Christmas with AVT

We had a wonderful Christmas on the Philippine island of Cebu.

Isobel got to swim every day, which of course she loved, and I got lots of practise putting in her hearing aids. I think I can get them into her ears in about 30 seconds now. Not bad!

Therapy continued everyday, 10 minutes here and there around the different things we did each day at the resort and hotel. It was lovely to have Isobel actually bring us the bag of toys to go through her Ling Six Sounds.

We did the sound tests, and even with the sounds of waterfalls in the backgrounds she was able to hear each of the sounds.

One really special moment was when Isobel started teaching Estella the different sounds. Now when Estella sees the aeroplane toys she runs around the apartment saying ahhhhhhhhh.

'Naughty Pussy Cat' is coming along. Isobel says Min-now instead of Miaow, but she says is at the right place and likes telling off the cat.

She is also showing a lot more interest in books. It used to be a quick flick through, turning every page at top speed and move on to the next book.

Now she really enjoys the story and likes to talk about what she sees and what is happening.

Another new development is that she has started to sing. Just a few little words, a Korean song about the 3 bears that Halmonie is teaching Estella. She never really did this before, the actions, but never the words. But now, she has started to develop a real singing voice.

We have had such a great time, the four of us together. There have been lots of new words and phrases, and today we got a four word sentence. We are rapidly running out of wall to list Isobel's words. Each day we get excited when she says or hears something new, and there is such joy on her face when she realises she has done something new.

As we look towards a new year and what will be a very 'big' year for us and we cannot help but be filled with hope for all that will come in 2012. Whilst in Cebu City, the hotel had what is called a Tree of hope. You pay your money (which goes to a local children's charity) and add a tree ornament with a message of hope for the future. Of course, we couldn't resist...

Routine

Anyone with children knows how important routine is, napping at the right time is essential as are providing a variety of activities that are both fun and stimulating. Both parents and children love it.

Our day-to-day routine has changed dramatically over the last 12 days. Yes 12. Isobel has a hearing age of 12 days.

Each day starts of course the with putting Isobel's hearing aids in and at the end of the day taking them out and cleaning them. (I had no idea that so much ear wax could be collected in a day!)

Each day now also has 'sound sessions' built into them. We're working on those Ling Six Sounds.

The monkey represents Ee and then we have Ah (aeroplane), Mm (bowl and spoon) and Oo (train).

Followed by Ss (snake) and Sh (baby).

We play many variations of games involving these sounds and objects. They have become part of our essential box of toys.

It is really great to hear Isobel repeat the sounds and then add her own twist to them. The sssssssnake, for instance, must slither after a particular person, and the ee ee ee monky must jiggle from side to side.

We also continue with  the hearing test game and we have a song about a 'Naught Pussy Cat', who is very fat, with butter on his whiskers. Part of this song is to meow at the right time. I must confess, the first time Isobel was less than impressed by this activity, but now she quite likes it, especially when I draw whiskers on Daddy's face with my eye-liner.

Each activity lasts for about 10 minutes, but when done everyday, we start to chip away at that big rock...

We also have numerous charts and lists that are occupying the fridge door and kitchen walls. This is the progressing list of words that Isobel is able to say, we also have charts to note her hearing test sound abilities and the schedule for her day.

Each little bit we do each day is really paying off, for all the noncooperation there are real gems. I got a real lump in my throat this week when Isobel said, Mama, love you so much!






It doesn't get any better than that!

Auditory Verbal Therapy

What is Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT)?
Auditory Verbal Therapy is an individualised, auditory, developmental programme, implemented by us, Isobel's parents in close collaboration with a therapist. The goal Isobel is for her to achieve age appropriate spoken language, and full social participation throughout childhood and beyond.

Auditory-Verbal practice is a parent centered approach to help children like Isobel to learn to talk through listening.

AVT focuses on the use of sound (audition) for learning and gaining meaning from the environment. We as the parents, are at the centre of this approach and have to take a full and active part in every session with the AV therapist. That means that, we actually become Isobel's therapists. Our weekly sessions on Skype are to hopefully help us to learn how to provide the most productive and positive experiences to stimulate Isobel's verbal communication and to check up on her progess.

