HOMEPAGE www.danieljvance.com
DISABILITIES
By Daniel J. Vance
Joe Buttgen reads this column in the Newport Daily Independent of
Newport, Arkansas. He emailed to share about his son Chris, 16, who has had fairly
severe hearing loss from infancy and wears hearing aids. Apparently, Chris was
nurtured in a positive, caring environment and his development has been nothing
short of spectacular.
Buttgen recently said this over the telephone:
"When Chris was 4, a family member sensed that his speech
wasn't developing well. So we had his hearing screened by a speech teacher and
were stunned that he missed so many 'beeps' and tones that my wife and I could
plainly hear. Our hearts sank.
"He is very outgoing and has gained much of his confidence
through my wife's mentoring. Our town didn't have preschool so she taught him
the basics at home. After learning of his hearing loss, we began private speech
lessons for Chris. My wife reinforced those lessons with a lot of additional
homework, which further built character and confidence. He learned to lip read.
"In school he had nearly straight A's, always had
preferential class seating and was mainlined. But then an audiologist said the
words he'd be facing in school soon would become more difficult to lip read,
such as being able to distinguish "stalagmite" from
"stalactite." So we went to the Univ. of Alabama-Birmingham for
testing for his first hearing aids.
"Chris was helped a lot by his peers. In elementary school he
became friends with another boy wearing hearing aids. If he has his back to
you, he won't hear many of your commands so you have to get his attention.
"He had an exceptional speech therapist in Alabama, Diane
Steensland, the same woman who worked with Heather Whitestone (Miss America
1995).
"He has been an asset to our church, is a leader at school and plays trumpet in the school band. Despite his hearing loss he has an ear for music. During the Christmas season he directed songs for the church choir while his mother played piano. She taught him five years of piano beginning when he was 6.
"Chris is popular in school and it amazes me he does so well in music. We are very proud of him."
Buttgen, 49, who pastors a church in Newport, Arkansas, says he has left Chris's development in "God's hands" and that he is pleased with his son's "well-roundedness."
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