“New Ears” For My Son!
Today was a big day for our family. My son got his “new ears”.. okay, he just got his hearing aids but nevertheless it was a big, BIG day! I was nervous about how he would handle them but he wore them from the time they fitted them on him until it was time for bed. Not too shabby for the first day of wearing them! For the first time ever he’s whispered, he’s said “I love you”, and he learned 4 new words within a one hour time frame (including balloon and icky). Every time we called his name today he would turn around and smile. Before when we’d call his name he didn’t hear us and wouldn’t usually respond unless he was looking directly at us, so this in itself is a huge blessing.
After speaking with his audiologist today we learned just exactly what he was and was not hearing. To him a normal conversation would sound like whispering in his bad ear and just a teeny tiny bit louder in his “good ear.” I’m rather amazed that he’s heard anything that we’ve said to him over the past couple of years. We also learned that when he failed his first 2 tests in the hospital as a newborn and then managed to pass a test with a specialist, that the test he “passed” he should not have passed at all and it wasn’t an appropriate test for his age at the time. He shouldn’t have ever passed it to begin with meaning he’s had his hearing loss since birth and what that most likely means for us is that his hearing loss is not progressive and that it shouldn’t keep getting worse. While that is frustrating news it’s also really good news. It’s just that when you take your child to a specialist you expect things to be done right and done right the first time. I never second-guessed his test results and I really wish I had. If I had, my child wouldn’t be struggling to learn to talk at the age of 3. I just might not ever forgive myself for that but now we know and we’re doing everything we can to help him.
However, my son is strong-willed and extremely smart and I believe he’s going to catch onto everything very quickly. Tomorrow he begins his first speech therapy session and we’ll go from there. I’ll be working with him a lot as well so I feel like he’s going to be okay. I am so excited that my son can now hear the world around him! What an amazing change this is for him.
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How amazing to hear your son say I love you for the fist time. I’m so happy that things are going well with the hearing aids.
How wonderful!
What a great day!
I had my son’s hearing tested and he passed, I still have to figure out why he is non-responsive at times!
God is answering prayers!
What beautiful eyes your son has. May God bless you and give you strength as you work with your son!
Even though I haven’t commented on all of your posts about your son, I have been following your journey through this with him. I am so glad he got his “new ears” today and things are progressing
He is going to do wonderful… While Wee Man does have a hear problem he didn’t start talking at all until about 3 and a half years old… I was so worried and we started speech therapy.. Not that I wasn’t already trying to work with him..
Now while he still has some problems with talking we can understand him almost all the time… Don’t beat yourself up over not doing something sooner.. It sounds like he is so willing to learn and that his parents are there to support him..
That’s so great! I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be for a child to not be able to hear everything around him and how hard it is to be a mom and not know the extent of it all! I am so happy for him and I hope that he is able to pick it all up. Kids are smart, he sounds motivated so he should be quick to learn! Good luck, give him lots of hugs and encouragement! Technology is amazing!
My son had SOOOO many ear problems when he was a baby. He’s 8 now and still having problems with his speech because of it, so I can TOTALLY relate. He was 4 years old before we could understand anything he said. He would get so frustrated, he would be in TEARS trying to play the most stressful game of charades ever
It was heartbreaking. I’m so glad your son can hear better now! That’s awesome. I was smiling when you were writing about calling his name from behind him and him turning around and smiling!
I remember the first night that Tre woke up from his sleep because of a noise. That was the GREATEST feeling I could imagine at the time – knowing that my son was able to be awakened by NOISE!!!!
I’m so happy that you got a doc who diagnosed his problem and treated him accordingly. It’s not your fault that he passed the test before – you trusted that they knew what they were doing. Most parents in your position would have believed he was fine at that point. The important thing is that now you can work on moving forward.
Oh, I forgot to mention the John Tracy Clinic (I think I forgot to mention John Tracy, anyway)! You can get free preschool lessons for hard of hearing and deaf children mailed to your home. Its a correspondence course and they are truly wonderful people. They have an oral deaf school in Los Angeles and offer a LOT of services for free. The lessons are really nice- printed in full color on nice paper, and they have a ton of activities and ideas for teaching listening and speaking skills!