee bypassed the report until I

asked to read the recommendations. I then asked that they be included in the

IEP, but was told that the recomendations were not appropriate for an IEP. I

was told to discuss them individually with the therapists. The problem is, I

have discussed them, and nothing ever happens! Why wouldn't those

recommendations be appropriate for an IEP? I really don't understand the

process very well, it seems.

I don't know the acronyms all that well. I don't know what Auditory Verbal

is, for example. My son has normal expressive speech in that he uses 5 and 6

word sentences, and has normal vocabulary. However, his articulation is very

poor, meaning that most people can't understand him. That leads to social

delays of course, because the other kids don't want to try to relate to him.

He has a speech therapist working on the articulation issues.

I'm also wondering how kids with poor phonemic awareness ever learn to read.

Elias cannot distiguish between " m " and " n " for example. The kindergarten

that he will be attending in another year is very phonics-heavy. I cannot

imagine him learning to read that way. He is an very visual learner.

Generally, what do you guys do to get your kids ready to read when they

can't hear that well?

thanks,

Bonnie

>

> Welcome Bonnie, You and your son have already been through so much to get

> to this point! (I was a nurse in a children's hospital for much of my

> career) Glad you found us and hope we can be a good support for you. Does

> your child use oral or manual communication?? We did Auditory Verbal and

> they stress mainstreaming so the child can have good language and social

> models for classmates. My youngest child has a mod-severe loss and we have

> always mainstreamed her.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Bonnie,

I'm Kerry, Mom to Hadley who is 4 1/2 years old and wears hearing aids

for her severe bilateral hearing loss. For the last year, she has

attended our town's integrated preschool. I did not think it was a

match for a bunch of reasons, but especially because the majority of the

kids in the program are there for myriad speech and language delays. I

wanted Hadley to be around kids who would challenge her speaking skills

(she is above age level), and feared that the language level that the

teachers used would be too simplistic. She started out in a private

preschool and we pulled her out of there after six months (long story)

and into the town's integrated program, as it was our only other option

at the time (all other private programs were full). I have loved this

program for her. Even though she is in a class this year with two

non-verbal children (for non hearing reasons) and has several other

classmates who have significant language delays, Hadley thrives in the

classroom. Since the teacher and aides are all specifically trained in

children with special needs, it has been easy for them to transfer their

skills to Hadley's needs, and they are quick to educate themselves on

issues for kids with hearing loss. She has flourished in the room and I

am happy that she will be returning to it again next year (she misses

the kindergarten cut off).

Your concerns exactly mirror mine two years ago when I decided the

program was not for her. They have proved me wrong. I was able to

observe several times and really get a feel for the classroom, their

transitions, and the personality of the adults in the room. And they

have been willing to learn whatever they need to help Hadley. It's been

a great success all around.

Good luck with this next hurdle. Elias sounds like a pretty incredible

kid!

Kerry

introduction

HI,

I just joined this list. I am a mom to two boys, ages 6 and 4. My

younger child, Elias, is a cancer survivor. He was treated for Stage IV

neuroblastoma when he was 2. He did very high dose chemo, which has

resulted in " moderate-to-severe " high frequency hearing loss in both

ears. He wears digital hearing aids on both ears. In addition, he has

motor delays due to low muscle tone.

He is under an IEP, and receives speech therapy, occupational therapy,

physical therapy, and a " special education itinerant teacher " for

several hours each week in his preschool. The school district is

encouraging me to consider an integrated special ed preschool for next

year. The one I am looking at has non-IEP and IEP students at about a

50-50 ratio. My concern is that they don't deal specifically with kids

with hearing loss. That has been a problem this year too - only his

speech therapist seems to have much knowledge about hearing loss. The

reason the district is recommending the program is because Elias has a

lot of social delays (cognitively, he is on track). But I am quite

certain that his social delays are due to the hearing loss, speech

articulation problems, and probably also due to far too much time spent

inpatient at Sloan-Kettering.

In general, is it better to go with a special preschool, even if it is

more oriented to kids on the autistic spectrum, or stick with his

regular preschool and support services?

I am sure I will have more questions in the future!

--

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My 5 yr. old son, Tyler, has a long list of issues from being profoundly deaf

to being on the autism spectrum. When it was time to transition him to preschool

from EI services our district decided that they could serve his needs better

than a school for deaf children. I was very hesitant as he was the only child

with a hearing loss at that time in the district and is still the only one with

a cochlear implant. He is in a district integrated preschool adn he has done

exceptionally well. They have been very responsive to all of my suggestions and

have done a great job at meeting his needs. He receives 30 minutes of OT and PT

each week, 1 1/2 hours of speech therapy and 2 hours of teacher of the deaf

services. Next year in Kindergarten his services with the TOD will increase

tremendously. I don't know yet about his speech as he will be getting a new SLP

next year. I will find out next Tuesday at his transition meeting what his

services will be for speech. Everyone one his

team has been great about learning all they can about hearing loss, sign

language and cochlear implants. Tyler loves going to school. Anyone, I don't

know if that answers your questions or not but that has been my experience.

Debi

Bonnie MacKellar wrote:

HI,

I just joined this list. I am a mom to two boys, ages 6 and 4. My younger

child, Elias, is a cancer survivor. He was treated for Stage IV

neuroblastoma when he was 2. He did very high dose chemo, which has resulted

in " moderate-to-severe " high frequency hearing loss in both ears. He wears

digital hearing aids on both ears. In addition, he has motor delays due to

low muscle tone.

He is under an IEP, and receives speech therapy, occupational therapy,

physical therapy, and a " special education itinerant teacher " for several

hours each week in his preschool. The school district is encouraging me to

consider an integrated special ed preschool for next year. The one I am

looking at has non-IEP and IEP students at about a 50-50 ratio. My concern

is that they don't deal specifically with kids with hearing loss. That has

been a problem this year too - only his speech therapist seems to have much

knowledge about hearing loss. The reason the district is recommending the

program is because Elias has a lot of social delays (cognitively, he is on

track). But I am quite certain that his social delays are due to the hearing

loss, speech articulation problems, and probably also due to far too much

time spent inpatient at Sloan-Kettering.

