So Colton is moving right along. We have turned him up quite a bit. We tested him in the booth at this last visit and it was pretty frustrating. He didn't seem to respond to anything at first and I started to worry that his implants weren't working at all. Our wonderful audiologist reminded me that Colton is 2 years old. The age that they refer to as "the black hole" because they just don't test well. They are more interested in playing or ignoring what is going on around them. We made some adjustments to one ear and came back the next week to work on ear number 2. This time he did better in the booth. He responded to some noises at 20DB (Decibels) That is in normal hearing range. I was so super excited.
Then to add some icing to the cake, he has started making more sounds. He has always kind of hummmmed a bit, but he actually opened his mouth and turned it into an AHH. It was amazing. And now he is starting to use the AHHH in his regular play. He also says MMMMM and GAGAGA. It is so fun to see him making progress so quickly.
He is almost turned up as high as we will go. We will just see how he acts as we tune him up. We don't want sound to be a negative thing. But he is starting to act like he wants his implants on and will sound check by making noises when we put them on him in the morning. He also will come over to us if one of the coils falls off his head and wait for us to fix it.
It is so exciting to see Colton doing so well. It is alot of work. We go to therapy 2 times a week, with more coming in our home weekly. I feel like we are always making the sounds as we go shopping, or do laundry or dishes. We are just trying to incorporate it in every part of our life. And for now, it is working. We are also continuing with ASL and he is making progress on that too. It seems that it has taken so long for us to see progress, so we are just going to savor it while we can!
Here is the link to Colton saying "AHH" for the first time if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2KxyJnhcd4
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
1 month
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.
Friday, September 2, 2011
The Video
The video of Colton being "turned on" is at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz6O8BBa9us
Be warned that it is not all warm and fuzzy. He cries...a lot. But you can really see his reaction to being able to hear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz6O8BBa9us
Be warned that it is not all warm and fuzzy. He cries...a lot. But you can really see his reaction to being able to hear.
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