Deaf Adoption News Service
Children

The Deaf Adoption News Service (DANS), a special interest group of the World Federation of the Deaf, has been around since it began with a handful of subscribers in early 1994.

Prospective Families:

The best way to find out about currently available waiting deaf and hard of hearing children, particularly those that can not be listed on the internet, is to subscribe to the DeafHOH-Adoption discussion list. This list is for families that have adopted deaf children or that are in the process. The children listed on the DANS website are only a sample of available children, and may not be available at the time you inquire. More children can be seen on the deafadoptionnetwork.com photolisting website. Adoption agencies may also know of other available waiting deaf/hoh children.

The DeafHOH-Adoption list also has downloadable files (accessed by clicking "Files" in the left navigation of Yahoo Groups) for list members that cover the following topics:

  • How to Adopt a Deaf Child
  • Communication Options
  • Abbreviations and Terms

Note: Please be aware that public descriptions may not have all the information about the waiting child, who may have conditions or disabilities not included in the publicly available description. It is important for prospective parents to ask questions, read children's files carefully, and be prepared to say no if they feel that they can not handle a child's issues or disabilities.

How to List a Child on the DANS Blog

It is easy to list a waiting deaf or severely hard of hearing child, or the news that an adoption agency has deaf/hoh children waiting, on DANS:

  1. Contact me and request to be granted permission to post to this website about waiting deaf/hard of hearing children.
  2. You will receive an invitation e-mail from Blogger.com.
  3. Click on the link in the e-mail to register. The e-mail will look like this:
    Here is the invite to register for the test.
    ---------------------------------------
    You have been invited by to join a blog called deafchildren.

    Blogger is a free service for easily communicating and sharing ideas on the web.

    NEXT STEPS:
    1. Please follow the link below. If you do not follow this link, you will not be able to logon to the correct blog.

      http://www.blogger.com/i.g?invID=xxxxxxxxxxxx

      Note: If this link wraps in your email (not all of it is on one line) copy and paste the entire link into your browser's location bar. Be sure to include characters that may have wrapped to the next line.
    2. If you already have a Blogger account, you will be asked to either accept or decline this invitation.
    3. If you do not have a Blogger account, you can create one for free in less than a minute. Just click the invite link and press the Create an Account button.
      4.
  4. Register with Blogger.com. If you had clicked on the e-mail link, you will not be required to name and create a blog.
  5. Log out of Blogger.com.
  6. Log back in to Blogger.com with the user name and password you had set up. Now you can post about a waiting deaf/hard of hearing child.
Both individuals and adoption agency representatives will be granted permission. I will monitor the site and delete any inappropriate postings.
Examples of postings accepted and rules for posting:
  • General notices that an adoption agency has deaf children waiting. Example: The Rainbow Adoption Agency has five deaf children from Asia available.
  • Do not state which country the child or children are in. Use the region name such as Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America, or Africa.
  • If the child is photolisted on an adoption agency website, post the website address.
  • Use a heading like "International" or "Domestic" to aid people searching for deaf children to adopt.

Deaf Adoption Postings

Thursday, December 08, 2005
Finding a forever family



My name is Jennifer Starkey and I am a Wendy's Wonderful Kids Adoption Recruiter. I am writing to anyone and everyone I can to advocate for this wonderful young man I am working with. I have attached some information about him and am looking for a family for him. He is a wonderful 13 year old boy who is absolutely charming. He has been in foster care for most of his life and we are trying to find a forever family for him. We thought perhaps families of other children with Goldenhar Syndrome would be the perfect place- they understand the disease and the needs Earl has. Please help me to help Earl find his family. I am hoping there is a newsletter we could highlight him in or your web site or any suggestions you may have.
I look forward to hearing from you.


All smiles- that’s how I would describe Earl. He laughs and smiles constantly. He also likes to have his picture taken. He likes to be around other people and helps out around the house with the laundry and emptying the trash. He enjoys taking car rides and watching television. He loves new things- clothes or toys. He gets along well with the other children in the home including the babies. He does well at school and rides the bus to and from each day. Earl also loves the backyard trampoline. Earl does have limitations although he doesn’t seem to be aware of them- which enables him to reach farther and farther! Earl is deaf and uses sign language and pointing to communicate. He joins right in and sits at the table and participates in the conversation. Earl also has a tracheotomy which is capped all day! Earl also has a feeding tube in which he is learning to take care of and feed himself- but still needs assistance at this time. I have a wonderful picture of Earl that I had difficulty uploading- he was standing tall on the trampoline in the backyard of his foster home! He looked so proud!

If anyone knows of a family for Earl- please feel free to contact me anytime- 407-398-7370. If there is anyone out there who can help us get the word out about Earl we would be so appreciative.

posted by Finding Forever Families | 7:39 AM

Children

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