Author: Karen Putz

I haven’t been doing memes but after being tagged by KW and Moxie Mocha I figured I’d play along. After all, it’s all about me, me and me, and you know how much I love talking about me all the time.

What was I doing 10 years ago:

Let’s see, ten years ago, I was researching home birth vs. hospital birth and decided to have my third child at home. Instead of renting a water tub to labor in, my husband and I decided to rip out the bathtub, move the toilet and put in a large soaking tub. So there I was, laboring in the tub and trying to get into the zone with hypnobirthing. While I was concentrating on each breath, the hubby was slapping down tile and trying to finish the floor. Needless to say, the homebirth was a memorable one. I ended up writing a chapter in the book, Don’t Cut Me Again!

Five Snacks I enjoy:

1. Chocolate
2. Popcorn cooked on the stove
3. Chocolate
4. Guacamole and good chips
5. Oh yeah, did I mention chocolate?

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Donate millions to Hands & Voices
2. Take my entire family and Joe’s family on an all-inclusive trip to a beach somewhere.
3. Establish a mentoring program for deaf and hard of hearing kids all over the U.S. so they can dream and be what they want to be and have a mentor by their side.
4. Buy a jet ski and a place on Christie Lake that’s big enough to house 200 friends at once.
5. Give more money away–how much money does one really need anyway?

Five jobs that I have had:

1. College Instructor
2. Deaf Services Coordinator
3. Early Intervention provider
4. Printer (I printed train tickets and credit cards!)
5. Cafeteria Slop Server (in college!)

Three of my GOOD habits:

1. Reading something good each day
2. Composting–the worms need to be fed
3. I remember to put my keys on the key holder each day

Five places I have lived:

1. Dolton, Illinois
2. DeKalb, Illinois
3. Hinsdale, Illinois
4. Bolingbrook, Illinois (moved three times within this town)
5. Summers at Christie Lake, Michigan, does that count?

Name your irrational phobias:

I don’t really have any phobias unless you count fear of cleaning.

Add one new part:
Name five places you want to see before your final breath:

1. Austria
2. Australia
3. Jasper, Alberta, and Vancouver (I want to go to Whistler!)
4. Hawaii (I’m going next month)
5. Aspen, CO (I want to see the John Denver Sanctuary)

Five People I Want to Get to Know Better:

1. Neil at Deaf Firefighter’s Blog

2. LaRonda at Ear of My Heart

3. Karen at Indiana Deaf Mother’s Babblings

4 MZ at Mishka Zena

5. Paula at The Hearing Exchange Blog

“I don’t want to go to this award thing!” my daughter announced on Thursday morning. Lauren was selected for a STARS award at her middle school and we were heading to the breakfast event. Getting her out the door was like pulling teeth.

Eventually we made it to the school and slipped into the cafeteria chairs. Lauren went up to get her award along with several other students from her team. “Lauren overcame an adversity and proved herslef to be a role model and top student. Fantastic job!” it said on the award.

This was the second award she received this week. On Tuesday, we headed out to the “Advocacy Day” event held by the Lockport Area Special Education Cooperative. Every year, Katie Ward, a teacher and supervisor of deaf students (now retired) gathers together approximately 150 deaf and hard of hearing students from several schools. The students submit essays on how they advocate for themselves on a daily basis and the essays are judged by several teachers. David’s friend Aleksey won the Advocate of the Year award and Lauren was a semi-finalist.

After the craziness of several deadlines and the two events, it was nice to kick back with the girls last night. My friend Barb came in from California and we joined three of our neighbors for dinner at a local restaurant. I normally hate going out in groups because conversation is so hard, but these gals are great to hang out with. They know they have to slow down the conversation and they make sure I can lipread them. After hours of lipreading and too much food and wine, my eyes were ready to pop when we finally called it a night. Nothing beats a night of great conversation, great food and great friends!

Now excuse me while I go cry my eyes out– I miss having Barb as my neighbor.

The Southtown Town Star posted an update on the case of Dawn Nile’s murder:

Gary Albert Pleads Innocent

Dawn was a deaf student at Hinsdale South High School and she was found murdered in March of 1981.

Gary was held in jail on a one million dollar bond and his family bailed him out to the tune of $100,000.

A hearing is scheduled for May 22nd.

To read all of the news articles: Dawn Niles

Today was nuts. I went food shopping at 2:45 and picked the youngest kiddo up at 3:30. Together, we put the food away and Steven tossed dinner in the oven while I hopped in the car to pick up Lauren at school. She stayed after school to play volleyball.

As soon as we arrived home, I sent her upstairs to pack a bag for her sleepover. Her friend was on her way home from the Illinois School for the Deaf and we planned to meet her at the bus stop about 40 minutes from our home. We encountered a lot of traffic on the highway and we pulled in the bus stop a half hour late. Fortunately for us, the bus was also late in getting there.

I said goodbye to Lauren and headed back into the traffic to meet my friend Beth at a local restaurant. We grabbed some appetizers at Friday’s and took off for the high school to see who our kids were hanging out with. David and Aubrey stayed after school to play volleyball with deaf kids from another high school and they all had a pizza party afterwards.

I ran into my friend Carol, who was coaching the kids from the other high school. Carol and I go way back– we played volleyball together for many years, traveling to tournaments in different states. It was so good to see her again, but it sure made me realize how the many years have gone by in a flash. I will be refereeing at the tournament that my son is playing in at Harper College next week and it will be good to see a lot of my old teammates there.

