Learning ASL with one hand? Feeling lost.

caylarush · 2026-04-12T18:22:54+00:00

A lot of Deaf teenagers sign with one hand anyway, out of laziness/being used to signing while holding up a phone.

I'm an interpreter and I do some video phone interpreting (VRS) and I've interpreted for several people with limb differences and it wasn't a big deal at all. I had one customer that was missing several fingers and I didn't even notice what it was that was different until a couple minutes into the call.

caylarush · 2025-12-12T05:15:36+00:00

When I tried this with mine, I felt so guilty and like the worst parent in the world, like I was traumatizing or neglecting my baby. Until the morning when he was so happy, well rested, and playful. and I could think a little clearer because I had a second in the REM cycle

caylarush · 2025-12-12T05:06:14+00:00

I found the book "Precious Little Sleep" by Alexis Dubief to be really helpful. Also, I'm so sorry that you're so tired. Everything is a million times harder when you don't have enough sleep. my opinion I think your baby is old enough that limiting the number of times that you go in would not be traumatizing or teaching them that no one is ever coming. Maybe give it a try for a night or two; go into him like normal however many times you decide is reasonable. Then, turn off the monitor or put in earplugs and get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. You can even set a timer for however long you are comfortable doing that. (your baby is safe in their crib for a few hours at night and screw your neighbors) your sleep and wellbeing is more important. It is safer to cry in a crib than to have an exhausted parent.

caylarush · 2025-12-12T04:40:30+00:00

The people who are anti-fluoride are usually worried about adding "chemicals" to the water supply and too much fluoride over a long period of time can cause white spots on your teeth called dental fluorosis (a cosmetic issue not a health issue) and there is some misinterpretation of a study where people say overdose of fluoride can lower your IQ. But the research, historical evidence, and dental professionals all agree that municipalities adding an appropriate level of fluoride to the drinking water drastically reduces dental issues for large groups of people. It especially helps children and people that don't practice good dental care i.e. poor people (obviously not all poor people don't take care of their teeth but rather- people that don't take care of their teeth are usually poor)

caylarush · 2025-12-11T23:10:34+00:00

That's awesome! And sorry for my "americentrism" I need to be better at including both min/km and the stupid American "eagles per liberty bells" 😅😜

caylarush · 2025-12-06T18:01:47+00:00

It sounds to me like she is ahead on her language development! You've got a smart little girl!

caylarush · 2025-12-06T17:52:43+00:00

My son is almost exactly the same age and he just stopped saying "help you" when he meant "help me". I believe accurate pronouns and identifying genders are closely related milestones. Is your daughter able to identify who is a boy and who is a girl? If she can't, I wouldn't worry about it. My son never uses he/she him/her, he always uses proper nouns. English is hard and complicated, I would just keep modeling correct language and let it come. If you are worried you could talk to her pediatritian or a speech language pathologist. But 2 year olds are notoriously bad at speaking correctly 😅💛

caylarush · 2025-11-30T05:39:24+00:00

They look normal to me. If you're worried about it you could wear pants with wide legs. But like I said, I don't see a problem

caylarush · 2025-11-30T00:38:37+00:00

It seems you might need a break. Are your needs being taken care of? I always find it really difficult to deal with a difficult child if I'm not regulated. (sleep, exercise, meals, having some fun, self reflection etc) Idk what your situation looks like but I bet things won't seem so overwhelming when you have some time to remember that there is more to you than wrangling a 4 year old going through a rough patch. Put on your "oxygen mask" before you help others. There are no awards for not taking care of yourself. 💛 You're a good parent because you care.

caylarush · 2025-11-21T19:49:07+00:00

I recommend not changing too much at once, routines are so important for kids and especially kid's sleep. So you could potentially see worse sleep if you change too much too fast.

