Learning How to Listen in a New Way

Last week, the three Second Grade classes had a special visitor. Mrs. Robin Bliven, a teacher at The Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind, came to campus to give a presentation about Cochlear Implants and what it is like be hearing impaired. Her presentation had the Second Grade students riveted. They were especially interested in this topic because one of their fellow classmates wears a Cochlear Implant. 

Mrs. Bliven helped the students understand what it is like to be hearing impaired by playing videos that showed what it sounds like to hear in a noisy room with a Cochlear Implant. She explained how the device works by directly stimulating the auditory nerve in the brain and that surgery is required to insert the interior part of the device into the hearing impaired person's brain. Students were amazed to learn that the exterior part of the device is attached to the head by a magnet. 

After a lively question and answer period, she ended her presentation by teaching the students how to say the alphabet and count to ten in American Sign Language. She even let each student ask her how to say a word of their choice in Sign. Words students were interested in learning included Rainbow, Soccer, Family, Halloween, and Thanksgiving among others.

We deeply appreciate Mrs. Blevin's ability to connect with our students and help them better understand the perspective of hearing differently.