This approach is distinctive in the way it maximises the child's use of hearing as the primary sense for developing spoken language rather than visual clues.

Our AVT Session

We had our first session today and Isobel did well showing her therapist how she can do the Listening Test Game. We had a good chat with our therapist and Isobel's hearing is coming along well and she is definately hearing a lot of new sounds and developing new language already.

We have new homework, moving on from the basic hearing game to using the Ling Six sounds that I mentioned in a previous post. We have losts of new games to play using lots of different sounds encouraging Isobel to join in, but giving her time to say the sounds spontaneously.

And so we are embarking on the next step of our journey, we will become adept at mmm, oooooo, aaaahhh,  eeeeee, shshshshsh and sssssssss (Ling Six sounds). We will sing songs, ring the door bell and knock on doors all in the effort of helping Isobel's hearing and speaking.

Learning Vertical

What a morning! It has been the most stressful morning to date. I just couldn't get Isobel's hearing aids in. The more I tried, the more I got stressed. The more I got stressed, the more they wouldn't go in. Time was ticking away and we were all at risk of being late for school. And, of course, that didn't help the stress levels.

I kept looking at them, and looking at them and they just didn't look right. Also, we had been having trouble with the right one giving a lot of feedback. Even when it was in her ear. I just couldn't figure it out. I was in such a pickle, that in the end I had to put them down and take a minute.

Once my composure had returned, I looked at them again. I held the mould up against Isobel's ear and realised it was a different shape. What an idiot! I had swapped the moulds over after Isobel had taken them apart the day of the concert. The poor kid had spent a whole day with squeaky, uncomfortable 'special ears' because mummy messed up.

Once switched back, I was able to insert them no problem and the squeaking stopped immediately.

Isobel was very happy and skipped off to school. I felt stupid and guilty and trudged off to school.

This is no learning curve, this is a learning vertical!

Stage Fright

It was Isobel's Christmas concert today, from the look of it, they have been rehearsing for weeks. I had stage fright for her, not knowing just how she might re-act to a full audience, bright lights and the piano with her hearing aids. She of course handled is marvellously.

Understandably, she didn't sing much, but boy did she know the actions, when to ring the bell, and which bell was coming next.

You could definitely tell she was enjoying herself, particularly when she lead the Pre-School on a revolt from formation and had them all dancing at the front.

This really got me thinking about just how observant she has been, and how much she has picked up, despite being hard of hearing.

I imagine some of the rehearsals and learning of songs must have been really frustrating for her. I'm sure it would have been a lot worse if she didn't have the actions to go with the songs.
So huge thanks to her music teacher Mrs. Jun for those and no doubt bags of patience.

Today I was really proud watching her on stage with a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat. Even her turning around to 'sort out' the boy behind who kept fiddling with her hair didn't dampen my spirits. She did a really great job, and here is just a snippet of the concert.

Today is also day 5 of full time wearing hearing aids and it's also the first day she pulled them out, and apart, at school. I knew it wouldn't last forever! Not too much fuss, I managed to get them sorted and she was happy to put them back in.

We are really noticing a change, she really is becoming a happy little girl, just full of smiles and giggles and 'chitter chatter'. Not all of it makes sense, but there are new words everyday and we're even starting to get little sentences.

Life is good...

Inspiration

I am spending a lot of time reading lots of websites and blogs about Deafness and hearing loss. I find a lot of the information useful and some fascinating. Today I found some that was inspiring. I was reading through the Parents of Children with Hearing Loss group on Facebook and came across this young lady.

Her name is Elizabeth, she was born deaf and had hearing aids at a young age. For whatever reason, she didn't get AVT until she was at Elementary School.

Here she sings Let It Be...




I have found this video to be a real inspiration for our journey with Isobel. It gives me great hope and encouragement that even though we're taking small steps, Isobel will be here soon.

Oh and I'm pretty sure there will come a day when Isobel will want cool blue ear moulds too!

Ballet

As you know, Isobel loves to swim and jump and generally be active. She has also found a new love. Ballet. She already has the gear, and loves to dress up in the tutu and shoes.

