For Pam Eubanks of Price Hill, the hearing test that confirmed her son's deafness in 1988 was not a total surprise.

        Nathaniel is profoundly deaf, with a small amount of residual hearing in his right ear. His parents, Pam and Bryan Eubanks, began learning sign language immediately, speaking and signing everything they said to their son. His younger brother, Paul, signed and spoke his first word simultaneously, and his little sister, Maleah, signed before she spoke.

        Nathaniel is the only deaf person in his family, but his parents have made sure that he has other deaf people in his life. There will always be two co-existing cultures in his life, and the entire family has embraced the adventure of immersion in both.

Studying theater

        Today, Bryan Eubanks is director of the Deaf Institute, a Cincinnati-based church-affiliated ministry to the deaf with a 12-state radius, and Pam Eubanks is a family ministry representative. Nathaniel reads lips, speaks American Sign Language — does, as his mother says, “whatever it takes for total communication.”

        Now a sophomore at the School of Creative and Performing Arts, Nathaniel is studying technical theater and percussion. In the car with his mom, he cranks up the radio, turns up the bass, takes off his shoes and puts his feet on the dashboard. With his tiny amount of hearing, it's impossible to know which sounds he hears and which sounds he feels.

        “It's amazing,” his music teacher mother says, “to watch him finding ways to comprehend and appreciate music in whatever ways he can.”

        At school, Nathaniel has a full-time interpreter who bridges the communication gap between him and his teachers and classmates. When a grant (written by his mother) added American Sign Language to the list of options for foreign language requirements at SCPA, 17 other students signed up for the class with him.

Both worlds
        Since his deafness was diagnosed at age 22 months, Nathaniel's parents have recognized the importance of both deaf and hearing people in their son's life. Nathaniel's friends at school are hearing kids. Through church and summer camp, he also has deaf friends.

        Through a workshop at Gallaudet University, Pam added certification in a Share the Reading program last year to her growing body of expertise.

        In homes where there are young deaf children, she teaches principles of beginning reading that work for a child who can't hear. Nathaniel is now tutoring one family, too.

        When Nathaniel calls a friend on his TTY or sends e-mail to a new girlfriend, his mom makes sure that he knows that it wasn't always that easy for deaf people to communicate with the outside world. Relay services, closed captioning and signed theater performances weren't always available, she tells him, giving him a sense of how far the deaf have come in terms of access. As far as where one boy who happens to be deaf is going, the possibilities are clearly without limits.

        Pam and Bryan feel blessed that they were in the right place at the right time to gather information about deafness and deaf culture when their son needed it. Of course, most parents can figure out that a deaf child needs toys and games and family interaction just like a hearing kid, but connecting with the right services and other families who have “been there” can be a daunting process.

        The All About Deaf Kids Fair is a collaborative effort between the Deaf Institute and Cincinnati State's interpreting program to give families with deaf children an opportunity to meet one another and find the information they won't get at the hospital or the doctor's office.

        Free and accessible, the fair will feature games, videos, information booths and ample opportunities for kids and parents to make friends in an environment where sign language interpreters are everywhere, and every game has at least one deaf person participating.

        The All About Deaf Kids Fair will be 1-4 p.m. March 9 at Cincinnati State College Conference Center. Call (513) 471-2990 (voice) or (513) 471-2996 (TTY).

       Contact Deborah Kendrick by phone: 673-4474; fax: 321-6430; e-mail: dkkendrick@earthlink.net.
       

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