THE SHADDOX BOYS

Jacob and Elijah Shaddox are brothers. Jacob is 21 years old and just moved into an apartment with his girlfriend. He graduated from a technical college with an Associate's degree in Computer Maintenance. He works for a school district as a computer technician. Elijah is almost 18 years old. He is hearing impaired, has Tourette Syndrome, OCD and ADHD. He is a junior in high school. Elijah lives with his mom Mary and her wife, his stepmom. Mary has a bachelor's in deaf education and a masters in special education, and is an educational diagnostician. Life is always changing and this blog has chronicled many of these changes and will continue to do so!






Saturday, March 21, 2015

It Happened Again!

We got a new front door today, so workmen arrived early this morning to take out the old door and install the new door. It was a good three hour job with them even installing a new door frame. There was a lot of noise and a lot of work going on. Elijah and I were just hanging out in the house and watching TV. The cats were locked up in Jacob's room and my honey was off at work.

About an hour before they finished, one of the workmen says to me, "there is someone here to see you". I was surprised to hear this, because I wasn't expecting anyone. I then walked to the door and said, "there is someone for me?" He then pointed to two women and a teenage girl walking up to my door. Of course, there is a lot happening in this area so they didn't get too close. All three of them were dressed up like they were going to church and one of them voice and signs "hello, I see you have some construction. We just wanted to stop by to see you with an invitation." I immediately knew they had see the DEAF CHILD SIGN at the end of the street and asked some neighbors where the deaf kid lives. She then signed and voiced, "your son is deaf, right?" I said, "yes, but he doesn't use sign language. He is oral.". She then said, "Oh, ok." I just stood there and didn't say anything else. She then said "thank you. I guess we won't bother you" and they left.

The three of them left and then I looked at the workman and asked him if they had driven up to my house. He said that they had. I am not sure WHY this bothers me BUT it does. They had  probably found out where I lived sometime before today and then made a special trip to come and see the deaf kid and his family. I relayed the story to my honey when she called later. She then told me that someone had stopped by a few weeks ago when Jacob was home for Spring Break. Elijah and I were not home, because I had taken him to a doctor's appointment. This happened about a year ago too. While I appreciate that they want to reach out to the deaf community, I would really prefer they just NOT show up on my doorstep uninvited. The woman today signed better than the last woman who stopped by though.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Jacob: Life at College

      Jacob started his second semester at Texas State Technical College in Waco in January. He only has three more semester until graduation with one of those semesters being over the summer. He has become more independent each day. Today he texted me that he was having some issues with his car. He said it was "sputtering" and the check engine light was on. I called him to get more information. One of the other staff suggested he take it to Auto Zone and let them run a diagnostic. I searched the web and found one close to him. I told him to ask them for a suggestion on where he might take the car to be checked over.


       He called me a little later and said Auto Zone suggested a garage and I looked it up for him. He was still at Auto Zone. I gave him the address and he found it. He then called me back and said that he made an appointment to take the car back on Friday morning for them to check it. It could be any number of things. They also said they would give him a 10% discount since he was a student at TSTC and many of their mechanics come from the school. I reminded him to call me with a quote prior to approving the work and I told him how proud I was of him for handling all of this. It is a learning opportunity and he did well!! I am VERY PROUD of him. He listened and handled the situation and made some decisions all on his own. He still has some growing up to do, but he is on the right track. Life is a journey!