Entire family learned 'happy birthday' in sign language in time for deaf baby's first birthday
SWNS
2023-09-08
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An entire family learned 'Happy Birthday' in sign language - so they could sing to their deaf baby on his first birthday.
Tiny Augustine Morar, one, lost his hearing at just a few months old due to having a rare genetic condition.
Nobody else in the family is deaf - so they began learning sign language so Augustine could grow up able to communicate.
His mum, Kristen Morar, 33, decided for his first birthday that the whole family should sign 'happy birthday' while singing it.
The wholesome moment, on May 27, 2023, saw the whole family gather round to sign - captured on camera.
Kristen, from Orange County, California, US, said: "Before Augustine, nobody knew sign language in our family.
"Now we're learning sign language - he'll have a cochlear implant when he is older but we want him to have the option to sign or talk.
"I had to google how to sign happy birthday - we've just taken the approach of teaching people phrases when we're around them.
"Our friends and family do everything they can to communicate with him.
"We want him to grow up knowing there's no shame in being deaf."
Augustine started having health problems at just a few months old when he stopped eating.
When he was hospitalised with low blood sugar, doctors thought it was a one-off.
But over the next few months it got worse - he also began to lose his hearing and he had difficulty moving.
By seven months old, he was confirmed to be profoundly deaf - and was diagnosed with a rare condition called Mitchell syndrome.
The newly diagnosed neurological illness is caused by a rare genetic mutation which attacks the nerves which control hearing, movement and vision.
There is no available cure for the condition recently named after Mitchell Herndon, the first person to be diagnosed, who died in October 2019, aged 19.
There have only been a handful of known cases in the world - Augustine being one of them.
But despite the diagnosis, Augustine seems to be progressing well - and the family hope he'll continue to thrive.
They reckon his positive progress could be down to giving him vitamin B2 - but the future remains largely unknown due to how rare the disease is.
Kristen said: "We can't predict the future but we have all the hope in the world he will do well and we have to have faith."
Tiny Augustine Morar, one, lost his hearing at just a few months old due to having a rare genetic condition.
Nobody else in the family is deaf - so they began learning sign language so Augustine could grow up able to communicate.
His mum, Kristen Morar, 33, decided for his first birthday that the whole family should sign 'happy birthday' while singing it.
The wholesome moment, on May 27, 2023, saw the whole family gather round to sign - captured on camera.
Kristen, from Orange County, California, US, said: "Before Augustine, nobody knew sign language in our family.
"Now we're learning sign language - he'll have a cochlear implant when he is older but we want him to have the option to sign or talk.
"I had to google how to sign happy birthday - we've just taken the approach of teaching people phrases when we're around them.
"Our friends and family do everything they can to communicate with him.
"We want him to grow up knowing there's no shame in being deaf."
Augustine started having health problems at just a few months old when he stopped eating.
When he was hospitalised with low blood sugar, doctors thought it was a one-off.
But over the next few months it got worse - he also began to lose his hearing and he had difficulty moving.
By seven months old, he was confirmed to be profoundly deaf - and was diagnosed with a rare condition called Mitchell syndrome.
The newly diagnosed neurological illness is caused by a rare genetic mutation which attacks the nerves which control hearing, movement and vision.
There is no available cure for the condition recently named after Mitchell Herndon, the first person to be diagnosed, who died in October 2019, aged 19.
There have only been a handful of known cases in the world - Augustine being one of them.
But despite the diagnosis, Augustine seems to be progressing well - and the family hope he'll continue to thrive.
They reckon his positive progress could be down to giving him vitamin B2 - but the future remains largely unknown due to how rare the disease is.
Kristen said: "We can't predict the future but we have all the hope in the world he will do well and we have to have faith."
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