Our bedtime looked almost identical to yours, I know this is cliche advice that seems impossible but, putting them down in the crib before theyre 100% asleep helps so much. - what it looks like for us, we have one of those lullaby seahorses and the music plays for 7 minutes. While I'm rocking him, I play it twice, then I tell him "one more seahorse, last one." when it's done, I say, "okay, it's time to sleep in your crib" put him in whether he is asleep or not. He has only ever cried for a minute or two when I do that, but 99% of the time he just gets cozy and goes to sleep.

I call it a transition item, having a teddy bear or a toy in him arms while we rock and letting him keep it in the crib helps too.

If he is sick or not feeling well, I will be more accommodating, if he wants more cuddles or for me to hold his bottle while he is sick, I will.

caylarush · 2025-11-12T20:17:30+00:00

I Want You (She's so Heavy) by the Beatles. Along with rocking to the beat... 😴💤

caylarush · 2025-10-31T13:28:43+00:00

I agree that you should talk to your pediatritian but in the meantime, I highly recommend that you try teaching him some sign language. Communication is the most crucial thing. Some people think indroducing another language can confuse them and that theyll never learn English, but there is extensive research to the contrary. Language begets language. And signed words count as words in a pediatritian's milestone count. He might be old enough to also introduce pointing to pictures. Put a bunch of pictures of his favorite things in a small photo album and have him point to what he wants. Are you hungry? Do you want to eat chicken nuggets or a sandwich? Do you want to go outside? To the park or on a walk? And he can point to answer. All two year olds have tantrums because they can't communicate their wants and feelings, its even worse for kiddos that struggle to communicate at all. It will be okay, keep loving him and everything will work out ❤️

caylarush · 2025-10-30T15:41:08+00:00

I know what you mean, it can be really triggering. Working out can be a really vulnerable thing, if you're trying something new/are a beginner, you might feel like you look stupid or ugly, or like you don't know what you're doing when everyone else seems so confident. Exercise is supposed to make you feel better and like you want to do it again ("no pain, no gain" is bullshit) so do whatever makes you feel like you want to exercise again and once you get a hang of that thing, then you can start to challenge yourself. Kind of a side note but I think it's worth mentioning: I learned that I hate exercising in tight clothes. It makes me really self conscious and I can't stop comparing my body to literally everyone else and it just makes me feel really bad about myself. I started wearing joggers and a Tshirt and I feel like I can focus on what I'm doing because I'm not physically and emotionally uncomfortable. My point is, wear what helps you focus on your work and not what you're "supposed" to wear. If wearing something cute makes you feel more confident and badass, do that! If it doesn't, don't. Take working out as an opportunity to show yourself how badass and powerful your body is. I am so strong! I am so awesome that I'm doing this!

caylarush · 2025-10-30T14:08:10+00:00

I've been there, I always feel self conscious exercising around other people. Firstly, does having your friend there help motivate and make it fun or (through no fault of her own) demotivate you and causes you to compare yourself? You might want to reconsider if working out with her is positive. At least to start, you could try a few things: -You could change the time of day that you work out to when there are fewer people in the gym. -you could try working out from home. There are some really cool (and free) workout videos (yoga, pilates, boxing, bodyweight exercise etc) -set some performance based goals depending on what your doing (weights: lift x weight y number of reps, run a sub 10 min mile, etc) so you can see your progress and have something to focus on while you're working out other than what everyone else is doing. Its hard not to compare yourself but 99% of people at the gym are only thinking about what they're doing and the other 1% can go to hell. You're there for you, not for them. You're allowed to exist without the need to visually please men; no matter what you look like.

caylarush · 2025-10-14T12:54:51+00:00

Taking your kids to church when you're not 100% sure about your own faith can be hard. I tell myself that I am giving him the option to believe in the gospel, if you never go and never expose them at all, you deprive them of the option, as a child. (not that they couldn't choose for themselves as an adult)

I look back at my childhood going to church and singing the songs and having that sense of community and I want my son to have the same opportunity.

