Krista Corner Havre Daily News kcorner@havredailynews.com
She likes hanging out with her friends, she is vocally opinionated and she tries to grow up too fast for her mother's liking. The only difference between Katie and other teen girls is that Katie is deaf. Katie's mom, Lois Gilge, said her daughter's hearing impairment has not really slowed the girl down. "She is a very motivated little girl," Lois said. "She thinks she is ready to drive, and she has been ready to live on her own since she was 9," she added with a laugh. Lois said Katie's ambition showed early in her life, before she was diagnosed with deafness, which made the diagnosis difficult. "Katie is very vocal and has always used her voice," she said. After the diagnosis, Lois said teaching Katie was easy because, even at a year old, Katie wanted to speak. "She is very personally motivated to use her voice, and I didn't care what mode (of communicating) that was as long as she learned the English language. When you can't hear the language and you can't hear yourself speak, it is extremely difficult. With Katie it was extremely easy, because we went after it full boar, and Katie picked up on it quickly." Getting a jump start after the diagnosis was crucial, Lois said, and has proved to be worthwhile for Katie. "She really likes the English language, and that is one of the things she is really motivated to learn," said Lois. "We ( Lois and Katie’s dad Kent) have two boys that are dyslexic, and we find it really interesting that our child that has never heard the language likes it more than her brothers who can hear." Lois said she has pushed her daughter from a very young age to communicate for herself, whether that be by writing notes, reading lips or signing. "She wrote her first note to the librarian asking for a book when she was 4-years-old," Lois said. "I push her to do all of her own communicating so she can develop any kind of communication that is successful." Pushing Katie to communicate for herself led Lois to also teach Katie to stand up for herself and be her own advocate. "To me, one of the things I have always talked to Katie about is that it is as much an education for them as it is for her," Lois said of people Katie communicates with. "It is very healthy for her to do her own communicating. I am teaching her to advocate for herself, teaching her what her rights are, and that it is not rude to insist on her rights. That's part of a legacy we need to pass on. Everything we do now we pass on to others." Lois' and Katie's story is a successful one, with many Havreites having pitched in. "She's been on a lot of sports teams," Lois said. "Katie was on a traveling soccer team for a while this spring, and the coach was extremely supportive and encouraging of the team to learn a little bit (of sign language) so they could communicate with Katie. It's been a huge effort but hugely rewarding. "It's a credit to the town, but also to the families," Lois added. "She has friends that she's signed with her whole life. I've heard (other people's) horror stories, but I have never run into anything like that (kindness) is the general atmosphere of the town. It's fairly safe to take Katie anywhere and turn her loose and let her do her own communicating. It is a relatively safe place to do that, because people are relatively familiar with her. It isn't as awkward." Lois said though life has not been as difficult as it could have been for Katie and her family, some hurdles had to be jumped and some challenges still lie ahead. "One of the challenges I face is finding an interpreter that Katie likes," she said, adding that she often times will set up functions with more than one interpreter so Katie can learn to advocate for herself if one interpreter is difficult for her to understand. Lois said, sometimes, that too can be a challenge because of Katie's age. "I have to be kind of careful how much I do that with her anymore because at her age she doesn't want to stand out too much," she said. "She's got some challenges ahead of her. "She is confident, and I tell her there isn't any kind of job she can't do. Just that she has challenges she has to tackle and I am educating her on how to do that. She's done animal care, baby-sitting and yard work, and likes doing that, but I anticipate some difficult days ahead," as Katie moves on from home life to life on her own, Lois added. Watching Katie in the park visiting with her hearing friends, or checking out books in the library with her mom, it was easy to see that though life would have its difficulties, the ambitious teen was already well on her way to leading a successful and full life. (Look to future editions of the Havre Daily News for more on hearing-impaired community member's and their family's stories this month.)
