He's fun, he's chatty and such a little handful! By Imogene.

From other articles I've written on this page you may now be aware that I have a 2yr old son, named Freddie. Being part of a 2yr olds life is interesting, fun and hard work but totally rewarding in every way! Freddie’s always been a talkative baby and that hasn't stopped during his development. His favourite sentence at the moment is “Mummy, what you doing?” and I take great pleasure in telling him exactly what I’m doing and letting him be a part of it – even if I didn't want to, he’s incredibly nosey so he would find out one way or another! But it can also get incredibly annoying after the 1000000th time.

In my last article about my time with my little man I was talking about how he’s increasing becoming more aware towards my deafness. He still is and now when he wakes up he shouts “Mummy!” really loud in my ear and well, it wakes me up. He sits on the bed talking at 100 mph, telling me everything he knows. (Yes, he really is that cute!) Eventually once I've stirred and have woken, I say “Slow down Freddie, I can’t hear you” and he jumps off the bed and gets my hearing aids and hands them to me. However cute it sounds, it does make me realise how aware he is of my deafness.

In our house, he has learnt that if he wants my attention, he is to either to come to my face and say what he wants (normally with pointing to it too!) and/or pull at my trousers/arm. Because I’m terrible if I’m busy and doing something that my hearing just fades out (I don’t know if any other people have this?) and I rarely hear what is being said. My husband is very supportive of this and does tell him to come to me rather than stand in the other room shouting my name! (I think a lot of this will get better with his age, and if we have any other children, he will probably teach them too.) We also have subtitles on the television all the time, even the children’s programmes, simply because it helps me for when I finally get to sit down or get dragged to come and watch a specific programme. So I can help interact about what the characters are doing and ask him questions!

I’m also finding that the older he gets the more he looks at my face whilst teaching him a new word, like the other day I was telling him how to say “Elephant” as he has a toy Elephant, he kept saying “Eleant” and I mouthed it and he kept saying it, but yesterday he said it properly – They always used to say that for a Deaf child you have to tell them the word 100 times before they knew how to say it properly. And I said it about 15 times to Freddie and he was saying it perfectly – so it also makes me think about how much my Mum must’ve interacted with me and spoke to me, saying the long words and getting pronunciation right! Bless her; she’s still helping me now with some things!

It's becoming quite a comedy in our Household most days, as only the other day the phone was ringing (I didn't hear it what with the lounge door shut) but Freddie did, and he kept coming to me and back to the door and because he can't say the words 'the phone is ringing' he was chatting madly and I just couldn't understand what he was saying, then it clicked the phone might be ringing and I pretty much went to run for it, and Fred ran with me going "run, run run!" - safe to say when we picked it up we couldn't stop laughing!

Is anybody else having the same experience at the moment with their little one or ones? Do you have a way of telling your child how to get your attention? I’d love to hear anyone’s experience or what they've heard are great tactics!

"Magic Hands": Cbeebies - by Imogene

Yesterday I was watching some Cbeebies with my son. I watched his favourite programme with him and up pop a sequel video of a new programme that’s coming soon to the channel called “Magic Hands” – I was so fascinated by this trailer as it appeared to be done by Deaf people as their wasn’t much sound and I noticed there was BSL! I thought this was great as I already praise Mr Tumble (another Sign-Language programme) and Freddie has started signing “Hello” and “Spotty Bag” from that so was interested to know more about this new programme! I went onto the internet and typed it in and found the Cbeebies Grown-Up page and I have to say it seems really good!

“Magic Hands is a show featuring poetry for children translated entirely into British Sign Language (BSL).

Featuring poems from Robert Louis Stephenson to Roger Stevens and Michaela Morgan the programmes are fun, five-minute packages that mix sign language, the spoken word, music and animation to bring the poems to life and capture the imaginations of both deaf and hearing children.

The production is breaking new ground; it’s the first time poetry has ever been translated into British Sign Language and the first production with an entirely deaf cast using British Sign Language.