In general, is it better to go with a special preschool, even if it is more

oriented to kids on the autistic spectrum, or stick with his regular

preschool and support services?

I am sure I will have more questions in the future!

--

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My 5 yr. old son, Tyler, has a long list of issues from being profoundly deaf

to being on the autism spectrum. When it was time to transition him to preschool

from EI services our district decided that they could serve his needs better

than a school for deaf children. I was very hesitant as he was the only child

with a hearing loss at that time in the district and is still the only one with

a cochlear implant. He is in a district integrated preschool adn he has done

exceptionally well. They have been very responsive to all of my suggestions and

have done a great job at meeting his needs. He receives 30 minutes of OT and PT

each week, 1 1/2 hours of speech therapy and 2 hours of teacher of the deaf

services. Next year in Kindergarten his services with the TOD will increase

tremendously. I don't know yet about his speech as he will be getting a new SLP

next year. I will find out next Tuesday at his transition meeting what his

services will be for speech. Everyone one his

team has been great about learning all they can about hearing loss, sign

language and cochlear implants. Tyler loves going to school. Anyone, I don't

know if that answers your questions or not but that has been my experience.

Debi

Bonnie MacKellar wrote:

HI,

I just joined this list. I am a mom to two boys, ages 6 and 4. My younger

child, Elias, is a cancer survivor. He was treated for Stage IV

neuroblastoma when he was 2. He did very high dose chemo, which has resulted

in " moderate-to-severe " high frequency hearing loss in both ears. He wears

digital hearing aids on both ears. In addition, he has motor delays due to

low muscle tone.

He is under an IEP, and receives speech therapy, occupational therapy,

physical therapy, and a " special education itinerant teacher " for several

hours each week in his preschool. The school district is encouraging me to

consider an integrated special ed preschool for next year. The one I am

looking at has non-IEP and IEP students at about a 50-50 ratio. My concern

is that they don't deal specifically with kids with hearing loss. That has

been a problem this year too - only his speech therapist seems to have much

knowledge about hearing loss. The reason the district is recommending the

program is because Elias has a lot of social delays (cognitively, he is on

track). But I am quite certain that his social delays are due to the hearing

loss, speech articulation problems, and probably also due to far too much

time spent inpatient at Sloan-Kettering.

In general, is it better to go with a special preschool, even if it is more

oriented to kids on the autistic spectrum, or stick with his regular

preschool and support services?

I am sure I will have more questions in the future!

--

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

We had the same reservations about our 4 yr old Hailey being in a special ed

preschool class. Alot of the kids in her class had greater hearing loss then

hers and used alot more sign them she does. We were worried that even with one

on one speech she wouldn't get the exposure to normal speech she should. Boy was

I wrong. She's flourished greatly in both her speech and her sign use. She

mainly uses her speech but when she gets stuck she knows she can sign. As we

were considering options for next years placement, we really wanted more

oppritunity for her to be with her non disabled peers. However we were reserved

about putting her in a community based program with only speech pull out, as she

seems to learn new words by first mastering the sign for a word and then

attempting to reproduce the sounds to form the word. So, at her IEP we asked it

would be possible to put her in a community based program 3 days a week with

speech pull out as well as keeping her in her current SE

preschool the other two days also with speech pull out. Her OT for her sensory

issues would still be delivered at her SE preschool. I figured they would shoot

me down in a heart beat saying that there wasn't enough money in the budget to

allow for such placement, and that if i had any reservation I should keep her in

the SE preschool program. I was amazed at the response I got. Everyone was

agreeable to the idea that I thought I was dreaming. They all thought that it

was the best placement for her to prepare her for kndergarden in the 07-08

school year. Our hope is to mainstream her at that time, and the school is open

to providing her with a interpretor if we feel she needs it at that time. So I

con honestly say Hailey is getting the best of both worlds. Then again it may

help that I work for our Special Ed Co-op and they know i know my rights,

becasue i have personally be schooled in student-parent rights by them. Just

thought I'd put our story out there to show

others that there are more then 2 options. You just have to be creative and

stick to your guns. Oh and so that you know, the school is also paying for her

community based preschool.

Selena

Mom to:

8 1/2, LD

7, DSI, Kidney issues and Child Onset Bipolar Disorder

6, ODD, ADHD, LD

5, DSI and Physcomotor Eppliepsy

Hailey 4, DSI, and Severe Bilatereal Sensory-neural Hearing Loss (aided

6-4-05)

and the 16 wonderful special ed kids I teach everyday! Go NORTHWOOD!!!!!!

---------------------------------

Get amazing travel prices for air and hotel in one click on Yahoo! FareChase

[Guest guest]

We had the same reservations about our 4 yr old Hailey being in a special ed

preschool class. Alot of the kids in her class had greater hearing loss then

hers and used alot more sign them she does. We were worried that even with one

on one speech she wouldn't get the exposure to normal speech she should. Boy was

I wrong. She's flourished greatly in both her speech and her sign use. She

mainly uses her speech but when she gets stuck she knows she can sign. As we

were considering options for next years placement, we really wanted more

oppritunity for her to be with her non disabled peers. However we were reserved

about putting her in a community based program with only speech pull out, as she

seems to learn new words by first mastering the sign for a word and then

attempting to reproduce the sounds to form the word. So, at her IEP we asked it

would be possible to put her in a community based program 3 days a week with

speech pull out as well as keeping her in her current SE

preschool the other two days also with speech pull out. Her OT for her sensory

issues would still be delivered at her SE preschool. I figured they would shoot

me down in a heart beat saying that there wasn't enough money in the budget to

allow for such placement, and that if i had any reservation I should keep her in

the SE preschool program. I was amazed at the response I got. Everyone was

agreeable to the idea that I thought I was dreaming. They all thought that it

was the best placement for her to prepare her for kndergarden in the 07-08

school year. Our hope is to mainstream her at that time, and the school is open

to providing her with a interpretor if we feel she needs it at that time. So I

con honestly say Hailey is getting the best of both worlds. Then again it may

help that I work for our Special Ed Co-op and they know i know my rights,

becasue i have personally be schooled in student-parent rights by them. Just

thought I'd put our story out there to show

others that there are more then 2 options. You just have to be creative and

stick to your guns. Oh and so that you know, the school is also paying for her

community based preschool.

