SJ Month 4

Today makes 4 months of SJ hearing. Last month I was blogging about how distraught I was because it seemed like we were at a stand still. Her advisor met with me to address some concerns they had and it was not easy for me to hear. SJ's team was worried because they knew what she should be capable of and they acknowledged that she was trying very hard, but something wasn't right. She just wasn't where she should be at this stage in the game. It's a tricky thing when you are teaching a person to use an electronic device. I come from a family of IT experts and sometimes you have to wonder is the issue with the computer or the person using it. In this case it was "the computer".

Once her new audiologist got in there and tweaked her settings it changed SJ's world! My friend Amy made a comment on a post I wrote just before she was implanted, she said

 "I'd probably follow her around with a video camera for a week or more, just to capture her hearing different things! "

Well, it didn't quite work out that way the first time around, but now that we have the right amount of volume for her, WATCH OUT! I am a ma'am with a cam! First off I jump up and down clapping every time she detects a sound for the first time, sounds that she should have heard a thousand times before. Then I frantically I scream out "Where is the video camera? Oh no it's dead! Where are the batteries? Ahhhh, where is my phone?!" And sometimes I am able to catch the moment before it's over.

In this little series of "firsts" I want to mention that I did not do any listening cues. She heard everything on her own. The day her audiologist turned her up we came home and Z had just turned the volume on his video game and she turned and shrieked. The same day she reacted to a squeaky door and a doll she got for Christmas, but never realized that it talked! Then, get out the baby book because this past Monday March 17 she said her first official word. J went upstairs and SJ pointed and said UP over and over. I got her to say it again for the video. We have video of her saying up, but this time it was not mimicking. No one said up to her, it was just her using a verbal word to communicate a thought completely on her own! Do you realize what a break through that is!? Okay, I'll calm down. Here is the video.