You know how stories that are told from the perspective of “a friend of a friend of a cousin of someone’s third ex-wife’s brother’s son” are sometimes a little hard to believe? This is kind of like that, except it’s far fewer generations removed from the source and it’s not making any outrageous claims.
My cousin Bill has a son, James, who is deaf. James is eight years old, and while nobody would claim that his life has been easy, he’s remarkably well adjusted and an all-around great kid. James told his father that he wanted to go camping, and Bill, never one to tell the kid that he can’t do something, agreed. Now, Bill isn’t the most experienced camper. He’s what you might call “indoors-y”. He didn’t have a clue where to begin.
But Bill is resourceful. When it was discovered that James was deaf, Bill knew they would both have to learn sign language, and he searched for the best ways to do it. He found a series of DVDs called Signing Time that they learned from – and I did, too. I spent many afternoons with Bill and James, many of which were spent watching these DVDs. James was less than two. Seriously, he was something like 18 months old when they started with these DVDs, and James picked it up before he could talk! He couldn’t sign “Hey Dad, let me borrow the car, I’m meeting this chick down at the bar”, but he could sign “Hey Dad, I want more milk” – which, in retrospect, was probably the more appropriate phrase for a two-year-old.
So, Bill went looking for information about camping and any advice for camping with a kid who’s deaf. He found a variety of excellent sleeping bags (some more expensive than others), a variety of tents and a few websites devoted to the art and science of sleeping somewhere other than a house or a hotel.
We’re going in a few weeks! Bill and James figured they’d make an event out of it. They, I, my brother Phil, and our friends Michael and Alex are going to spend the weekend up in the mountains. We’ve got the spot picked out, and we’re gathering our gear and supplies. And bear repellant. Gotta find some bear repellant.
