Deaf boy camping

[illabelle]

I will be heading up a church-affiliated co-ed scouting type kid's group next year. One of the children we expect to serve is about 7 years old, and is deaf with two cochlear implants. Except for his parents, none of our staff are capable of communicating with him, so I expect one or both parents to be with him each time we meet.

Naturally, some of our activities will including hiking and camping. Ninety-nine percent of the time, there should be no problems keeping him safe. It's that one percent I'm thinking about. If he were ever lost, I'd hate to think of the stressful search for a child that can't hear you calling... Have any of you ever been responsible for a deaf child on the trail? Lessons learned? Unanticipated situations? Potential hazards that we might not be considering?

[squeezebox]

Like you said there's a 1% risk. Are you going to deny him that experience for 1%? Personally I would not. Let everyone in the group know. And everyone will grow from the experience.
Peace!!

[theoilman]

He should carry a good whistle, and understand when to use it.

[johnnybgood]

With this outing being planned so far in advance much can be discussed at the planning meetings you mentioned. Will either parent of the hearing impaired child be joining the trip to help with the organization of keeping everyone together ? Having these kids pair up using a buddy system would help alleviate the chance he might stray away from the group. Believe me having a legally blind daughter of my own I can understand your anxiety concerning this child's well-being. Our daughter was selected as an Student Ambassador to travel to Europe for three weeks as a sophomore in high school . We too needed to feel assured that she wasn't going to be left behind as while she has superb hearing her vision is extremely compromised. This travel group was going to be visiting large cities like Paris ,Madrid, and Lisbon in four countries ,moving quickly from Mosques to Art Museums , which included boarding/departing buses and trains in urban settings so yeah...we had some anxiety. I think you will find the best remedy to any unsure situation is planning, discussing emergency plans and having people within the group looking out for one another. Hope this helps .

[MuddyWaters]

Buddy system, always. This is what scouts do. It should be a non-issue.

[Hosh]

Buddy system and whistle, with training, are good ideas. Personally, if it were me, I would want a 1-1 adult counselor/guide assignment. His parents should have good insight into his abilities. I have an adult friend with the implant and he has some inner ear problems that affect his balance. Not knowing where you're going or the difficulties that might be encounter makes it hard to come up with a plan that will allow him to fully experience the trip and limit exposure to bad situations.

Trip planning is important, big difference between climbing Long's Peak versus hiking in a State Park

[OCDave]

..is deaf with two cochlear implants...

I am not an expert but, I think you might be underestimating this boy's communication capabilities. My understanding is that Cochlear implants are amazingling successful especially when the procedure is done in early childhood.

Don't sweat it. It will be fine. He will have fun.

[shelterbuilder]

The good news is that you have PLENTY of time to get all of your ducks in a row. Buddy system and whistle are both excellent ideas. (I am now speech-impaired due to vocal cord cancer, and I carry a whistle because I can no longer shout.) Do not fall into the trap of estimating the boy's abilities based upon what YOU think YOUR OWN limitations might be if you were in his place. This may sound ridiculous, but having been on both sides of the disability issue, I can tell you 2 things: people frequently mis-judge my abilities based upon their beliefs about how THEY would function in my situation ("OMG, I don't see HOW he can work like that - I couldn't!"); people with disabilities often come up with novel ways of compensating BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO. Use his parents to gauge his abilities RIGHT NOW, and also use them to help 3 or 4 other people in the group (adults AND kids) to get to the point where they can communicate with him. (Sometimes, people who speak more than one language have less trouble understanding someone who is "communication-challenged", because the speech centers of their brains are used to processing information in multiple ways.) If he signs, get HIM to teach others some basic signs. And, if he should become separated from the group, it may be helpful to teach him to simply sit down and blow that whistle - 3 blasts followed by a long pause are a universal distress signal.

[Deb]

I took a deaf individual car camping and hiking. John read lips, but while in a house setting it wasn't hard to get his attention or get in front of him to communicate, in the outdoors it wasn't that easy as we went about the business of setting up camp and doing chores. Honestly - I would want a 1-on-1 adult with this 7-year-old the first time you take him camping. Think of the "what-ifs." What about when he gets up to pee in the middle of the night and gets disoriented? I instructed John to wake me if he needed to get up. For insurance, I put my tent right up against his so I could hear him working the zippers.

