Rachel's Big Adventure

I went to Camp Taloali last week. It is a fun deaf camp in Stayton, Oregon. My favorite part was ALL of it. My super faves were horse back riding, rock wall climbing, and archery. It is an overnight camp. On Saturday, if you were staying only 1 week, then whoever will pick you up will come around 10:00 in the morning. Around breakfast, we hand the awards out. After some skits, then you get to go home. Sometimes the whole camp goes for 2 weeks, sometimes 3. The way we communicate is by sign language. Some use ASL (American Sign Language), or SEE (Signing Exact English).

New Technology for Deaf/Blind

Here is an interesting article published in the Seattle Times about new assistive technology for deaf/blind people.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/education/2009642696_deafblind12m.html

Off to Camp Again

The girl is practically a jet setter. She has been gone somewhere one week every month this summer. In June she went to Birch Bay with Grandma and Grampa. In July she was off to church camp on the peninsula. Now she is down in Oregon at deaf camp. One of the goals is for her to improve her signing skills, as most of the kids rely on only signing to communicate. This is the highlight of her summer, and she has been looking forward to it all year. As good as she is at verbal communication, I think she just feels like she is getting a break by being around other deaf kids for a while.

Hopefully, when she starts school this fall, she will make friends with other deaf kids who attend the same school. This will be the first time since first grade that she has had other deaf kids around her at school. I know she is looking forward to it.