The Magic Hands presenters are all new to children’s television and are all profoundly deaf. On set they worked with professional interpreters along with the series’ artistic director, Jean St Clair, and both deaf and hearing production crew.”

I wonder why there is a new BSL programme. Is it because there are more children that are deaf? Or is it because Mr Tumble’s been so successful that they find more children are learning more from it? I’m just glad there’s more deaf awareness coming in for the younger generation. And of course BSL isn’t just used by Deaf people but by children who have communication problems, who have now found a way to speak!

I tried uploading the trailer video, but I can't find it, but this is the only thing related on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VrrjB0GPR0

I am very excited to watch this, and mostly see how my son interacts with it! (I shall report after our verdict!)

*The writing in red is from the Cbeebies Grown-Ups page - No Copyright Intentions.

The Host #2 by Imogene

The Host

Directed: Andrew Niccol

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Chandler Canterbury, Rachel Roberts, Diane Krugar

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance

Stars: 3.8/5

Hi, so if you've read my previous encounter to the film 'The Host' (if you haven't, I'd recommend you do here) you'd know that I went to see it without subtitles and that I misunderstood quite a lot during the film. (So I thought) I went with Eleanor yesterday to see it again with subtitles, and whilst I did wonder if I’d get bored watching it twice over.. I didn't. For me, I was looking forward to finally putting them few missing jigsaw pieces into the puzzle!

I was surprised by how accurate my first review was! There were quite a few sections of the film that I missed out and some vital information which made me go "Oh." But in general, I did get the gist (This makes me a very happy girlie!).

My Subtitled Review

The parts I was confused about & now understand.

• ·         I was confused about what the Hosts (which I find out are called ‘Souls’) were doing there and what their thoughts were about the planet. I understood that they saw us humans as violent and ruining the planet and they were there to clear that up and make Earth a better place to live.
• ·         The Souls have occupied many planets.
• ·         That once the Soul was inside the body of the occupant, that the mind of the human in this case, was still alive and slowly fade as the human gives up hope – but a few live on as they’re determined to survive and come back.
• ·         That Seeker wrestled with her Human Lacey for several years. (I didn’t see this during the first time, as I didn’t hear the little things that Seeker said to herself like “I am in control” and “You think you’re better than me?”) and became more apparent with the moment when she shot another Host and started her own war
•       The ‘Stars’ in the cave were actually called Glow Worms.
• ·         The section in the caves where Uncle Jeb was talking to Wanderer and asked if he could call her ‘Wanda’ to which she agrees. Also how he found the caves and that it was in fact an old volcano.
• ·         After Wanderer found out about the Doctor killing the Souls, that when she went to the hospital she claimed some pods and told the doctor that you can take the Souls out of the body by showing love.
• ·         I understood more about what happened after the ‘months later’ when, Wanda, Ian, Jared and Melanie were driving in the car and then bumped into what they thought were Hosts, but it was a bunch of Humans and a Host that had switched sides to be with the Humans. (This was good and glad made sense!)

I think in all honesty that the reason I probably understood the film quite a lot at the first time is probably is because the story line isn't a massively developed nor ‘deep’, so it makes it a fairly easy film to follow. I mean I’d watch it again – maybe not for a long time as I feel like I’m going insane watching it so close together. (haha!)

I still only gave the film a 3.8 rating simply because I didn’t learn that much that was new, the little details, apart from the brother thing and Seeker didn’t make the whole film a “WOW”. Maybe I just expected so much more from the film after seeing Twilight? I just wish I got that feeling that everything makes so much sense and I didn’t.. I cant say it’s now on my favourite films ever list.

The Host - A Non-Subtitled Review by Imogene

 The Host

Directed: Andrew Niccol

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Chandler Canterbury, Rachel Roberts, Diane Krugar

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance

Stars: 2.5/5

 (Possible Spoilers)

My Non-Subtitled Version

My sister contacted me and said she wanted to go and see ‘The Host’. I did, but this version was going to be non-subtitled, and I was dubious of whether to actually go, but she offered to pay, so it swayed my thoughts. Now I know I vowed pretty much to never go to another non-subtitled film, but I knew in a few weeks time I would be going to see it again with subtitled. So in the end I decided I would do a 2-part movie review, one with and one without, and as an experiment, how much I understood with and without. So here goes..

