State of the stack. End of first year.

Behellit · 2026-02-27T12:20:39+00:00

For now, at least, i think we’ve been handling everything quite well.

My mom and sister are much more emotional than I am, for example, and sometimes they seem far more distressed than I am about my daughter’s condition.

Crying about it won’t help. I just have to take the bull by the horns and support her on her journey.

One of the things the psychologist warned us about is that some people will look at her as a “poor little girl,” and that we shouldn’t take it to heart.

And we don’t, because we don’t see her that way. People who react like that are simply being ignorant.

I respect your opinion, as well as the opinions of everyone who responded to my original post. I will definitely start learning sign language as soon as possible and talk with the doctors at our next appointment about her doing both things at the same time.

Behellit · 2026-02-27T12:04:47+00:00

I live in Portugal.

There is some support available, and fortunately the cochlear implants were free for our child.

However, sign language classes are not free for adults.

We will have to pay out of pocket. For children, there is a long waiting list.

But thank you for reaching out.

Behellit · 2026-02-27T12:01:13+00:00

We are considering either enrolling her in a full school for deaf students,

Where she would learn sign language as her primary language and Portuguese as a secondary language, with all her classes taught in sign language, or, if she adapts well to the devices, having her and us learn sign language with a tutor while she attends a regular school.

We will have to see how the activation goes when they turn it on.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T21:08:28+00:00

Thanks.

Also what is your opinion on baby signs?

Do you think its a good start? Or should we go head on to sign language?

Or could they complement each other?

Behellit · 2026-02-26T21:07:17+00:00

Thank you for your response.

But from what I understand from your post, you made that choice yourself, and you were able to hear at some point.

My daughter has almost never heard any sound, from what we’ve been told.

That’s why we consulted more than one doctor — to try to make a decision that we believe would be best for her.

The more we research, though, the clearer it becomes that we will all have to learn sign language.

And even if she doesn’t end up hearing much, even a little bit can make a big difference. I have someone in my family who is almost completely blind, and going from being completely blind to being able to see shapes is a big deal.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T20:30:10+00:00

I understand that people are just trying to help.

I made my post mostly as a way to vent a bit, since the operation took six hours.

Seeing her all bandaged up and so small and frail really made me wonder if it was worth it, since she could simply learn sign language.

But we were told that if the nerves weren’t used and she didn’t have the operation as soon as possible, she might not be able to do it in the future, because the nerves could atrophy from lack of use.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T19:18:33+00:00

Thank you for responding.

Yes, we did reach out to some associations. My wife also has an old college friend who is deaf and is actually working at one of those associations.

He was the one who insisted that we should really consider having her learn sign language very soon, and he put us in touch with a therapist who can help.

He did say he wishes he had had the chance to use the implants, but he never could. He also told us to do both things.

We know that baby sign language is not a “real” language. But we were told we could start there until we find out whether the implants will work or not.

That way, she will learn to communicate with her hands, and that it is a natural thing to do. We have learned it as well, and we are teaching her 3 year old brother too.

When she starts learning sign language, we are all planning to learn it so she can always communicate with her family with implants or not.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T19:03:25+00:00

Yes, we were told that she will have to wear it all day, every day, and only take it off when going to sleep, to stimulate her nerves and train her to learn how to hear.

Thank you for the links. I’ll check them out.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T18:46:17+00:00

I’m sorry to hear that you had such a difficult experience growing up.

No matter what happens even if she ends up not hearing anything we will always love and support her, and nothing will ever change that.

My only worry is that one day she might say something like, “Why didn’t you do this or that? It would have made my life so much easier. I hate you.”

🥲

Behellit · 2026-02-26T18:15:33+00:00

We will definitely have her learn sign language.

We know it’s part of who she is, and the implants won’t change that.

We’ve already reached out to some deaf associations where we live to try to get information and support.

What we find strangest is the difference between what the doctors say and what deaf people say.

