I just heard news that an old high school friend, Craig Decker, is presumed drowned in Utah Lake. He was boating with his family Saturday evening and he jumped off the boat to retrieve a lost oar and never resurfaced.

I am in shock. I’ve heard stories about freak accidents before but when it’s someone you know it’s different. I will be praying for his family and the search efforts that have been going on. Hearing news like this, it’s hard to understand God’s plan but I pray that peace and understanding will come soon to all those that have been affected by his accident.

Craig was an awesome person with an amazing outlook on life. I got to know him through high school band. He was fun to hang around and always made people laugh. I was never privileged to go on a date with him but we did hang out once and I will never forget that day. I drove him home after school and we didn’t have anything to do (or didn’t want to do homework) so we decided to go on a “scavenger hunt” and see if we could get enough money to buy an ice cream cone or something small. We wrote up a list of items on a piece of paper and crossed some items off so when we got to a house we could ask for a specific year of a quarter (sneaky, sneaky) or one of the other items. I don’t remember what kinds of things we acquired but we did get some money. I do remember a guy at one of the houses asking if we were just out to get money and I’m sure Craig came up with a good response. After a while (maybe an hour?) we decided we we had enough money (I really wish I remember how much we got) so we went to a local grocery store. You’ll never guess who was at the store. Yup. It was the guy that asked us if we were out to get money! I felt so horrible when I saw him there. I’m not proud of what we did but that’s possibly the worst thing I did in high school besides skipping class once or twice. Thanks Craig for a fun high school memory.

After high school I kind of lost touch with Craig but heard through the grapevine, years later, that he had blown off his right hand from a firework accident. He writes about it on his blog. You should read it (beware of pictures) and you will appreciate your blessings so much more. Really.

Craig also made several videos about doing things one-handed and posted them on YouTube. He posted advice/lessons he’s learned on his profile page and one of the things he said was:

We can always lift others, no matter how bad of a situation we are in. It is a divine gift. The only true and lasting joy comes from forgetting ourselves and helping those around us.

If you have a minute, you should check out the other advice/lessons he’s posted.

Craig, you will be missed!

Throughout my undergraduate and graduate education I took several audiology courses. I enjoyed most of them but not enough to decide to become an audiologist. Last fall I took a pediatric audiology course and learned a lot about identifying and treating children with hearing loss. It was a very interesting course and has helped me answer questions and educate families when I do newborn hearing screenings.

One of the last days of class the professor invited two moms of children who were deaf to share their stories with us. One mom talked about the family’s decision to use ASL and the other mom talked about the family’s decision to have her child receive bilateral cochlear implants. There is definitely controversy regarding whether parents of a deaf child should teach their child ASL only or have their child use hearing aids/cochlear implants (with or without ASL). It is a big decision families have to make and the sooner they make it the better it will be for their child. It is critical that children receive some type of language input before they are 6 months old or they will be behind their peers in language development.

After a child is diagnosed with a hearing loss, an audiologist and/or other professional should continue to follow them until they enter preschool or kindergarten to ensure they don’t fall behind their peers. A newspaper article in the Salt Lake Tribune yesterday stated many babies/children diagnosed with a hearing loss in Utah don’t get the follow-up care they need. The article also stated that some pediatricians use the “let’s wait and see” approach to delayed speech and language development. All I can say is – yikes! There needs to be more public education (pediatrician education) regarding the services available for children developing behind their peers and the importance of early intervention.

Overall, parents need to be aware of speech and language developmental milestones and be persistent with pediatricians who want to “wait and see” if their child catches up. In addition, parents need to be informed that there are many resources available to help their child if they are behind in speech and language development or have a hearing loss.

Okay, I’ll get off my soap box for now.

FYI: I met the boy featured in the article in my class last fall and read his mom’s blog frequently.