I tried to read this story soon after the Twilight saga, and I found it incredibly difficult to follow, so soon I left it, even though it was written by the same author as Twilight. I imagined it would just as easy reading, but struggled to get into the plot – It felt like it took forever to get no-where! So it wasn’t until I saw the Trailer for the film that I took an interest in it again and possibly if I went back to the book now I may enjoy it more so.

Visually I found the film really interesting, (especially the eyes!) The film was one of them films where if you didn’t hear the speaking, then you’d miss out on the important stuff like how they explain how the planet now works and what the hosts’ reason for being about, but I missed all of this and I found it frustrating. I think I would’ve coped better if there wasn’t so much background music whilst they explain things. For a Deaf person, this film really wasn’t the best, even at the best times! There were a lot of scenes in the dark and underground which caused lots of shadows that covered people’s faces as they spoke, and there were echo’s as they walked around the cave. So it wasn’t filmed for the Deaf in mind, I have to say!

But even I found in the daylight, the camera didn’t focus on any of the faces for very long. This was really annoying, especially when there was one person standing in front of the other speaking and they were in focus on the person in front, so it wasn’t easy to lipread!

However, I did learn some things, and I did understand the voice of Melanie inside wanderer, which I thought was surprising, but I don’t know if that was due to volume?

I have to say I found the storyline very interesting even though I probably missed a lot of the facts, but it was a film I could get the gist, just by looking at it and by the way they acted and look – And I relied on this loads!

So this is what I thought the plot was about:

There was this girl called Melanie who had a brother called Jamie who were humans hiding away from the hosts with this group. The hosts were about peace and honesty, and no host could lie about what they were doing, or anything, they trusted with everything. One night the group go to this building where the Hosts are trying to find them, to turn them into one of themselves. Melanie left her brother and promised she’d come back, only to get chased by the Hosts and later in the film we find out that the group kill themselves rather than be turned into a Host. (To stop the Hosts extracting their thoughts and memories on finding the other humans!) She jumped out of a storey window, only to survive the fall and they turn her into a Host.
She then wakes up, then walks to the bathroom and you hear Melanie screaming and shouting from Wanderer’s head, and that Wanderer can talk back to her. (This makes things interesting!) They have a very complicated relationship between each other in the beginning, as they clashed to control the body and mind. There is a lot of flashbacks if Melanie’s memories of her and her boyfriend Jared (I think this was his name?) Wanderer was interrogated by another Host for Melanie’s thoughts on where the other humans she was with are. (I later learned in the film that she tricked Wanderer, by showing her not the true version of the places, to save herself and the others) Melanie manages to get Wanderer on side to try and find her brother and do her promise of going back to him. They manage to escape and get a car to go back to the group, she tricked her multiple times to cover the tracks of where she was going. They crashed the car and she had to walk through the desert to get there, she collapses and her ‘Uncle’ finds her and gives her water, but they don’t believe it’s her as she is in a Host body now. (They knew she was a Host as she had a ring of blue in her eyes)

There was a large part of the film where they weren’t sure whether Melanie was still inside Wanderer, but they start to believe to think that she is, and slowly they begin to trust her. Not after several attempts from a few people to try and kill her. This part of the film was a good way to get to know both, Melanie and Wanderer. We learnt that they both have a very caring side, and are both genuine souls – however Melanie was stronger willed! It was strange for them both to be leading this life together, yet separately. They become friends. There becomes a love triangle (Stephenie Meyers likes her love triangles, doesn’t she?!) but this is where I get confused as to who is exactly in the love triangle. As I thought Wanderer falls for her protector, but I’ve read that it’s Jared – So this is something I want to work out when I watch it subtitled!

