Kellye,

I take little comfort in that.  When iVillage decided to shut down the VI and Deaf/Hearing Impairments boards last year (which, thankfully, didn't happen), we were promised similar folders on "Living with a Disability."  That didn't happen.  I honestly don't believe you understand and appreciate my concern.  I write form letters for a living and I can spot one a mile away.  Unless you are intimately involved with someone who is deaf or blind or has another low-incidence disability, you cannot possibly understand the repercussions of lumping everyone with a disability in the same category.  The unique needs of these kids and their parents will be largely ignored and parents will be left floundering.  And to think, in my professional life, I have actually referred people to the Hearing Impairments board because the CL is knowledgeable and the parents are welcoming and have had a variety of experiences.  In my work, we don't generally refer people to message boards and online communities, but I felt that this board was different and felt that it would actually benefit parents.  I guess I was mistaken!

Dawn Saunders

Kellye iV <kellyea@...> wrote:

Hello and thank you for your email. We understand and appreciate your concerns for the board. There will be a dedicated folder on the Kids with Special Needs folder for hearing impairment concerns. In the future, if we see the need arise, we can certainly consider reopening the board.

Thank you!

Kellye

Asst Community Moderator

Pregnancy & Parenting

iVillage.com

On Aug 6, 2006, at 12:18 AM, damisa72@... wrote:

The following message was sent to you by BRAILLESIGN while viewing

your Member Profile:

Hello Kellye,

I am writing this email to express my deep concern about the discontinuation of the Hearing Impairments board on Pregnancy and Parenting in iVillage.  You may or may not know or understand that

hearing loss is considered a low incidence disability.  These children have unique needs which will be lost among the needs of children with higher incidence disabilities.  Parents, educators, and

other people who care about or for children with hearing loss have unique needs as well.  The communication issues alone would stump the average parent of a "high-incidence" child (i.e. a child with

learning disabilities).  Parents of children with hearing loss, especially if they live in small or rural communities often feel isolated.  In the past two months, we have had 3 parents of

newly-diagnosed babies come to the board for answers and support.  They won't find that kind of support on a generic board.  People on a generic board won't know an earmold from an iPod.  It is very

sad, indeed, after the attempted closure of the Visual Impairment and Deaf/Hearing Impaired boards on the Health and Well-Being section of iVillage that "the powers that be" don't realize that these

boards are valuable.  They may be small and there may not be hundreds of posts/day, but they are a valuable resource.

Thank you for your consideration.

Dawn M. Saunders

"braillesign"

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