Selena

Mom to:

8 1/2, LD

7, DSI, Kidney issues and Child Onset Bipolar Disorder

6, ODD, ADHD, LD

5, DSI and Physcomotor Eppliepsy

Hailey 4, DSI, and Severe Bilatereal Sensory-neural Hearing Loss (aided

6-4-05)

and the 16 wonderful special ed kids I teach everyday! Go NORTHWOOD!!!!!!

---------------------------------

Get amazing travel prices for air and hotel in one click on Yahoo! FareChase

[Guest guest]

Welcome, Bonnie!

First off - your little guy sounds like such a fighter! I'm sure that he's

got an irrepressible spirit. :-)

As far as the preschool: I would honestly recommend an on-site visitation

for you (preferably two) to the school that the district is recommending.

Most of the classrooms have setups where it is possible to observe without

the children realizing that you're there. Getting a feel for how the school

operates may help you to make your decision. Our also was pushed in

the direction of his EIP preschool due to social and speech delays, and it

did help him tremendously (his hearing loss wasn't diagnosed until he was in

kindergarten). He went from shying away from his teacher at the beginning

of his first year to out and out *tackling* her at the school's Open House

Night at the beginning of his second year (this was after he hadn't seen her

for 12 weeks). In retrospect, I really wish we had had him in his

Montessori preschool for both preschool years, but hindsight is 20/20

(academically, he got much more out of his Montessori curriculum).

Even though most of us here have children who make use of special education

services of one type of another, I don't think any of us would disagree with

the fact that our collective experiences with the system have varied

greatly. One additional (or several other) resource you may want to tap, if

you haven't done so already, is talk to your son's pediatrican and/or other

specialists to see what their recommendations would be.

Hugs to you,

Kris

Mom to (7 y.o., Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (6 y.o.,

hearing)

_____

From: Listen-Up [mailto:Listen-Up ] On Behalf

Of Bonnie MacKellar

Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 1:09 PM

To: Listen-Up

Subject: introduction

HI,

I just joined this list. I am a mom to two boys, ages 6 and 4. My younger

child, Elias, is a cancer survivor. He was treated for Stage IV

neuroblastoma when he was 2. He did very high dose chemo, which has resulted

in " moderate-to-severe " high frequency hearing loss in both ears. He wears

digital hearing aids on both ears. In addition, he has motor delays due to

low muscle tone.

He is under an IEP, and receives speech therapy, occupational therapy,

physical therapy, and a " special education itinerant teacher " for several

hours each week in his preschool. The school district is encouraging me to

consider an integrated special ed preschool for next year. The one I am

looking at has non-IEP and IEP students at about a 50-50 ratio. My concern

is that they don't deal specifically with kids with hearing loss. That has

been a problem this year too - only his speech therapist seems to have much

knowledge about hearing loss. The reason the district is recommending the

program is because Elias has a lot of social delays (cognitively, he is on

track). But I am quite certain that his social delays are due to the hearing

loss, speech articulation problems, and probably also due to far too much

time spent inpatient at Sloan-Kettering.

In general, is it better to go with a special preschool, even if it is more

oriented to kids on the autistic spectrum, or stick with his regular

preschool and support services?

I am sure I will have more questions in the future!

--

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

Welcome, Bonnie!

First off - your little guy sounds like such a fighter! I'm sure that he's

got an irrepressible spirit. :-)

As far as the preschool: I would honestly recommend an on-site visitation

for you (preferably two) to the school that the district is recommending.

Most of the classrooms have setups where it is possible to observe without

the children realizing that you're there. Getting a feel for how the school

operates may help you to make your decision. Our also was pushed in

the direction of his EIP preschool due to social and speech delays, and it

did help him tremendously (his hearing loss wasn't diagnosed until he was in

kindergarten). He went from shying away from his teacher at the beginning

of his first year to out and out *tackling* her at the school's Open House

Night at the beginning of his second year (this was after he hadn't seen her

for 12 weeks). In retrospect, I really wish we had had him in his

Montessori preschool for both preschool years, but hindsight is 20/20

(academically, he got much more out of his Montessori curriculum).

Even though most of us here have children who make use of special education

services of one type of another, I don't think any of us would disagree with

the fact that our collective experiences with the system have varied

greatly. One additional (or several other) resource you may want to tap, if

you haven't done so already, is talk to your son's pediatrican and/or other

specialists to see what their recommendations would be.

Hugs to you,

Kris

Mom to (7 y.o., Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (6 y.o.,

hearing)

_____

From: Listen-Up [mailto:Listen-Up ] On Behalf

Of Bonnie MacKellar

Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2006 1:09 PM

To: Listen-Up

Subject: introduction

HI,

I just joined this list. I am a mom to two boys, ages 6 and 4. My younger

child, Elias, is a cancer survivor. He was treated for Stage IV

neuroblastoma when he was 2. He did very high dose chemo, which has resulted

in " moderate-to-severe " high frequency hearing loss in both ears. He wears

digital hearing aids on both ears. In addition, he has motor delays due to

low muscle tone.

He is under an IEP, and receives speech therapy, occupational therapy,

physical therapy, and a " special education itinerant teacher " for several

hours each week in his preschool. The school district is encouraging me to

consider an integrated special ed preschool for next year. The one I am

looking at has non-IEP and IEP students at about a 50-50 ratio. My concern

is that they don't deal specifically with kids with hearing loss. That has

been a problem this year too - only his speech therapist seems to have much

knowledge about hearing loss. The reason the district is recommending the

program is because Elias has a lot of social delays (cognitively, he is on

track). But I am quite certain that his social delays are due to the hearing

loss, speech articulation problems, and probably also due to far too much

time spent inpatient at Sloan-Kettering.

