Love Has the Power of Gratitude

 

Welcome to February!  I hope you had an enjoyable month. 

I am excited to tell you about a coworker of mine. She will share her love for her daughter and how her life is precious.   She will tell us about being a mom.  And that is why I decided to interview her this month because it is the month of Valentine’s Day.

 

I work with a beautiful young woman named Lynn. She is a mom of a beautiful daughter who is on the Autism spectrum and also is hard of hearing. Lynn is hard of hearing so she also has a disability herself

 

 My friend Lynn reminds me that love has the power of gratitude.

 

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Below I will share my interview with Lynn.

 

Bridget:
 Tell me about your life.

 

 Lynn:
My name is Lynn Ortiz, and I am currently the Simulation Lab Coordinator at the UIC College of Nursing.  I’ve been a nurse for over 20 years, but I left the hospital setting a little over 5 years ago because I wanted to be in a teaching environment.  I love what I do as Simulation Lab Coordinator here – I help faculty build, develop, and facilitate simulations that help nursing students mimic the real-life hospital setting, taking care of patients that they would see during their clinical rotations.

 

I am married with two children, ages 13 and 17.  Both of my children go to school in Oak Park, where we live.  My husband, Rey, is a certified registered nurse anesthetist and works for UI Health.  My extended family are all part of the UIC family, and I am close (literally and figuratively) with my brother and sister, who both live less than a mile away from me also in Oak Park.

 

In our spare time, my husband and I both like to work out and surf.  My husband grew up in Hawaii, and it is both our dream and plan to retire (and surf) there.  I like to joke that my youngest is our “souvenir” from Hawaii – I was pregnant with her when I lived in Hawaii over 10 years ago, and she was born in Honolulu.


Bridget:

How is it being a mom to a child who is on the autism spectrum and is also hard of hearing?

 Lynn:

Being a mom of an autistic and hard of hearing child can be challenging, but it does have its rewards.  As much as possible, I try to help my eldest with self-advocacy, which I know can be difficult for a child on the spectrum.  Learning to be organized and speak up for yourself is difficult for Tori (my child with autism and hard of hearing).  I have noticed a drastic improvement in academic performance, which I think is important.  Tori now takes initiative to be more organized.  Understanding content and learning information has never been an issue or difficult – Tori was always able to speak and perform on an intellectual level – it was just a matter of organizing thoughts and learning time management, which I’ve helped Tori tremendously to master.

 

The hard of hearing part is something that I can relate to, because I myself am hard of hearing.  Teaching both my children (they are both hard of hearing) how to put on their hearing aids and to know what resources at school are available to them was such a key component to aiding their learning.  It’s hard when you’re a teenager because you’re always looked at or judged by your peers.  But I made both kids understand not to be so wrapped up in what others think of them – it’s important to feel included, and the only way to feel included is to utilize the resources you have.  I think that information was so valuable to my eldest.


Bridget:

How does this affect your family? What kinds of accommodations does your daughter have that help her be successful in school? 

 

Lynn:

I think my husband is as patient as he can be living with 3 persons who are hard of hearing.  I love both my children so very much, and I think we both just want our children to succeed.  I look at my eldest as someone who has so much potential; Tori is intelligent, sweet, and extremely kind.  

 

Tori uses an FM system at school to help with lecture.  I believe the FM system pairs with the hearing aids by amplifying sound, but they don’t use the FM system during things such as sports or if there is too much noise.

 

I also signed up Tori for a support group called AANE (Asperger Autism Network).  They have open support groups every second Saturday of every month, and Tori signs up whenever they feel there is a need.  It’s great because Tori was able to make a lot of friends through the support group. 

Bridget: What will you say to the people who are reading this blog and what advice would you like to give to parents?   

Lynn:

I think the key thing is to be encouraging and supportive.  Sometimes as parents, it’s difficult to let your child take the lead because we always want what is best for our children.  But as our children slowly start growing into adults (like mine is about to become), it’s important to let them figure things out themselves, but teach them how to self-advocate the best way.  Before we let our kids take the lead, we as parents really have to listen.  What is it that they want in life?  How can we get them to where they need and want to be?  What resources are available?  In our own little way, we as parents become little researchers that try to find whatever help we can.  It’s important to teach our kids that it’s ok to need help.  It’s ok to not know all the answers.  Even as adults and parents, *WE* don’t always have the answers.  So, we have to learn to share that journey together.

 

Thank you,