Wanderer starts understanding the way of the human race and finds sympathy for Melanie’s group. She helps protect them from the Hosts, and makes a bond with them.

Wanderer finds that they have done experiments on extracting the soul of the Host out of the human bodies and she finds some dead – this leads to her being scared for her own life as they promised they wouldn’t hurt her. She makes a decision that Melanie needs to have her life back, so they do the operation on her (she expects to die) only for her to wake up in another body, of another who is dead.

The film was really emotional at times, although when my sister was red faced and crying, I wasn’t – so this definitely makes me realised that I missed out on the sad stuff! So I can’t wait to see it properly with subtitles and be able to understand it fully.

Please don’t take my wording on the plot as I’m probably very wrong in a lot of areas but it’s a deaf girl’s view on the film – and I hope it shows you exactly how difficult it is to miss out on vital parts to the storyline.

I did enjoy watching the film, but there’s only so much enjoyment you can get out of not understanding the film – It probably would’ve been much more successful if I had read the book then I’d know what was happening..

I give this film 2.5/5 stars as I couldn’t follow the storyline very well and also the voices wasn’t clear nor in focus – I understand that normal hearing people wouldn’t have a problem with this, and it appears there wasn’t, but for me it made the viewing not a very good experience. But, it had a decent story line and some decent eye candy, so it had some good points ;)

Deaf Day, London 2013: Eleanor

 So on Saturday I went to the Deaf Day exhibition in London at the Cit Lit building. It was my first time visiting so I was unsure what to expect. Luckily I had lots of company, some people from my BSL course and one of my close friends.

 When I arrived, it was crazy. There were lots of people, everywhere and I mean everywhere! It was amazing to see so many people together and signing quite comfortably, not a sight I'm too familiar with! The exhibition was spread out over 5 floors, but this didn't make it any easier. The lift was constantly busy so the stairs was our constant saviour. The corridors full, the rooms full, each of the information stands surrounded by people.

 There was lots of information available, for example some of the stands talked about new equipment for deaf people, deaf books, courses and benefits etc. One of the stands had courses for lip-reading, which was aimed more at deafened people rather than a course to become a lip-speaker (slightly disappointing) and the lady pretty much said it wouldn't be any use as I was already AWESOME at lip-reading. OK, maybe she didn't say AWESOME, but she implied it... :)

 At 12:00 we saw the 'Deaf men dancing' which was beautiful. It was a group of 4 deaf men with a short performance. It wasn't quite what I was expecting (probably a good thing, I had an image of old men doing morris dancing) and some of the men were clearly professionals at it. I did think there would be a bit more BSL incorporated into it, a clear link between music and deafness. It was beautifully done though. One of the men looked rather like Derren Brown just with crazy curly hair (cute!).
  At the end of their performance they said they were doing a workshop in the summer and were on the lookout for some more deaf men to join their dancing group. They also said about starting one for ladies too. So, if anyone knows anyone that's interested, look it up on Twitter or Facebook 'Deaf Men Dancing'.

 In the afternoon I went to one of the workshops 'Fighting fear of communication with UbiDuo'. Basically its a machine that translates what you are saying into words. The lady presenting it, her words came up on a projector behind her, real-time subtitles basically! It was slightly weird, at first the things she was saying didn't ring true. For example she was talking about how 'we all know that deaf person, who's been working the same job, week after week, year after year and still hasn't been promoted'. She also talked about how in workforces 'deaf people are put to one side of the room and hearing are put on the other' and how this machine would 'integrate everyone together'. It seemed a rather strong selling point to a machine that actually can't be leased out to individuals but through schemes such as universities and Access to Work. It was all very well presented though because the machine was constantly working throughout. It did become a bit awkward at one point, when the lady was saying how an interpreter couldn't be available for all the hours you need, but this machine could, only for a deaf gentleman to pipe up that he always had an interpreter available whenever he needed 24/7.
 It was amazing to see it at work, and they mentioned that the transcript could also be seen on I-pads rather than projections and could be saved so students and lecturers could refer to it afterwards. It showed a real starting point for the future and hopefully many more ideas will stem from it.