In general, is it better to go with a special preschool, even if it is more

oriented to kids on the autistic spectrum, or stick with his regular

preschool and support services?

I am sure I will have more questions in the future!

--

Bonnie

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your story. I think this program is similar in that it is

for

kids with speech delays, not specific to hearing loss. One difference is

that

we are really happy with Elias's current preschool setting. He has been

there

since he was a baby (it is a childcare center) and the teachers know him

really well. That makes a difference, because they knew him before he

got sick, and are able to tell which behaviors might be due to hearing loss

or his low muscle tone, and which behaviors are just, um, Elias.

So it is a case of deciding whether it is better to have teachers who are

trained in working with special needs, but don't know Elias well, or if it

is better to have teachers who have that longterm history with him.

Bonnie

>

> Hi Bonnie,

> I'm Kerry, Mom to Hadley who is 4 1/2 years old and wears hearing aids

> for her severe bilateral hearing loss. For the last year, she has

> attended our town's integrated preschool.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your story. I think this program is similar in that it is

for

kids with speech delays, not specific to hearing loss. One difference is

that

we are really happy with Elias's current preschool setting. He has been

there

since he was a baby (it is a childcare center) and the teachers know him

really well. That makes a difference, because they knew him before he

got sick, and are able to tell which behaviors might be due to hearing loss

or his low muscle tone, and which behaviors are just, um, Elias.

So it is a case of deciding whether it is better to have teachers who are

trained in working with special needs, but don't know Elias well, or if it

is better to have teachers who have that longterm history with him.

Bonnie

>

> Hi Bonnie,

> I'm Kerry, Mom to Hadley who is 4 1/2 years old and wears hearing aids

> for her severe bilateral hearing loss. For the last year, she has

> attended our town's integrated preschool.

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

We are planning on visiting the program. I wouldn't choose anything without

having

a pretty good understanding of how the program works. It is a big decision

because

once we make the switch, we can't go back. There is a year waiting list for

Elias's

current preschool.

Our pediatrician has no input on his special needs. In general,

pediatricians are

not trained for this sort of thing. His oncologist has published papers on

the

hearing loss effects of the treatment, but has no real understanding of what

hearing

loss means either. His medical needs are really complex, so we choose

doctors

who are expert in those areas, and leave the special needs to other

providers.

thanks!

Bonnie

>

> Welcome, Bonnie!

> n't done so already, is talk to your son's pediatrican and/or other

> specialists to see what their recommendations would be.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

We are planning on visiting the program. I wouldn't choose anything without

having

a pretty good understanding of how the program works. It is a big decision

because

once we make the switch, we can't go back. There is a year waiting list for

Elias's

current preschool.

Our pediatrician has no input on his special needs. In general,

pediatricians are

not trained for this sort of thing. His oncologist has published papers on

the

hearing loss effects of the treatment, but has no real understanding of what

hearing

loss means either. His medical needs are really complex, so we choose

doctors

who are expert in those areas, and leave the special needs to other

providers.

thanks!

Bonnie

>

> Welcome, Bonnie!

> n't done so already, is talk to your son's pediatrican and/or other

> specialists to see what their recommendations would be.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome ! You seem to have such a good attitude - your post really

stressed all the positives about your daughter. She sounds like a terrific kid

and I bet she has your upbeat attitude. in GA

[Guest guest]

,

There are lots of wonderful websites out there and groups like this

one for ADHD and LD's. It helps with the LD's to know which type you are looking

at. For it's reading related, for it's Math realted. Each child is

diffrent. I don't have alot of time at this exact moment to give you a list of

places to vist right now as i have to be back at the school here shortly as one

of my students is in the spring musical. I will however tomarrow email you a

list of good sites to start with. Glad to be of help.

Selena

Mom to:

8 1/2, LD

7, DSI, Kidney issues and Child Onset Bipolar Disorder

6, ODD, ADHD, LD

5, DSI and Physcomotor Eppliepsy

Hailey 4, DSI, and Severe Bilatereal Sensory-neural Hearing Loss (aided

6-4-05)

and the 16 wonderful special ed kids I teach everyday! Go NORTHWOOD!!!!!!

---------------------------------

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.

[Guest guest]

,

There are lots of wonderful websites out there and groups like this

one for ADHD and LD's. It helps with the LD's to know which type you are looking

at. For it's reading related, for it's Math realted. Each child is

diffrent. I don't have alot of time at this exact moment to give you a list of

places to vist right now as i have to be back at the school here shortly as one

of my students is in the spring musical. I will however tomarrow email you a

list of good sites to start with. Glad to be of help.

Selena

Mom to:

8 1/2, LD

7, DSI, Kidney issues and Child Onset Bipolar Disorder

6, ODD, ADHD, LD

5, DSI and Physcomotor Eppliepsy

Hailey 4, DSI, and Severe Bilatereal Sensory-neural Hearing Loss (aided

6-4-05)

and the 16 wonderful special ed kids I teach everyday! Go NORTHWOOD!!!!!!

---------------------------------

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. PC-to-Phone calls for ridiculously low rates.

[Guest guest]

Hi - what a nice note about your daughter! I'm Barbara, mom to

Tom (13) and Sam (11). Tom just six months ago had surgery for his

cochlear implant - he feels it's the best thing he's ever done (his

words). Tom has a severe/profound loss that got worse in the past

year. My younger son, Sam, has a profound loss. We're hoping that he

will have his implant surgery May 10 - please pray to the Anthem

(insurance) gods for me! Sam currently wears two hearing aids. Both

boys are mainstreamed in our town's public schools. Oh FWIW, my son's

implant is in his right ear - he wears his hearing aid in his left ear.