Tomorrow is more of the same traveling, except Joe and I will be going in two different directions. He’s heading to the high school to drop off David for practice and then up north to pick up Lauren from the sleepover. David has a birthday party to attend tomorrow night and I’m heading to a 50th Anniversary party. On Sunday, we are heading to a meeting to rally for insurance coverage for hearing aids in Illinois.

One year, at a meeting, a seasoned mom was telling a new mom to prepare herself to spend a lot of time in the car– she wasn’t kidding. We have deaf friends scattered all over and it isn’t uncommon for us to drive 45 minutes to over an hour each way for get togethers. Now the same thing is happening with our kids and many times we find ourselves juggling driving times into the schedules. We’ve been fortunate to work it out so that we have a lot of halfway meeting points to transport the kids back and forth.

I’ve figured out what I want for Christmas–one of those fancy back massagers that you can plug into an AV outlet and get a massage while you drive.

Honey, are you reading this?

When Ben Lachman graduated from California Polytechnic State University with his degree in English, he learned it was difficult to land a job with very little work history. With the assistance of a job counselor at the Anixter Center, Ben began working at the Commerce Clearing House testing web links. “It was a very basic job and not my ideal situation, but it jump-started my motivation– which is a key thing for a deaf person in a business environment,” said Ben.

Ben’s next job adventure began as the Director of Marketing for a team of financial advisors at Northwestern Mutual. “It was my job to handle client issues and come up with ways to market the financial advisors. I did an excellent job of coming up with marketing strategies however, the customer service was very time consuming and repetitive and a lot of it was over the phone,” Ben explained. As someone with a large amount of ambition, this customer service job was a fine stepping stone to the next level, as it taught Ben the intricacies of salesmanship and building relationships with clients.

Ben moved out west and began working for a small real estate development company but that company went belly up. The owner was arrested several times, and Ben ended up managing one of his restaurants for four months. It was a challenge to communicate with multiple vendors, but Ben was able to adapt to the situation by using his Sidekick phone or through the good old pen and paper from time to time.

Ben is back in Chicago and now works as a Project Manager for Builders of Chicago. He is currently studying for his Real Estate Licensing exam and has plans to become the premier realtor for the Deaf community in Chicago.

Ben has some advice for deaf and hard of hearing individuals who are starting out in careers: “Make a road map – there doesn’t have to be a particular destination, but a road map with goals, both large and small, is a very valuable thing to have because it provides you with something to work towards and you wont feel lost and aimless if you have goals.”

Ben can be reached at: ben.lachman@gmail.com

It’s another week and Marlee Matlin is still kicking up her heels each week on Dancing with the Stars. I missed Monday’s show as I was on a plane coming home from California. Last night, I spoke to a group of parents up north and came home just in time to see that Marlee and Fabian made it through another week. Just then, the dish went out due to a storm.

Last week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Marlee in her spare moment between practices. I asked Marlee a question about facing discrimination and she had this to say:

That’s the reason Marlee gets my vote each week along with her amazing dancing talent.

The entire interview can be seen here:

Marlee Matlin Kicks Up Her Heels on Dancing with the Stars

Two years ago, my family had hearing aid coverage by our insurance company up to $1,000 per year, thanks to my husband’s employer. We now have HMO insurance that doesn’t cover hearing aids. I am hoping that my current hearing aids continue to work for several more years.

My cousin recently purchased hearing aids and was so shocked to find out that her insurance company wouldn’t fork over a penny and that she would have to foot the bill herself.

That “shock” seems to hit people over and over, as parents write to me and share their dismay of finding out that their insurance company doesn’t consider hearing aids a medical device or prosthesis.

So those of you in IL, come and join the rest of us to bring forth some change. We are working with our local senators and representatives to provide hearing aid coverage in Illinois. The time is NOW to make some changes. Tell us your stories of struggling to pay for hearing aids and send it to: parentsofdeafhoh@aol.com (Limit to one page). If you wear hearing aids, or want to purchase them, or know someone who uses hearing aids, join us at this meeting:

Town Hall Meeting
Sunday, April 13th, 2008
1:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Hinsdale South H.S.
7401 Clarendon Hills Rd
Darien, Il 60561

Hearing Aids Insurance Coverage Legislation

What’s the latest on HB5598 and HB5600?

What can we do to encourage Illinois Legislators to pass Hearing
Aids Insurance Coverage??

We need to raise awareness of this growing problem of many people
not being able to afford to pay for expensive hearing aid(s). Many
deaf and hard of hearing people have gone without hearing aid(s)
because they cannot afford it. There are some deaf and hard of
hearing people that have gone with cheaper hearing aid(s) that are
not suitable for them. There are many parents that could not afford
to buy hearing aid(s) for their deaf and hard of hearing children.

Local State Representatives and Senators will be there to hear our
stories.

Those who wear hearing aids, Parents of deaf and hard of hearing
children, and ALL people who SUPPORT Hearing Aids Insurance Coverage
are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to take the time and attend.

Interpreters and Cart will be provided.

Spread the word to all those who care !!!! The more bodies we have
at the town hall, the STRONGER the message we send to Illinois
Legislators will be !!!

See you all there….

To those who wish to subscribe to HearingAids2008 Yahoogroups
Send an email to this email address, HearingAids2008-
subscribe@yahoogroups.com

In there, you will see already other people in this group sharing
their stories about financial hardship of paying for expensive
hearing aids, will see Hyperlinks of several articles about hearing
aids insurance coverage legislation. Much to read in there.. Come
on and join us there.. We could use your help !!!!

HearingAids2008 group