 It was a lovely day, even if it was a bit busy and especially even if we had to get up at 6am!

 On the way home we stopped at the services (3 hour coach journey, toilet breaks are needed) and my friend and I decided to get some tea at KFC. Ordering food is always awkward for me but this time it was more difficult than usual. Here's how the conversation went:

 SERVER: What would you like?
 MY FRIEND: Boneless banquet please
 SERVER: What sides would you like?
 MY FRIEND: erm... *blank face because she's not heard*
 SERVER: What sides would you like?
 ME: *realising he's talking about sides* Do you want beans, coleslaw?
 MY FRIEND: Ah beans
 SERVER: Would you like any extras?
 MY FRIEND: *blank face*
 ME: Do you want anything more?
 MY FRIEND: Ah no thanks

 Order is placed and then server looks to me

 ME: BBQ rancher meal please
 SERVER: *is distracted or deliberately ignoring me*
 ME: Hello?
 SERVER: Sorry I wasn't listening
 ME: BBQ rancher meal please
 SERVER: "£$£$^()"£(£%$)(
 ME: What?
 SERVER: £$%)("£$()"£(£(£
 ME: Sorry I'm deaf I can't really hear you, I think its your accent
 SERVER: Oh come on, really?
 ME: Yes, sorry, me and my friend are deaf we can't hear you
 SERVER: But you understood me a minute ago
 ME: I know but we are deaf
 SERVER: OK £)"£$()"
 ME: .... No that's it thanks?
 SERVER: *face like that's the wrong answer*
 ME: Sorry what?
 SERVER: *Turns the till to me so I can see the price*

 I hand over the money and it is very awkward. Server comes with our food when it is ready and doesn't even look at us. My friend and I feel very uncomfortable because the whole conversation went over our heads, we both struggled to understand this man and he didn't really attempt to help even when we explained we are deaf. I became very embarrassed (with rosy red cheeks to prove it).

 The whole incident made us feel pretty worthless. We had become quite confident during the day, probably due to having BSL as extra support but when hit with the reality of the real world once again it was a painful thump back to earth.

Identity Thief Review: Eleanor

Identity Thief

 Director: Seth Gordon
Running Time: 111 minutes
Cast: Melissa McCathy, Jason Bateman

 

So they say that honesty is the best policy. I didn’t actually want to go and see Identity Thief. I really wanted to see The Host which came out on the 29^th March, however the subtitles website told me there were no subtitled screenings of it this week nearby. The Majestic Cinema in King’s Lynn hasn’t shown any signs of subtitled films (STILL!) so I looked at the Norwich cinemas.

The only film that even sounded remotely interesting was this one, which even after watching the trailer didn’t give me ‘I-must-see-this-NOW’ feeling. It gave the impression that pretty much all the good bits were in the trailers and that I wouldn’t actually miss out on much if I missed the film.

However, with it being the Easter Holidays and finally having some time available to do whatever I want (with the hope of seeing some decent subtitled films) I was determined to make the 1 hour and 15 minute trip over to Norwich.

To summarise the film; Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) is a family, mild-mannered man with a rubbish paid job. He finally gets offered a much better paid job but unfortunately is the victim of identity theft, damaging his wallet, his criminal record and credit rating. His identity has been stolen by Diana (Melissa McCathy). The police being pretty much useless, Sandy decides the best way to prove his innocence and identity is to get Diana himself and bring her back to be arrested. This isn’t as simple as he expects and lots of adventures and mishaps occur.

OK, where to start… Yes the film had lots of funny one-liners/moments in it but they were all produced by Jason Bateman and Melissa McCathy who had amazing on-screen presence. I remember Melissa from Gilmore Girls (which I used to be obessed with) and always found courage and strength from her confidence. She is quirky and fun, unashamed to be ashamed with the ability to be serious too. This film however, was a bit thin with the plot-line, constant darting around and scene fillers. For instance;

1.    There was a scene where Sandy and Diana had to sleep in a wood which was apparently a short-cut. Sandy gets a snake wrapped round his neck and Diana has to beat the snake off with fire. It was unnecessarily violent and quite traumatic when the film already felt quite long and unending.