Tom is very interesting - in addition to his hearing loss, he has ADHD

and also a bit of LD (with writing). Tom's extremely smart but we did

hold him back and had him repeat first grade for a few reasons. First,

his hearing loss wasn't diagnosed until he was 3 - he didn't receive his

hearing aids until he was 3-1/2; second he was young for his age and

also very small; third, he was really immature socially. Tom's now in

7th grade and is doing really well - he has a nice group of friends,

he's having an excellent year in school and I think he feels as good

about himself as a 7th grader can feel! :-) So for us, it was a really

good decision.

Re: Tom's ADHD - it's so hard to rule out hearing loss vs. attentional

issues. Certainly if your child isn't hearing well, they could have

attentional issues but it's also very possible for a kid to have both

hearing loss and ADHD. How to tell? Were it me, if you guys have

chosen oral language for your daughter, I'd first make sure that she's

properly amplified - whether that means stronger hearing aids, an

implant, etc. Once you know she's hearing optimally, then I'd look into

ADHD and other LD problems. For Tom, the ADHD testing was in the form

of two surveys. We will out one for home; our school filled out another

so for Tom, it was pretty obvious that he has it. Even hearing better

with him implant, he still has ADHD although I will say as listening has

gotten easier for him, it's easier to focus because he's not as tired

from listening. It's been an interesting road! I don't know where you

live, but if you can find a neuropsychologist who also knows kids with

hearing loss who can test your daughter, that would be the ideal. We've

done that for both our boys and it was invaluable.

I'm glad you found us...

Take care

Barbara

Alvarez wrote:

> Hi,

> My name is Alvarez. I have 3 children; Alyanna 7, severe-profound

hearing loss; 4, hearing & 1, hearing. First of all, I would like

to say this is amazing. It feels good knowing there is so much support out

there.

>

> Let me tell a little (I hope) about my daughter. Alyanna passed the hearing

test when she born, but had alot of ear infections from newborn till she was

one. I kept pushing the fact to her pediatrician that my daughter wouldn't

respond to my voice, unless I clapped my hand very loud or yelled her name. He

then send me to an ENT. The ENT recommended ear tubes since she had alot of

fluid in her ears. After the tubes I still insisted that my daughter would not

respond. They finally send us to get another hearing test, which confirmed that

she had severe-profound loss in one ear and moderate-severe on the other. She is

now 7 and in 1st grade.She is in a regular class, but gets pulled out for

Language Arts. There is about 7 kids in her class that are hearing impared, but

the entire class use sign language and verbal communication. She is doing great

in some of her work but not so good in others....actually they only problem is

in reading and understading what she just read.

> Alyanna goes to an excellent school that had a great DHH program, but at her

last IEP they were actually considering on keeping her in 1st grade. I wasn't

too pleased with the idea just because I didn't feel it was necessay to repeat

an entire grade for one subject. I really don't know what to do. I feel that she

tries so hard but is not getting it, but everything else she is amazing. I'm

actually thinking in looking for a tutor with experience with hearing loss and

getting her speech therapy. If anyone has any suggestions I'm very open to them.

>

> Also, I went for a follow up with her audiologist a couple of weeks ago and

she mentioned the fact that one ear is getting worst than the other (she has

over 90% hearing loss on her right ear). She said that when she gets older she

might not even want to bother with a hearing aide on that ear since it doesn't

help much. I asked her about cochlear implants but she said she doesn't know if

they do it in just one ear. She said to do alot of research before getting it

done.

> Did I mention she also a great soccer player )

>

> I also wanted to ask Selena where can I get information regarding ADHD-LD. I

have a 14 year cousin that was diagnosed with it since she was little but we

feel there is more to it. The doctors also mentioned TMH.

>

> Thank you so much for getting to know my family and helping us with some

situations.

> God Bless!!!

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo!

Messenger with Voice.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi - what a nice note about your daughter! I'm Barbara, mom to

Tom (13) and Sam (11). Tom just six months ago had surgery for his

cochlear implant - he feels it's the best thing he's ever done (his

words). Tom has a severe/profound loss that got worse in the past

year. My younger son, Sam, has a profound loss. We're hoping that he

will have his implant surgery May 10 - please pray to the Anthem

(insurance) gods for me! Sam currently wears two hearing aids. Both

boys are mainstreamed in our town's public schools. Oh FWIW, my son's

implant is in his right ear - he wears his hearing aid in his left ear.

Tom is very interesting - in addition to his hearing loss, he has ADHD

and also a bit of LD (with writing). Tom's extremely smart but we did

hold him back and had him repeat first grade for a few reasons. First,

his hearing loss wasn't diagnosed until he was 3 - he didn't receive his

hearing aids until he was 3-1/2; second he was young for his age and

also very small; third, he was really immature socially. Tom's now in

7th grade and is doing really well - he has a nice group of friends,

he's having an excellent year in school and I think he feels as good

about himself as a 7th grader can feel! :-) So for us, it was a really

good decision.

Re: Tom's ADHD - it's so hard to rule out hearing loss vs. attentional

issues. Certainly if your child isn't hearing well, they could have

attentional issues but it's also very possible for a kid to have both

hearing loss and ADHD. How to tell? Were it me, if you guys have

chosen oral language for your daughter, I'd first make sure that she's

properly amplified - whether that means stronger hearing aids, an

implant, etc. Once you know she's hearing optimally, then I'd look into

ADHD and other LD problems. For Tom, the ADHD testing was in the form

of two surveys. We will out one for home; our school filled out another

so for Tom, it was pretty obvious that he has it. Even hearing better

with him implant, he still has ADHD although I will say as listening has

gotten easier for him, it's easier to focus because he's not as tired

from listening. It's been an interesting road! I don't know where you

live, but if you can find a neuropsychologist who also knows kids with

hearing loss who can test your daughter, that would be the ideal. We've

done that for both our boys and it was invaluable.

I'm glad you found us...