There are classes on campus which she has often seen, and imitated from the corridor, but she is too young to join them. Then, a couple of weeks ago,  whilst grocery shopping, we discovered an English speaking ballet class at the World Cup Stadium Educational Centre. So, continuing a fortnight of firsts, Isobel had her first ballet lesson.

We were a little nervous as to how dancing with the hearing aids would work out, especially when we were asked to leave the room. She did a great job and I managed to capture some extracts through a 'crack' in the door.

She fell asleep in the car on the way back. Teasing hearing aids out of a sleeping child is a feat, but we managed it. Upon waking, Isobel asked for her 'special ears',grabbed a glass of milk out of the fridge and went about her business.

A Fortnight of Firsts

We, as any young family, experience many firsts, but for us, the last two weeks have brought some real significant ones. Our first night away from the children at a posh hotel, first time of having friends babysit rather than our 'halmonie'. The first time of putting hearing aids into a child's ear. But the most exciting, the first day of Isobel wearing hearing aids all day, and this has lead into the first weekend of Isobel wearing them.

It has been an amazing weekend! Isobel has only pulled out her hearing aids once, the whole weekend and that was yesterday in the car on the way home from the supermarket. She even kept them in whilst at a birthday party in a kids cafe which was brilliant. Today she has hardly touched them. In fact when the behind the ear part has fallen forward today she has asked either Nick or I to fix her special ears. I am so proud.

Isobel is already saying new words and both Nick and myself have experienced a conversation with her. It was fantastic. She has been so happy and watching her play, chat and read with her little sister has brought tears to my eyes.




We did however have a big concern about losing the hearing aids. When she goes to school she will not have eagle eyed Mum and Dad checking every second that she hasn't taken them out and flushed them down the toilet. To combat this, we have bought several glasses cords. The loops that you would normally put on the arms of your glasses, we have put on the tubes of Isobel's hearing aids. Then we just pin the cord to her shirt, so they would dangle down her back should she pull them out. Today I threaded the cord through the hair band on the end of Isobel's braid, I think pinning it to her shirt might work better.

We have also begun our AVT homework. After Skyping with our Auditory-Verbal (AV) therapist on Friday we were set homework to help Isobel prepare for and understand the task when completing a hearing test. Something that she will be doing a lot of in the future. This was us playing a 'game' that will eventually simulate the hearing test.

You'll agree she's doing pretty well. We lifted the bowl up off the floor for subsequent games so she was hearing the sound rather than 'feeling' it. She seemed to get the game quite quickly and enjoy it. It's just as well really as we'll be playing it every day for a while. Once she gets really good at it we have to start varying the different sounds - I hope our neighbours won't mind too much!

Quick Guide Instructions

Day two of Isobel wearing her hearing aids. She was a little reluctant to put them in at first, but soon came around. I don't think she had much confidence in my ability of putting them in for her. I tried to explain that I would only get better if she let me practise, but she didn't seem overly impressed by that. Not to worry, she sat semi-patiently as I finally inserted them.

She likes to hear the popping sound you can make by pushing your finger on the inside of your cheek and out of your mouth. It was great to see her face as she wondered where the sound came from. She was a little disappointed however, when she couldn't make the same 'pop' though!

Story Time.

We did get a couple of 'Special ears off!' today, and a few little tugs on the tubes. But once Daddy started reading some books, it was all forgotten and everybody got immersed in the story.

Instructions for Inserting Hearing Aids

There really is a bit of a knack to getting hearing aids in. Here is the 'Quick Guide' Instructions. Of course it doesn't help that they are written in Korean. However, in this case, the diagrams do actually help.

Also you have to listen carefully as you put them in. Until they are in absolutely correctly, they make a kind of squeaking sound. I find that I have to  put my ear right next to hers to listen to the device, to make sure there is no sound coming out. At this point it is the only way I can tell if they're in properly. 

If Isobel fiddles or pulls them out a bit, the squeaking sound returns until they are once again fitted properly. I'm hopeful that this sound will soon discourage her from fiddling with them too much, but hope it isn't too uncomfortable.

We didn't manage our 2 hours today because of swimming, but she did manage a very good 65 minutes or so. Still pretty good going, seeing how new these little devices are to her.

Engrossed in the story

My mantra for the moment it the old favourite 'One day at a time.'

Until tomorrow...