First Booth Test With The New Ear!

Butters Enjoying his Car Ride - Finally!

We had our first booth test Thursday with Butters' new implant.  He seemed to do pretty well.  He is not as interested in those stuffed animals moving around in the boxes as a reward for turning towards the sounds as much anymore.  He is interested in flirting with the assistants. 

Right now, they think he is hearing at around 45 decibels.  Not bad, but he is not at his optimum levels of hearing, meaning that he is not at the program where he is hearing at his best.  Audiologists like to play it safe in the beginning, trying not to bombard the kids with too much sound too soon.  

Overall, he did okay for a one year old booth testing with his implant for the first time, but he was more intent on interacting with the assistant who had the long, blond hair.  He did look right at our audiologist when she spoke his name during the test trying to elicit a head-turning response.  We do see more results at home with reactions to sounds - the pots and pans, water running in the sink, his toys, people talking.  He still doesn't react much to "No!"

It's also been difficult trying to explain this whole process to people.  People want to know: can he automatically hear like the rest of us once he gets the implant? Will he have to have more surgeries when new technology becomes available?  Can he still hear when his implant is off?  The list of inquiries goes on and on.  It doesn't bother me to answer people's questions.  In fact, I am more than happy to discuss Butters' situation in an effort to educate people about hearing loss.  I guess the hardest part of it all is that no matter how hard I try NOT to focus on the hearing loss, it's pretty much all people DO focus on.  I've been working at giving people the quick, simple explanation of the mechanics of the implant and what caused his hearing loss, and then quickly launching into the cute stories about his favorite activities and toys, his favorite meals, his favorite books, etc.  Most people still come back to the hearing loss questions.  AND THAT LOOK ON THEIR FACES.  I still haven't pin-pointed whether it's a look of pity, sadness, whatever. Granted, it's not everybody we come into contact with, but there are many who give us that look.  Maybe it's because I'm around Butters all day, every day, and I see how much progress he has made.  I can't feel sad for him like I used to because I know how much worse it could have been.  Do I worry about his future?  Yes.  Every mother worries about their child, hearing loss or no hearing loss.  Do I feel sad sometimes that he has hearing loss?  Certainly.  It's something that our whole family will deal with for the rest of our lives, but we can't let it stop Butters from living his life.  I can't let it stop me from doing what I need to do for Butters.  Yes, hearing loss sucks, but I get past it by thinking about how much worse it could have been if this technology had not been available to him.  We had a huge hurdle to jump for a few months there after we found out about the Mondini's Syndrome.  Our biggest concern was that he wouldn't be a candidate for the implants.  We had to seriously consider whether we would learn sign language or go with cued speech.  For a baby who is super sociable, this was a really bitter pill to swallow.  


So, how has the implant been working for Butters so far?

In just over a month's time since activation, Butters:

Is now saying, "Mom Mom"   a lot!  Explaining everything to him such as, "Mom is making your cheesy toast,"  "Help mom with the laundry,"  "Mom is putting your shirt on,"  apparently has worked wonders for his listening skills.

Says, "Ga Ga"  a lot too, and will imitate many sounds that we make.  He is also changing the pitch when we change the pitch of sounds when we are working with him.r

He smiles at his toys that play music and other sounds, something he didn't really do much of with his hearing aids.

 
Yeah, I think he's getting there!