Overall he adjusted well to hearing sound and we quickly discovered he liked music A LOT! Early Intervention services sent a lovely lady, Mrs. B., to our home every week to teach him sign language and basically babble & play with him. We had a lot of ground to cover as he had not clearly "heard" spoken language for over 4 months, that's a lot of words!! From the beginning, "The Plan" has basically remained the same; Austin will be encouraged to communicate verbally and through Sign Language. Having grown up in a family with Deaf & Hearing Impaired people, who both spoke & signed, I feel very comfortable with this decision. Also, it was obvious that his Trach would somewhat hinder his physical ability to produce speech, as traditionally air does not hit your vocal cords when you have a Trach. So, in the meantime we needed some signs so we could communicate.
Austin's first recognition of a sign was "Jump". He was 8 months old. From then on things got much easier, he learned to communicate "want", "shake" & "book" and he just took off from there. Today he probably has close to 100 signs, but makes great attempts to vocalize with each one. Yahoo!!
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We moved from Texas to California in August 2008. With new doctors, new Insurance and some GREAT help from Audiologists @ John Tracy Clinic, Austin finally wore his BAHA Softband for the first time on April 18, 2009. What a great day!!
Here is a BAHA Intenso - close up:
Between August '08 and April '09, a lot happened. There was a lot of confusion and lack of communication going on between the doctors and therapists; and then there was the little issue of nurses being fired left & right.
What can I say, sometimes I just had to come off as THAT total-crazy-controlling-parent to get things done!
By January '09, we had a great team of people working with Austin. We had a few more tweaks in March, but most importantly we began seeing the folks over at the John Tracy Clinic. Austin was accepted into the Parent-Infant Program, or should I say, I was? We were set up with a Teacher, Miss E. & an Audiologist, Ms. S., who were both a tremendous resource. It was at the JTC that I first became familiar with Audio Verbal Therapy techniques. While they understand that Austin will learn signs, he has really blossomed in his AVT as well. Ms. S gave Austin his first behavioral hearing test in early February. It was great practice, as his "formal" test was set for late February. She also wrote a very detailed letter explaining Austin's hearing capabilitiy and his need for a BAHA. The Audiologist at CHLA agreed with Ms. S's assessment. The boy needed a BAHA!
So, of course, there were insurance issues and letters of medical justification going back & forth. Red tape galore! Finally, on April 18th Austin got his BAHA. What a world of difference!! He was no longer tearing off his hearing aid headband, he actually likes to wear it. Nothing short of miraculous!!
But the true test would be in the booth. I asked JTC if we could do another booth test one week prior to going back to CHLA for the "official" test, in June. Austin passed with flying colors. We were amazed to find that his hearing was almost normal. Hallelujah! The following week @ CHLA he performed beautifully again! We are looking at 25-30dB, aided.
Now begins the 2nd phase. Austin needs a 2nd BAHA; bilateral microtia = bilateral BAHA. It seems simple enough. It has been done before, but of course the insurance company acts as though I am being greedy. Excuse me, I'm not sorry I actually want my son to hear to his full potential and um, I dunno, maybe to speak clearly, too. If that's Greed, then I'm Guilty!!
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