old member, new hello

[Guest guest]

I've been on the list for the past five years. I just thought I'd give a quick

intro for those of you who are new and refresh anybody else.

My son, 's hearing loss was identified with the newborn hearing screen in

Virginia. We confirmed his loss as severe/profound when he was two months old.

He got his hearing aids around three months old. He did receive some benefit

with his aids. He got a Medel cochlear implant at 20 months in his right ear.

He uses his original hearing aid in his left ear. He was enrolled in early

intervention shortly after his diagnosis as an infant. He started preschool in

the public school system in a special ed setting. He spent two years in the

developmentally delayed preschool. Last fall he began his third year of

preschool in a regular education setting at our neighborhood public elementary

school. Next year he will attend kindergarten in the mainstream. He currently

receives two days a week of speech therapy for 1/2 hour each pull out. He will

receive the same next year. He does not use an FM or soundfield at this time.

We are considering it for next year but the audiologist wants to wait and see

how he does in the kindergarten setting next year.

He amazes us everyday with what he hears. Just yesterday he was having a

conversation with me from his upstairs bedroom calling out the window to me

working in the yard. We talk in the car while the music is playing. He loves

music and singing! He is very dramatic and loves to act things out. He is

learning to read and taking much pride in it. He has a lot of expression in his

reading as well. His vocabulary is wonderful and he speaks very clearly.

It was slow progress at first and we are thrilled with how well he has done. We

have come a long way from the early days of worry and uncertainty. there is not

a day that I forget that he is deaf and think about the listening challenges we

encounter daily. The personal accomodations I make for him in our daily life

are just habit now and life is pretty normal.

I think about the questions I asked myself that day I drove home from the ABR.

- How will I communicate with him? How will my family accept him? Will people

make fun of him? Will he ever have a girlfriend or wife? What kind of school

can he go to? What kind of job can he do?

I've learned so much since then and has taught us so much. I don't ponder

any of these questions anymore. I'm so certain of his success now and I know

all the answers to those early questions.

I created a website about a year and a half ago to journal our experiences with

our two boys. I used to include the address in my posts but lately I haven't.

I used to report on 's language progress and audiological info, speech

therapy and such. Now I pretty much write about everyday stuff because has

caught up on language. If you're interested in seeing pictures or looking at

some earlier journals feel free to take a peek. www.caringbridge.org/va/ryanbay

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