Their world lies out of earshot

Janet Porter and her daughter, Elizabeth, have fun with Elizabeth's deafness; they learn new things and meet new people.

Posted on Mon, Jun. 27, 2005

BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS
The Wichita Eagle

Elizabeth Porter's world is visual.

Hands talk. Sentences flow from her fingers. Music is felt instead of heard.

At church, for example, she places her hands on the pews to feel the vibrations. She catches the beat and moves to the rhythm.

She loves to dance.

Elizabeth, 6, is deaf.

Her parents, Dick and Janet, once grieved for all of the sounds she would miss. Now they celebrate being part of a culture in which hearing loss doesn't necessarily hamper life's tone.
"It's given us a chance to learn about a whole new language and a whole new culture I didn't know existed before she was born," said Janet Porter.

Elizabeth was born in January 1999 -- before the state required all newborns to undergo a hearing test.But little hints caused the Porters to wonder. Elizabeth wouldn't respond to the family dog. She slept through loud noises.

Elizabeth was 7 months old when she was tested and diagnosed with profound hearing loss.
"Everybody has to go through a mourning process, whether it's death, being deaf or blindness," said Dick Porter. "If you don't go through the mourning, you won't be grateful later on."
The Porters had family friends who knew about services for the deaf and hearing impaired. They taught the Porter family, which also includes 4-year-old Nathan, basic words and how to spell their names in sign language. Now Elizabeth's American Sign Language flows as easily as spoken sentences.

Janet Porter says she wishes she had given Elizabeth a shorter name because she has to finger-spell all of the letters.But they have adapted and call their daughter's deafness "cool."
Dick Porter said his marriage is stronger. Janet Porter said she doesn't have to worry about their daughter hearing curse words.

Nathan is learning he has to wave his hand and sign instead of yelling his sister's name to get her attention. The Porters watch television with the closed-captioning instead of the sound, sometimes.Elizabeth also attends a "mainstream" school in the Maize district so she can be among her hearing peers.The couple said they placed their daughter in the district school so she can have all of her needs met.


The family had some idea how to navigate the system for services. Elizabeth already received physical therapy because of low muscle tone and a facial palsy.
They qualified for Supplemental Security Income and a medical card, which cover Elizabeth's medical costs and therapy.

Rainbows United, a nonprofit organization that assists children with disabilities, started Elizabeth Porter's education before she was 3 years old. The organization serves 22 children who are deaf or hearing impaired.

The organization also provided a mentor who met with the family at least once a month and taught them more sign language and explained more about deaf culture.
"We had to learn the system," Janet Porter said. "You can't just sit back and let somebody else do the work."

But not every parent has that opportunity. So Janet Porter joined forces with Kim Enos, a deaf community advocate, to create the Elizabeth Connection.
The group allows deaf and hearing impairedpeople to celebrate themselves, organizers say, by being around one another. It also allows hearing people to be exposed to the deaf and hearing impaired.

Exposure, Janet Porter said, brings about understanding.
Some children readily accept her daughter, she said, while others shy away from her because they don't understand.

She has watched children get up and move as soon as her daughter sits down beside them.
"That just crushes your heart," said Janet Porter. "But she has such an awesome attitude about herself -- she couldn't care less. She'll just move over to the next person.
"I hope that attitude continues as she learns about the world."