Take care

Barbara

Alvarez wrote:

> Hi,

> My name is Alvarez. I have 3 children; Alyanna 7, severe-profound

hearing loss; 4, hearing & 1, hearing. First of all, I would like

to say this is amazing. It feels good knowing there is so much support out

there.

>

> Let me tell a little (I hope) about my daughter. Alyanna passed the hearing

test when she born, but had alot of ear infections from newborn till she was

one. I kept pushing the fact to her pediatrician that my daughter wouldn't

respond to my voice, unless I clapped my hand very loud or yelled her name. He

then send me to an ENT. The ENT recommended ear tubes since she had alot of

fluid in her ears. After the tubes I still insisted that my daughter would not

respond. They finally send us to get another hearing test, which confirmed that

she had severe-profound loss in one ear and moderate-severe on the other. She is

now 7 and in 1st grade.She is in a regular class, but gets pulled out for

Language Arts. There is about 7 kids in her class that are hearing impared, but

the entire class use sign language and verbal communication. She is doing great

in some of her work but not so good in others....actually they only problem is

in reading and understading what she just read.

> Alyanna goes to an excellent school that had a great DHH program, but at her

last IEP they were actually considering on keeping her in 1st grade. I wasn't

too pleased with the idea just because I didn't feel it was necessay to repeat

an entire grade for one subject. I really don't know what to do. I feel that she

tries so hard but is not getting it, but everything else she is amazing. I'm

actually thinking in looking for a tutor with experience with hearing loss and

getting her speech therapy. If anyone has any suggestions I'm very open to them.

>

> Also, I went for a follow up with her audiologist a couple of weeks ago and

she mentioned the fact that one ear is getting worst than the other (she has

over 90% hearing loss on her right ear). She said that when she gets older she

might not even want to bother with a hearing aide on that ear since it doesn't

help much. I asked her about cochlear implants but she said she doesn't know if

they do it in just one ear. She said to do alot of research before getting it

done.

> Did I mention she also a great soccer player )

>

> I also wanted to ask Selena where can I get information regarding ADHD-LD. I

have a 14 year cousin that was diagnosed with it since she was little but we

feel there is more to it. The doctors also mentioned TMH.

>

> Thank you so much for getting to know my family and helping us with some

situations.

> God Bless!!!

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo!

Messenger with Voice.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Nice to hear from you, ! I wonder if your daughter's hearing loss was

caused by the meds she took during her ear infections . . . I am learning

more and more about ototoxic drugs. You might want to check them out, too.

Dr. Bauman is at another list I'm on, and he did extensive research on

them. It's scary.

Link to some info.: http://hearinglosshelp.com/weblog/?cat=2

Blessings,

Robin T. in NC

>

> Hi,

> My name is Alvarez. I have 3 children; Alyanna 7, severe-profound

> hearing loss; 4, hearing & 1, hearing. First of all, I would

> like to say this is amazing. It feels good knowing there is so much support

> out there.

>

> Let me tell a little (I hope) about my daughter. Alyanna passed the

> hearing test when she born, but had alot of ear infections from newborn till

> she was one. I kept pushing the fact to her pediatrician that my daughter

> wouldn't respond to my voice, unless I clapped my hand very loud or yelled

> her name. He then send me to an ENT. The ENT recommended ear tubes since she

> had alot of fluid in her ears. After the tubes I still insisted that my

> daughter would not respond. They finally send us to get another hearing

> test, which confirmed that she had severe-profound loss in one ear and

> moderate-severe on the other. She is now 7 and in 1st grade.She is in a

> regular class, but gets pulled out for Language Arts. There is about 7 kids

> in her class that are hearing impared, but the entire class use sign

> language and verbal communication. She is doing great in some of her work

> but not so good in others....actually they only problem is in reading and

> understading what she just read.

> Alyanna goes to an excellent school that had a great DHH program, but at

> her last IEP they were actually considering on keeping her in 1st grade. I

> wasn't too pleased with the idea just because I didn't feel it was necessay

> to repeat an entire grade for one subject. I really don't know what to do. I

> feel that she tries so hard but is not getting it, but everything else she

> is amazing. I'm actually thinking in looking for a tutor with experience

> with hearing loss and getting her speech therapy. If anyone has any

> suggestions I'm very open to them.

>

> Also, I went for a follow up with her audiologist a couple of weeks ago

> and she mentioned the fact that one ear is getting worst than the other (she

> has over 90% hearing loss on her right ear). She said that when she gets

> older she might not even want to bother with a hearing aide on that ear

> since it doesn't help much. I asked her about cochlear implants but she said

> she doesn't know if they do it in just one ear. She said to do alot of

> research before getting it done.

> Did I mention she also a great soccer player )

>

> I also wanted to ask Selena where can I get information regarding

> ADHD-LD. I have a 14 year cousin that was diagnosed with it since she was

> little but we feel there is more to it. The doctors also mentioned TMH.

>

> Thank you so much for getting to know my family and helping us with some

> situations.

> God Bless!!!

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo!

> Messenger with Voice.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Nice to hear from you, ! I wonder if your daughter's hearing loss was

caused by the meds she took during her ear infections . . . I am learning

more and more about ototoxic drugs. You might want to check them out, too.

Dr. Bauman is at another list I'm on, and he did extensive research on

them. It's scary.

Link to some info.: http://hearinglosshelp.com/weblog/?cat=2

Blessings,

Robin T. in NC

>

> Hi,

> My name is Alvarez. I have 3 children; Alyanna 7, severe-profound

> hearing loss; 4, hearing & 1, hearing. First of all, I would

> like to say this is amazing. It feels good knowing there is so much support

> out there.

>

> Let me tell a little (I hope) about my daughter. Alyanna passed the

> hearing test when she born, but had alot of ear infections from newborn till

> she was one. I kept pushing the fact to her pediatrician that my daughter

> wouldn't respond to my voice, unless I clapped my hand very loud or yelled

> her name. He then send me to an ENT. The ENT recommended ear tubes since she

> had alot of fluid in her ears. After the tubes I still insisted that my

> daughter would not respond. They finally send us to get another hearing

> test, which confirmed that she had severe-profound loss in one ear and

> moderate-severe on the other. She is now 7 and in 1st grade.She is in a

> regular class, but gets pulled out for Language Arts. There is about 7 kids

> in her class that are hearing impared, but the entire class use sign

> language and verbal communication. She is doing great in some of her work

> but not so good in others....actually they only problem is in reading and

> understading what she just read.