[canoe]

Can the boy read and write? Bring a chalk board. On the bright side... he should sleep better than most of the other kids.

[virginia jen]

I've been responsible for a deaf seventeen year old, working wilderness therapy. We make the kids call a number when out of sight watering a bush, but always made a tarped off area in camp for that & latrine. It took awhile to get her used to it, and if she needed to go at night staff would go over to that area with her.

Balance was an issue, and it took time to get used to hiking on any types of terrain besides absolute flat. A hiking stick helped, trekking poles would've been better, but we don't give kids on our programs things like that, they could be used as a weapon. Hiking stick had to be therapist approved.

Worst would be when she'd have a hard time on hike, refuse to move, and pull off her implant & glasses to not have to communicate with us. That was a pain . ....

[squeezebox]

When I was about 20 I worked at a deaf -retarded housing institute. One evening I was telling at this kid, (signing very stacato) he got tired of my crap and closed his eyes. Well that shut me down!

[squeezebox]

When I was about 20 I worked at a deaf -retarded housing institute. One evening I was telling at this kid, (signing very stacato) he got tired of my crap and closed his eyes. Well that shut me down!

Yelling at this kid

[Bronk]

I would make sure all of the kids (and adults) in the group understand that if he gets lost he won't be able to hear anyone calling for him and this will make the search much more difficult. Let them know that if the group is moving on, the break is over, whatever, everyone needs to keep an eye out and make sure he is moving with the group...he may not realize everyone is leaving as he will not have all of the same auditory cues that most people do.

Might be a good idea to put a cell phone in the kid's pocket that has a GPS tracking tool so if he does get lost someone can track the phone to figure out where he is. And make sure the kid knows how to send and receive text messages and that the phone vibrates.

[illabelle]

Lots of great suggestions and comments!

In the weeks ahead, I hope to learn more about the boy's hearing impairment, when it occurred and whether he has any hearing at all. I look forward to one day having a conversation with him in sign language.

Most of our hiking will be in proximity to civilization (with phone signals), so Bronk's idea of a cell phone in his pocket is a really good one. Whistle, chalkboard (or notepad), buddy system, parent present, staff learning to sign... plenty for us to think about and work on. I especially appreciated Johnnybgood's comments about his blind daughter traveling internationally during high school. Obviously the urban setting presents different challenges, but they are very significant ones! One advantage he'll have in camp is that he won't get scared listening to all the night critters.

So far, it seems that the only safety concern regarding this kid is to avoid getting lost. If there's some other situation we should be thinking about, please share. I can't think of a wildlife or weather situation that would require us to prepare differently than we would for unimpaired children.

[canoe]

When I was about 20 I worked at a deaf -retarded housing institute. One evening I was telling at this kid, (signing very stacato) he got tired of my crap and closed his eyes. Well that shut me down!

Now that is funny.

[JustaTouron]

A few thoughts ---

Buddy system you should be doing that anyway.

Make sure he understands the value and purpose of a whistle. All the kids should carry one, but this child will have a harder time understanding its value in being found

Don't single him out. All kids carry a whistle and use buddy system. Not just the deaf one.

Talk to his parents about your concerns. They likely share them and have developed their own solutions to keep their child safe.

Consider carrying a flare.

Find out what he can and can't hear. Many deaf people who can't understand a conversation can still hear loud noises and could follow their way to a whistle or hear the boom of a starter gun or air horn.

Consider having him carry a spot. Or if you are going in an area with cell coverage a phone. He can use text messages.


Sent from my SM-T110 using Tapatalk

[illabelle]

...Don't single him out. All kids carry a whistle and use buddy system. Not just the deaf one...Find out what he can and can't hear. Many deaf people who can't understand a conversation can still hear loud noises and could follow their way to a whistle or hear the boom of a starter gun or air horn....

Good points, thank you.

[Uncle Joe]

Always keep him the middle of a hiking train. That should mitigate him getting lost. Keep a pad and pencil handy to communicate as well.

[kayak karl]

i work with the handicap. some are deaf. i learned a few sign language signs. the one i remember is "I need to use bathroom". at least you will know why they need to leave trail. they will appreciate your effort and a bond will form.