I can't believe it has been just over a month since Colton was "turned on". It seems to have gone really fast, but very slow at the same time, if that makes any sense at all. Here is an update of the last month.
It has taken several weeks, but Colton no longer cries when we put the implants on. He now will hum when they are on. It is almost like he is sound checking. I think that he is getting to a point where he likes them on. He still does not respond to every sound. And he responds the best in very quiet environments. I can call his name and get him to turn to my voice, but it is only about 50% of the time.
Colton started private therapy on top of the other therapies that he has. We are continuing with sign language, so he has that as well as oral therapy. It is mostly just playing with toys and putting a sound to it. Like a car says BRRRR or a snake says SSSSS.We are also trying to help him understand that he can use his voice or signing to get what he wants. Colton is pretty laid back and doesn't demand too much. We want him to start to make a sound or sign when he wants something, like saying UhUhUh when he wants me to pick him up instead of just putting his arms up. It is a lot for us to work on and it seems to take forever, but it will come and then I'll wonder why I wanted him to know that he could demand things!
The biggest changes are that Colton is starting to use his voice more. He is making more sounds in play. He does a MMMM sound that I am hoping will soon turn into Mama. He also uses a AHHHH sound but he keeps his mouth closed. We want him to open his mouth and make it a bigger AHHH. He just started using a GAAA sound. He is also starting to notice some environmental sounds. He heard an airplane fly over our heads so I stopped and pointed it out to him. It will take some more time for him to understand what he is hearing, but we are trying ti point things out to him and give it a name. Like when the phone rings we point at it and make sure that he notices it.
We think of Colton as being a newborn in his hearing. We expect the same process that babies make in their first year with sound, just a little more accelerated. He won't respond to everything at first. It will take time. He will start to notice more and more and babble more and more. And around the 1 year mark we hope that he will be saying some words. It is hard for me to understand that he doesn't know what everything means. I knew this before his implants, but I still wanted it to be faster. It is a lot of work and we have to constantly remember to reinforce what he is learning. I go to bed at night and wonder if I am doing enough for him, then I remember that I am the mom of 4 boys and I am doing the best I can.
We got 2 colors of implants for Colton. There are 2 smaller batteries and 4 bigger ones. We have "skins" and ear hooks and ear molds. We are having fun trying out new things. Here are the normal tan ones with the smaller batteries:
And here are the snazzy leopard print ones with the darker brown coil and the bigger batteries.
Soon we will have the try the zebra print skins.
It has taken several weeks, but Colton no longer cries when we put the implants on. He now will hum when they are on. It is almost like he is sound checking. I think that he is getting to a point where he likes them on. He still does not respond to every sound. And he responds the best in very quiet environments. I can call his name and get him to turn to my voice, but it is only about 50% of the time.
Colton started private therapy on top of the other therapies that he has. We are continuing with sign language, so he has that as well as oral therapy. It is mostly just playing with toys and putting a sound to it. Like a car says BRRRR or a snake says SSSSS.We are also trying to help him understand that he can use his voice or signing to get what he wants. Colton is pretty laid back and doesn't demand too much. We want him to start to make a sound or sign when he wants something, like saying UhUhUh when he wants me to pick him up instead of just putting his arms up. It is a lot for us to work on and it seems to take forever, but it will come and then I'll wonder why I wanted him to know that he could demand things!
The biggest changes are that Colton is starting to use his voice more. He is making more sounds in play. He does a MMMM sound that I am hoping will soon turn into Mama. He also uses a AHHHH sound but he keeps his mouth closed. We want him to open his mouth and make it a bigger AHHH. He just started using a GAAA sound. He is also starting to notice some environmental sounds. He heard an airplane fly over our heads so I stopped and pointed it out to him. It will take some more time for him to understand what he is hearing, but we are trying ti point things out to him and give it a name. Like when the phone rings we point at it and make sure that he notices it.
We think of Colton as being a newborn in his hearing. We expect the same process that babies make in their first year with sound, just a little more accelerated. He won't respond to everything at first. It will take time. He will start to notice more and more and babble more and more. And around the 1 year mark we hope that he will be saying some words. It is hard for me to understand that he doesn't know what everything means. I knew this before his implants, but I still wanted it to be faster. It is a lot of work and we have to constantly remember to reinforce what he is learning. I go to bed at night and wonder if I am doing enough for him, then I remember that I am the mom of 4 boys and I am doing the best I can.
We got 2 colors of implants for Colton. There are 2 smaller batteries and 4 bigger ones. We have "skins" and ear hooks and ear molds. We are having fun trying out new things. Here are the normal tan ones with the smaller batteries:
And here are the snazzy leopard print ones with the darker brown coil and the bigger batteries.
Soon we will have the try the zebra print skins.
Yay! Go Colton!
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