Sunshine Praises

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You are here: Home / Archives for Deafness

Reflections on Choices

September 13, 2020 By Melanie Leave a Comment

When Ez was first fitted with his hearing aids, we let him choose his path. He never wore hats or bands that forced his “ears” to stay in place. If he wanted them, he left them on, if he didn’t, he pulled them off. He pulled them off pretty much every minute for months. He… [Read More]

Adoption: Language Deprivation and your MCC

November 30, 2017 By Melanie 2 Comments

While perusing adoption Facebook groups, I regularly come across a particular type of post. “My husband and I are starting the adoption process, we are looking for a young, minor needs girl ages 0-3. What are some minor needs that you would recommend that don’t require surgery or life long care.” Inevitably someone will ALWAYS… [Read More]

Praise: Milton the Mealtime Companion Helps Kids Eat Healthy

August 22, 2016 By Melanie Leave a Comment

There isn’t a parent in the world that hasn’t struggled with trying to get their children to try (and eat) a variety of foods. Vegetables, starches, fruits, meats, dairy. You name it, every tyke I know has gone through at least one food aversion period. With my last two kids (Lulu and Ezra), I spent… [Read More]

Deafness: Where are the 90%?

June 22, 2016 By Melanie 76 Comments

Shortly after Nyle Demarco won the coveted mirror ball a  NY Times post entitled Parents of Deaf Children, Stuck in the Middle of an Argument began making the rounds on Facebook. There was a beautiful picture of Nyle DiMarco and Peta as click bait for the reader but it wasn’t an article applauding Nyle’s accomplishment, no, it was another article bemoaning… [Read More]

The Day a Video of My Son Went Viral

April 17, 2016 By Melanie 16 Comments

In May I will have been blogging for seven years and even though I have had a few articles go viral, I have not experienced anything like I did this past week when a video of my son Ezra went viral. A few weeks ago I posted a cute little video of my son giggling… [Read More]

#WhyISign Campaign

March 15, 2016 By Melanie 5 Comments

Today I am excited to share with you a very important campaign called #WhyISign. This video campaign was created by Stacy Abrams in order to encourage and support the families of Deaf children to consider ASL an important part of their deaf child’s identity. The campaign has been going on for a few months now but… [Read More]

Deaf Child Waiting: Isla with Heartsent Adoptions

October 1, 2015 By Melanie 2 Comments

Sunshine Praises is not an official advocate for any agency. My goal is to help all deaf and hard of hearing waiting children find their forever families. This little sweetie showed up in my newsfeed today and I just had to share her. Isla is another deaf Chinese waiting child. She is absolutely adorable. She does have several… [Read More]

Early Literacy in ASL (Retelling a Story)

August 28, 2015 By Melanie Leave a Comment

Recently Ezra has been blooming in his language acquisition. He is on target with hearing peers for typical developing children. He regularly uses two word sentences and has mastered the “question” signs, WHAT, WHERE and WHO. We often see sentences like: Where paci? Who (index)? What (index)? *normally referring to a sound or something he… [Read More]

Parenting Survey – Church Attendance & Special Needs Children

August 19, 2015 By Melanie Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: I am using the term “special needs” to include children with a range of medical, physical and sensory disabilities. While I prefer to use positive and affirming choices, I believe “special needs” best defines the intentions of the survey. Have you ever looked around your church and realized that there are no families with special… [Read More]

Ughh, I Hate the Word “Thrive” Used to Describe Deaf Children

July 23, 2015 By Melanie 6 Comments

In my new identity as a parent of a “special needs” child, I am continuously annoyed by parents regular use of the word “thrive” when discussing their children. It happened the other day when I dared to venture out into a cochlear implant discussion. The parent that was 100% against the use of sign language lambasted… [Read More]

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sunshinepraises

Chasing hidden rainbows and sprinkling #PixieDust 🧚‍♀️ about:
🤟🏼 #SignLanguage
💙💛#cheermom
🍊🏝#FloridaMom
#DisneyMom
#Adoption
#Newfie

Just got our Ben Wells Produce weekly box and it’s amazing!!! I am so glad I stumbled upon this small local farm! I missed our crop-share in Ohio and this looks even better. Can’t wait for all the summer goodies.
#localbusiness #smallfarm #eatyourveggies #saintaugustine #supportlocal #benwellsproduce 

#catnotincluded
It’s extremely hard to work when the kitten thin It’s extremely hard to work when the kitten thinks your mouse is there for her amusement. #catsofinstagram #officecat #rescuecat #MilaBlair
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! 🍀 #chinesebybirth Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! 🍀 #chinesebybirth #irishbyadoption
Mila Blair aka Meebs is a super purrrer kitty. She Mila Blair aka Meebs is a super purrrer kitty. She is so loud! #purrpurr #scratchme #softkitty 

*Sound on to hear her purr.
It’s been more than a year since he played. He d It’s been more than a year since he played. He decided to give soccer another try! Mama is so proud and happy to see him give it his all! #mentalhealthmatters #endthestigma #semicolonproject
Someone needs to tell Chuck that kitties can not w Someone needs to tell Chuck that kitties can not wear wigs or be cheerleaders. #cheercat
Second comp for this power sister duo! #Cheerabili Second comp for this power sister duo! #Cheerabilities #BrandonAllstarsJax #Prism #deafkidsrock #CODA-SODA
Instagram post 17895693889787595 Instagram post 17895693889787595
So excited we found the Ox to the Limited Edition So excited we found the Ox to the Limited Edition #LOLDoll for Lunar New Year and it comes with a tiny #yakult bottle 🐂🏮🧧

#YearoftheOx #ChineseNewYear
Who else has cats that sit by the sink and demand Who else has cats that sit by the sink and demand fresh running water? #spoiledchuck #waterthecats #ChucktheCat #rescuecat
The exit doors are located on the right and left o The exit doors are located on the right and left of the plane... #welcometoIslandAir #clearedfortakeoff #allstarcheer
This cat! The universe knew that I needed him. He This cat! The universe knew that I needed him. He literally climbs in my lap and asks for his belly and paws to be rubbed. 😂 What kind of cat does this? #ChickenChuck #ChucktheCat #rescuecat
Anyone out there know who ‘s artwork this is? I Anyone out there know who ‘s artwork this is? I found it on Pinterest with no links or names. I would love to buy it from the actual artist. (If possible) #Disneyart #OrangeBird #whostheartist #floridaorangebird #SunshineTerrace
Yesterday was our first in-person event of the sea Yesterday was our first in-person event of the season! So excited to be back on the mat and working for the dream! #islandallstars #clearedfortakeoff #onegymonefamily ✈️🌴💛
😍 Goodness gracious Ly is looking beautiful in 😍 Goodness gracious Ly is looking beautiful in her new #cheerabilities #brandonallstars uniform! #TeamPrism #allstarcheer
Thank you #FSDB for our family ASL dictionary and Thank you #FSDB for our family ASL dictionary and flash cards. #deafkidsrock #languagematters #languagepriority #ASL #English #bilingualkids #IheartFSDB ❤️🤟🏼
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