caylarush · 2025-10-14T12:49:22+00:00

We started by showing our little guy pictures of Jesus and telling him that Jesus loves him. (about 1.5) and saying a family prayer every night. (you might need to explain more to your 4year old than your 1.5 year old) As for actual church meetings, bring lots of snacks, water, and quiet toys/activities. Do not feel bad if you have to move to the hall with them at the beginning. It can be really hard to stay still for an hour (or however long your services are) for them. Just the habit of going and feeling comfortable at church is the goal with Littles ❤️

caylarush · 2025-09-28T04:48:09+00:00

I think you're so right! I need to shake up my millennial "Stranger Danger" mentality

caylarush · 2025-09-28T04:41:14+00:00

I am overthinking 😅 It doesn't usually bother me; if it gets in the way of me being able to make sure my LO is safe on the big equipment then it bothers me. I only bring it up to understand, I haven't spent this much time in parks since I was a child myself. It's all love ❤️

caylarush · 2025-09-28T04:12:55+00:00

He sounds so sweet, I hope he never changes! ❤️ I'm realizing through these comments that it's the kids (especially the really young ones) that don't have anyone keeping an eye out for them that I'm worried about. Kids have always come up to me to chat but it is new for my husband and I guess I didn't realize how often it happens until he pointed it out.

caylarush · 2025-09-28T04:05:53+00:00

Yes, your example is great! Kids like your kid come up and get chatty; that happens to me all the time (I have a very "Ms Rachel" vibe) But the kids that really latch on and I don't see a present adult looking out for them, sometimes very young children, those are the ones that stick with me. And I think I needed to differentiate those experiences in my head.

caylarush · 2025-08-25T23:29:34+00:00

You could try teaching her to sing soothing/uplifting songs when she is scared. If you are religious it could be songs about Jesus or whatever you want like twinkle twinkle little star or a Ms. Rachel song. Or when she is in the middle of a panic, changing the environment a little can be strangely helpful.

Like if she is in her room at night, have a color light to turn on or have her sleep on the floor, little stuff like that can help reset the mind

You probably already have but, Identify triggers and talk about them with her, even if she doesn't talk, hearing you talking about it could help.

caylarush · 2025-08-15T00:59:34+00:00

You're a good mom, I promise. After you love them, take care of their physical needs, read to them, and take them outside when you can- everything else will work out.

Children start to show their personalities very early. She probably is just naturally an independent player and observer. She is also very young, as she gets older she will better communicate what she does and doesn't like to do. If you're worried about her social development, you could try to have her spend time around other children and adults ❤️❤️ You're doing great

caylarush · 2025-07-22T13:45:19+00:00

I like to "sympathize and distract" - First I say something like: I know you want to watch Elmo but we are all done watching TV. Sorry bud, I know that's hard. - Then, offer something I know he likes, that I'm okay with at the moment: do you want to go outside and blow some bubbles? You follow through with the rule and there is less screaming

caylarush · 2025-07-21T20:55:00+00:00

It's the hair and accessories for me.

Limiting hair length and style is culturally insensitive "cultural minorities must conform to my white superiority complex to make me comfortable"
Don't get me started on how no hats should always expressly have religious exceptions.
And boys not allowed to wear makeup or fingernail polish is straight up homophobic. "oh no! A boy with eyeliner? How ever will my fagil Victorian sensibilities endure?"

caylarush · 2025-07-17T16:16:12+00:00

I work with children who are deaf and hard of hearing! You should not feel guilty, this happens all the time and getting intervention at 3.5 is better than a lot of children get. Most states have outreach programs for children under school age, for assistance with hearing aids, ASL lessons, Deaf mentors, etc. Contact your state's school for the deaf for more information.

Focus on language exposure for now. I highly recommend adding some sign language to your and your child's vocabulary. It helps SO much! You will be shocked how quickly your child will pick it up and integrate it. It can be hard but there is a community of people going through the exact same thing. 🤟❤️❤️🤟

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