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69 11 Hard Lessons Rebecca The next three months are filled with the same exhausting routine. At home, I’ve mastered the art of multi-tasking, long before it became a buzzword. While in the observation room, John and I read books, do puzzles, and play games. This is our special time together. Since Amy makes a variety of sounds, I now work with her thirty minutes every morning and afternoon. We’re doing a John Tracy lesson on lipreading the words “ball” and “airplane.” These words were chosen because the lip movements look very different when the words are spoken. The lesson explains that many words have similar lip movements, like “Mama” and “bye-bye,” and thus aren’t good words to learn first.The extra information in the John Tracy lessons has expanded my knowledge of deafness. I’m grateful. I place a ball, a toy airplane, and pictures of balls and airplanes on the table. Amy and I sit opposite each other, with the light at her back so my face is illuminated. I put her hand to my throat and say, “ball.” Then I reverse the actions. Sometimes I’m rewarded with a sound from Amy. I repeat the same actions with the airplane. As I say “airplane”for the umpteenth time, I hear an airplane overhead . I grab Amy and run outside screaming, “Airplane. Look, Amy. Airplane.” I point to the sky. All I gained from that burst of energy was exercise. I’m not sure if Amy understood what I yelled or saw the Amy Signs Main Pgs 1-320.indd 69 6/27/2012 10:37:41 AM 70 Amy Signs airplane. I realize language is more than words. The object or idea a word represents must be understood on many levels, as the actual object, in a picture, and as a toy. How can I convey all this to Amy? We return to the table; John joins us. Since we’ve done this lesson for several weeks, I prepare to test Amy’s ability to lipread “airplane” and “ball.” If she can lipread these two words accurately, I can add new words. “Amy, give me the ball.”I place her hand on the ball to re-enforce her choice. “Amy, give me the airplane.” I repeat the requests several times, moving her hand to the appropriate object each time. Then I put my hands in my lap and pray for a miracle. “Ball. Amy, give me the ball. Ball, Amy. Give me the ball.” Before Amy can respond, John grabs the ball. “Here Amy, give this to Mother.” “John! Don’t do that. Amy has to figure this out herself.” I snatch the ball from him and slap it on the table in front of Amy. “Don’t you want the ball?” John’s eyes are full of hurt and confusion . I ignore him and repeat my plea. “Amy, give me the ball. Ball.” Amy looks from me to John for an indication of what to do. “Ball, Amy. Give me the ball.” While Amy stares into space, John puts the ball in her hand. “John, get out of here! I told you not to bother me when I’m working with Amy.” “I’m only trying to help,” he sputters. “You’re not helping. You’re making it worse. Go away. Go to your room. Go watch TV, go play outside. I don’t care what you do, but just go!” “Mommy . . .” “GO!” John leaves in tears. Amy doesn’t understand my stinging words, but she sees the effect they have on John. Her howls join his. The lipreading lesson is over. I need another lesson on patience. Amy Signs Main Pgs 1-320.indd 70 6/27/2012 10:37:41 AM ...

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