> Alyanna goes to an excellent school that had a great DHH program, but at

> her last IEP they were actually considering on keeping her in 1st grade. I

> wasn't too pleased with the idea just because I didn't feel it was necessay

> to repeat an entire grade for one subject. I really don't know what to do. I

> feel that she tries so hard but is not getting it, but everything else she

> is amazing. I'm actually thinking in looking for a tutor with experience

> with hearing loss and getting her speech therapy. If anyone has any

> suggestions I'm very open to them.

>

> Also, I went for a follow up with her audiologist a couple of weeks ago

> and she mentioned the fact that one ear is getting worst than the other (she

> has over 90% hearing loss on her right ear). She said that when she gets

> older she might not even want to bother with a hearing aide on that ear

> since it doesn't help much. I asked her about cochlear implants but she said

> she doesn't know if they do it in just one ear. She said to do alot of

> research before getting it done.

> Did I mention she also a great soccer player )

>

> I also wanted to ask Selena where can I get information regarding

> ADHD-LD. I have a 14 year cousin that was diagnosed with it since she was

> little but we feel there is more to it. The doctors also mentioned TMH.

>

> Thank you so much for getting to know my family and helping us with some

> situations.

> God Bless!!!

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo!

> Messenger with Voice.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I wanted to chime in on this. My son's hearing loss is caused entirely by

known ototoxic drugs. On the treatment protocol that he did two years ago

(for neuroblastoma), 62% of the kids end up with hearing loss severe enough

to need hearing aids. In his case, the culprits were high dose cisplatin,

lots and lots of amikacin, and Lasix.

Bonnie

>

> Nice to hear from you, ! I wonder if your daughter's hearing loss

> was

> caused by the meds she took during her ear infections . . . I am learning

> more and more about ototoxic drugs. You might want to check them out,

> too.

> Dr. Bauman is at another list I'm on, and he did extensive research on

> them. It's scary.

>

> Link to some info.: http://hearinglosshelp.com/weblog/?cat=2

>

>

> Blessings,

> Robin T. in NC

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I wanted to chime in on this. My son's hearing loss is caused entirely by

known ototoxic drugs. On the treatment protocol that he did two years ago

(for neuroblastoma), 62% of the kids end up with hearing loss severe enough

to need hearing aids. In his case, the culprits were high dose cisplatin,

lots and lots of amikacin, and Lasix.

Bonnie

>

> Nice to hear from you, ! I wonder if your daughter's hearing loss

> was

> caused by the meds she took during her ear infections . . . I am learning

> more and more about ototoxic drugs. You might want to check them out,

> too.

> Dr. Bauman is at another list I'm on, and he did extensive research on

> them. It's scary.

>

> Link to some info.: http://hearinglosshelp.com/weblog/?cat=2

>

>

> Blessings,

> Robin T. in NC

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you, I will definitely check that out. Till this day they're unable to

give me the reason how this happen. There is no history of hearing loss in our

family neither.

Robin Tomlinson wrote: Nice to hear from you, !

I wonder if your daughter's hearing loss was

caused by the meds she took during her ear infections . . . I am learning

more and more about ototoxic drugs. You might want to check them out, too.

Dr. Bauman is at another list I'm on, and he did extensive research on

them. It's scary.

Link to some info.: http://hearinglosshelp.com/weblog/?cat=2

Blessings,

Robin T. in NC

>

> Hi,

> My name is Alvarez. I have 3 children; Alyanna 7, severe-profound

> hearing loss; 4, hearing & 1, hearing. First of all, I would

> like to say this is amazing. It feels good knowing there is so much support

> out there.

>

> Let me tell a little (I hope) about my daughter. Alyanna passed the

> hearing test when she born, but had alot of ear infections from newborn till

> she was one. I kept pushing the fact to her pediatrician that my daughter

> wouldn't respond to my voice, unless I clapped my hand very loud or yelled

> her name. He then send me to an ENT. The ENT recommended ear tubes since she

> had alot of fluid in her ears. After the tubes I still insisted that my

> daughter would not respond. They finally send us to get another hearing

> test, which confirmed that she had severe-profound loss in one ear and

> moderate-severe on the other. She is now 7 and in 1st grade.She is in a

> regular class, but gets pulled out for Language Arts. There is about 7 kids

> in her class that are hearing impared, but the entire class use sign

> language and verbal communication. She is doing great in some of her work

> but not so good in others....actually they only problem is in reading and

> understading what she just read.

> Alyanna goes to an excellent school that had a great DHH program, but at

> her last IEP they were actually considering on keeping her in 1st grade. I

> wasn't too pleased with the idea just because I didn't feel it was necessay

> to repeat an entire grade for one subject. I really don't know what to do. I

> feel that she tries so hard but is not getting it, but everything else she

> is amazing. I'm actually thinking in looking for a tutor with experience

> with hearing loss and getting her speech therapy. If anyone has any

> suggestions I'm very open to them.

>

> Also, I went for a follow up with her audiologist a couple of weeks ago

> and she mentioned the fact that one ear is getting worst than the other (she

> has over 90% hearing loss on her right ear). She said that when she gets

> older she might not even want to bother with a hearing aide on that ear

> since it doesn't help much. I asked her about cochlear implants but she said

> she doesn't know if they do it in just one ear. She said to do alot of

> research before getting it done.

> Did I mention she also a great soccer player )

>

> I also wanted to ask Selena where can I get information regarding

> ADHD-LD. I have a 14 year cousin that was diagnosed with it since she was

> little but we feel there is more to it. The doctors also mentioned TMH.