2.    There were 3 people after Diana for various reasons. 1 was a bounty hunter and 2 were people working for someone in jail who wanted her (which I don’t remember being explained). None of these hunters got anywhere near her, and eventually got themselves caught up in a weird police investigation and arrested, never to be heard of again.

Regardless of the thin plot, I found Bateman and McCathy enjoyable and thought their acting brought the film to life. Next time, however, I will simply wait for a film I actually want to see rather than hoping for the best and driving that hour and 15 minutes journey.

I will give this film 2 out of 5 stars simply because of the amazing cast.

**

How I could imagine dealing with the news of having a disabled child - by Imogene

This is a topic myself and Eleanor was talking about the other day. We were chatting about one of the latest storylines in our favourite soap 'Hollyoaks'. The storyline is a couple of months old now, but it's about a young couple who have had a baby boy, and find out at the first hearing screen that he is profoundly Deaf. We both rather liked this storyline, what with being deaf, but also as it tackles and shows how people deal with their child having a disability. Like in most soaps they don't handle it very well. But after the screening, I enjoyed the episode where the mother went to visit, almost immediately after the birth to find a way to make her son 'hear'. It was very emotional as, she is desperate to help him and talks to the doctors about ways to make him a hearing child. There was a discussion on having a cochlear implant, but they found it wouldn't improve him anymore than he is. So they've gone against having the operation and now are living with a child who can't in affect hear anything.

It then lead to a discussion on how we would cope in the same situation and we both had different views with linking similarities.
I always think if I had a Deaf child that I'd be completely fine with it, as I'm deaf myself and have an understanding of what type of life you can lead with deafness; however that's only with hearing aids. But saying that, if my child had a profound level of hearing I would know that my child would almost be in safe hands as I know some teachers of the deaf around my area and I know they give 100% in the learning of each child. I would also know that there is support networks out there to help and there is BSL (British Sign Language) as a way of communication, so as a deaf person - It is possible to lead a normal life.
Obviously as a mother I'd worry about them growing up and hoping people become more deaf aware so that they can get the most out of their life. But as to quote Eleanor it is scary for new parents who don't know about being deaf and the support a child can get - it's terrifying. It's like if you imagine our child being blind - we'd worry!
Which is so true, it's only because we're in the boat, that we'd be easy to accept, but if it was any other disability we'd all worry and panic about the support and the type of life our child would be able to lead.
I personally did have the same worry with my son when he was born, not that he was Deaf, (I knew he was a hearing baby as soon as he came out) but the doctors did have a worry that he could possibly have cerebral palsy, and breathing problems as he didn't react to some of the tests they do to make sure they're healthy and everything is working as it should. At that moment when they said that I burst into tears, simply out of being scared. I didn't really know what it meant, nor what it was really - not enough to be clued up. But my gut instinct wasn't as if he did have any disabilities, some might say it could've been a natural denial state or mother intuition. It turns out he has neither of them things and is perfectly healthy!
But for that couple of days, I now understand when I read/see how people cope with a new baby being disabled. I suppose it's mostly because we all crave for a happy, healthy baby, simply as it's a easier life for them and probably deep down for us too.

So, How would I cope with the news of having a disabled child? I don't really know, I think I'd have to be in the position to be able to tell you. I know I would do my hardest to help to give them the best possible life, and make sure they were happy and felt loved. I know I would deal with them being Deaf very well, simply because I know how life is for that - so It's only because I have the experience. It's true, we're good with what we know.

I'd love to know your thoughts, or experiences with this article? How did you deal with the news that your child was deaf/had a disability? How would you cope with the news?

(This article is only of my own opinion and I hope non of the content offended anyone, as it certainly wasn't meant - Imogene.)