auditory memory

I feel that Kevin has had a huge bump in his language the past few weeks! I am sure it directly correlates to his last mapping, but it is so much fun to hear him talk up a storm using proper grammer, syntax, and clear(er) articulation! Something very exciting happened today, though, that brought tears to my eyes! This was one of those true 'CI moments' for me, as a Mom.

Kevin was in music class this morning and, as usual, was walking around the room rather than sitting in my lap. The teacher was talking about auditory memory and she wanted to show us this through the use of singing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider'. She would have us sing a phrase and then hold her hands to her mouth during the next phrase instead of singing it so that the kids would hear the song in the head rather than hear us singing it. I wasn't sure how much Kevin was paying attention because at that time he was more focused on things in the room rather than the teacher, but when she put her hands to her mouth, Kevin waited for the next phrase and then filled in the blank for her! For instance, we would sing, 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider' and Kevin would conclude with 'Ran up the water spout' once he realized no one was singing it. His auditory memory seems to be great! Also, I was impressed with how much he was paying attention without seeming like he was. It was great, my little boy who is deaf was helping fill in the blanks to the song!

He also did a very good rendition of 'Wheels on the bus' tonight. At his school, they were singing the verse about the baby crying and saying 'wah, wah, wah' to work on 'w' sound. He perfected it in his song tonight and actually said the entire verse perfectly clear.

I know that their language comes in peaks and then levels off and then peaks and levels off.... and we are really enjoying this climbing to a peak. I feel like Kevin is on his way to a completely different level right now!

Swtiching to BTEs? Maybe not now...

So, the skelaton earmolds arrived in the mail and I was anxious to try them out with the BTE setup. I just used the earmolds (not the wigtape) with his BTEs and they stayed on 'OK'. I feel like they flop off easier then when I use the babyworn setup and a huggie. It was a little discouraging because I don't seem to have any problems with the babyworn set-up. Maybe I'll go back to having my Mom sew pockets on his undershirts for the Fall and Winter and revisit the BTE in the Spring. It is so easy to just have a small earpiece on his head, so maybe I'll keep to that for a while. I just thought it would be nice to have him hear while being naked and not have to rely on special shirts. He is potty trained now, so I don't want him in a onesie... maybe a regular undershirt will work ok.
Kevin, however, LOVED the new earmolds! He wanted to take them to bed because he felt like he got a new toy. He was so sad when we told him he couldn't sleep with them. I wasn't expecting that reaction!!!

His speech is getting better and better each day! His language is just amazing, and the clarity is getting improving. He hit his head and said 'ouch' just as I would. I looked at my husband with eyes of disbelief and he smiled (thinking I was amazed he hit his head) and then it dawned on him how well he said 'ouch'. Yes... we will never take speech for granted with him!