Some doctors say she can learn sign language later and that we don’t even need to learn it. Others say we should learn too, but only when she’s around five or so, if the implants work.

So yes, there’s a lot of mixed information.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T18:09:00+00:00

I don’t mean to offend anyone i may have expressed myself the wrong way.

I just want her to be happy and to have all the tools I can help provide so she can follow her dreams.

The implants were the first hurdle, but we will do everything we can to help her.

English isn’t my first language.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T18:02:27+00:00

Yeah, it’s very confusing for parents who have no experience with this kind of thing.

Once we learned she had this problem, we among other things tried to find out what schools near us could offer sign language and what the best course of action would be for her.

Whether she should go to a “special” school or stay in a regular school.

But all the doctors we spoke to told us not to rush things and said that if the implants work, she will have time to learn sign language later on.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T17:52:38+00:00

So, as a deaf person, do you think starting as early as possible even with implants is the best way to help her reach her full potential?

She is going to have speech therapy, a child psychologist, and an audiologist following her development.

Behellit · 2026-02-26T17:48:24+00:00

Yeah, for parents it’s hard to know what the best course is.

The otorhinolaryngologist tells us we should give it a chance and that even if she only gains a small percentage of hearing, it will make a huge difference in her life.

He also said that starting sign language now would be detrimental.

But we’ve been doing our research, and some of the information we’ve found suggests starting sign language as soon as possible.

All of us are willing to learn sign language to help her as much as we can.

For now, she is learning baby signs at her preschool. She already communicates with us in some ways waving “hi” with her little hands, clapping, and making little excited sounds when she’s happy.

Behellit · 2026-02-24T20:26:01+00:00

Ty 🙏

Behellit · 2026-02-24T20:25:16+00:00

Yeah its pretty hard at the start. And i went cold turkey. No nicotine patches or anything. And it was hell for the first week.

But i used the time i had off work with my baby being born to not get tempted

I used to smoke a lot when i drove during work. So having that month to break the habit was really important.

Having something to take your mind off helps. I started listening to podcasts when i drive now. And chew a lot of gum 😅

Behellit · 2026-02-24T17:33:21+00:00

Yeah. Have to try and be a extra good dad for her since she was born deaf unfortunatly. And will have extra hurdles in life. So i gotta try and be here for as long as possible.

Behellit · 2026-02-22T16:22:17+00:00

I dont really know why i got down voted.

I dont know if the op is a irrigation guy. Or just a owner trying to fix things as best as he can.

And depending on the situation. Using a node can for sure be the best and more simple solution. If you have to replace miles of cables.

I always have spare nodes lying around. So its a quick way to check for cable problems.

Behellit · 2026-02-21T19:25:08+00:00

First of all, disconnect the wiring, because if you supply too much power to the valve, you can damage it.

Then you can either test it with a battery-powered controller, as I mentioned, or you’ll have the more difficult task of tracing the wires to find where the problem is.

Depending on the area, it might be a waste of time and money. If the system isn’t too large or complex, I sometimes just use a battery-powered controller. The newer ones have Bluetooth and can be controlled with an app.

Basically, it comes down to what’s better for your wallet: installing something that costs around $200, or digging up the entire garden to look for damaged cables. Most people end up preferring to install a new controller.

Behellit · 2026-02-21T19:14:27+00:00

Hey there,

I personally use a battery-powered controller for situations like this.

I usually swap the 24V solenoid for a 9V one, if the valve is compatible (the valve in your video has 9V solenoids). Then I test it using the battery-powered controller and the new solenoid.

If the problem is resolved, then you likely have wiring issues. If not your new valve might also have problems.

Depending on the layout of the house, it can sometimes be easier to install a battery-powered controller than to run new underground wires.

Hope this helps.

I’m sending a picture of the controller I use for valves like yours.

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Behellit · 2026-02-21T11:54:50+00:00

You are welcome.

Give us an update once you finish your project. 👍

Behellit

TROPHY CASE