>

> Thank you so much for getting to know my family and helping us with some

> situations.

> God Bless!!!

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo!

> Messenger with Voice.

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I have a son with a moderate to severe hearing loss in his right

ear. He will be 5 in August.

I was wondering if you have heard of the computer program Headsprout

(for reading.) It is very well done-- it was tested and refined

with actual children and is designed for all types of abilities and

learning styles. I would highly recommend it. It works on fluency

and comprehension as well and adapts to your child.

I just know headsprout has helped our family,

Amy

>

> Hi,

> My name is Alvarez. I have 3 children; Alyanna 7, severe-

profound hearing loss; 4, hearing & 1, hearing. First

of all, I would like to say this is amazing. It feels good knowing

there is so much support out there.

>

> Let me tell a little (I hope) about my daughter. Alyanna passed

the hearing test when she born, but had alot of ear infections from

newborn till she was one. I kept pushing the fact to her

pediatrician that my daughter wouldn't respond to my voice, unless I

clapped my hand very loud or yelled her name. He then send me to an

ENT. The ENT recommended ear tubes since she had alot of fluid in

her ears. After the tubes I still insisted that my daughter would

not respond. They finally send us to get another hearing test, which

confirmed that she had severe-profound loss in one ear and moderate-

severe on the other. She is now 7 and in 1st grade.She is in a

regular class, but gets pulled out for Language Arts. There is about

7 kids in her class that are hearing impared, but the entire class

use sign language and verbal communication. She is doing great in

some of her work but not so good in others....actually they only

problem is in reading and understading what she just read.

> Alyanna goes to an excellent school that had a great DHH program,

but at her last IEP they were actually considering on keeping her in

1st grade. I wasn't too pleased with the idea just because I didn't

feel it was necessay to repeat an entire grade for one subject. I

really don't know what to do. I feel that she tries so hard but is

not getting it, but everything else she is amazing. I'm actually

thinking in looking for a tutor with experience with hearing loss

and getting her speech therapy. If anyone has any suggestions I'm

very open to them.

>

> Also, I went for a follow up with her audiologist a couple of

weeks ago and she mentioned the fact that one ear is getting worst

than the other (she has over 90% hearing loss on her right ear). She

said that when she gets older she might not even want to bother with

a hearing aide on that ear since it doesn't help much. I asked her

about cochlear implants but she said she doesn't know if they do it

in just one ear. She said to do alot of research before getting it

done.

> Did I mention she also a great soccer player )

>

> I also wanted to ask Selena where can I get information

regarding ADHD-LD. I have a 14 year cousin that was diagnosed with

it since she was little but we feel there is more to it. The doctors

also mentioned TMH.

>

> Thank you so much for getting to know my family and helping us

with some situations.

> God Bless!!!

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice.

>

>

[Guest guest]

,

Have they told you she has LVAS (large vestibular aquaduct syndrome)? Our

daughter does, they THINK. ????? She did not pass her hearing test in her

left ear when born, but our pediatrician later told us she was fine, so we

never had any more testing until she was 3 years old and suddenly we noticed

she was reading our lips or " ignoring " us during an infection in her other

ear. Now they say her vestibular aquaducts are slightly enlarged (but it's

larger in her better ear--????). She has had no more hearing loss, thank

goodness, like a lot of children with LVAS . . . who knows if she even has

it. I am kind of wondering if her umbilical cord caused her hearing loss,

because I distinctly remember the nurse stating that it was good that she

came out when she did because she had two very bad knots in her cord.

???????

Blessings,

Robin

>

> Hi,

> My name is Alvarez. I have 3 children; Alyanna 7, severe-profound

> hearing loss; 4, hearing & 1, hearing. First of all, I would

> like to say this is amazing. It feels good knowing there is so much support

> out there.

>

> Let me tell a little (I hope) about my daughter. Alyanna passed the

> hearing test when she born, but had alot of ear infections from newborn till

> she was one. I kept pushing the fact to her pediatrician that my daughter

> wouldn't respond to my voice, unless I clapped my hand very loud or yelled

> her name. He then send me to an ENT. The ENT recommended ear tubes since she

> had alot of fluid in her ears. After the tubes I still insisted that my

> daughter would not respond. They finally send us to get another hearing

> test, which confirmed that she had severe-profound loss in one ear and

> moderate-severe on the other. She is now 7 and in 1st grade.She is in a

> regular class, but gets pulled out for Language Arts. There is about 7 kids

> in her class that are hearing impared, but the entire class use sign

> language and verbal communication. She is doing great in some of her work

> but not so good in others....actually they only problem is in reading and

> understading what she just read.

> Alyanna goes to an excellent school that had a great DHH program, but at

> her last IEP they were actually considering on keeping her in 1st grade. I

> wasn't too pleased with the idea just because I didn't feel it was necessay

> to repeat an entire grade for one subject. I really don't know what to do. I

> feel that she tries so hard but is not getting it, but everything else she

> is amazing. I'm actually thinking in looking for a tutor with experience

> with hearing loss and getting her speech therapy. If anyone has any

> suggestions I'm very open to them.

>

> Also, I went for a follow up with her audiologist a couple of weeks ago

> and she mentioned the fact that one ear is getting worst than the other (she

> has over 90% hearing loss on her right ear). She said that when she gets

> older she might not even want to bother with a hearing aide on that ear

> since it doesn't help much. I asked her about cochlear implants but she said

> she doesn't know if they do it in just one ear. She said to do alot of

> research before getting it done.

> Did I mention she also a great soccer player )

>

> I also wanted to ask Selena where can I get information regarding

> ADHD-LD. I have a 14 year cousin that was diagnosed with it since she was

> little but we feel there is more to it. The doctors also mentioned TMH.

>

> Thank you so much for getting to know my family and helping us with some

> situations.

> God Bless!!!

>

>

>

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Blab-away for as little as 1¢/min. Make PC-to-Phone Calls using Yahoo!

> Messenger with Voice.

>

>