dear Madalena,

went to Ann's house and it turned out that Ann's (deaf) mum is still around and living in the same house. Upon some reckless probing, Ann's (hearing) granny said that Ann's parents have some marital problems and are trying to work things out

hence, i decided not to work with Ann and her family anymore because there are many variables beyond my control

1) Ann's dad didn't inform his wife about my study. While Ann's mum was cooperative after i explained the objectives of my study, sometimes the signing between the parents seemed a little aggressive for my liking as they tried to settle on details of their educational background. i hope my thesis won't become a source for conflict between them

2) Ann was really shy and required a lot of prompting from her granny before she would do the Neale test. Ann's granny later commented how her reserved side may be due to her worrying over her parents' future together

3) Ann's mother is trained to voice although her voice isn't very clear. hence, Ann doesn't face total lack of linguistic input from her parents

4) Ann has remarkable extended-family support. her granny told me that everyone (uncles, aunties, grandparents) have been doing their bit to compensate for the lack of input from her parents.

hmmm, i know you won't require such a lengthy justification for my actions...:) i just thought i would tell you because such experiences come once-in-a-lifetime and i wanna share with people...

thanks and regards,
Kaile

p/s: just something personal to share...this thesis has made me experience some emotional highs and lows that i never thought i would feel in my life. i was so distraught after the session that i called up June because i badly needed to talk. usually, i have remarkable self control one...:)