Drum Roll Please....

Chance was tested at the audiologist's office yesterday with both implants on. And with just the new implant on. It was an appointment full of discovery.
Some of the tests that were performed were:
Sound awareness test: For a given frequency, at what decibel does Chance hear sound. This is performed in the booth with white-noise (static) or a spoken 'ba-ba-ba', being delivered at a specific frequency and at a controlled volume. In the past, Chance would drop a toy in a bucket when he heard the sound; yesterday, he raised his hand (and for variety, he would sometimes keep his hand up, but open and close it)
Speech recognition test: For a given frequency, at what decibel does Chance detect spoken sound. This is performed in the booth, with the audiologist giving a common word (animal, cowboy, hotdog, etc), again through controlled volume, and having Chance repeat it. (In the past, and to other younger children, this is sometimes administered by the audiologist saying words and the child pointing to what he thinks she said in a book. For instance a page in the book might have pictures of a boat, car, bus, bird, bell and bread. The audiologist would say, "Chance, show me where the boat is." And Chance would point to the boat.) This is also sometimes performed by asking the child to “Point to your knee”, etc.
Now for the drum roll please......Chance did very well on these tests!

There is another test where they test all of the major sounds and sound placements of language (ie the 'b' sound at the beginning, middle, and end of a word). Before Chance got the first implant, he scored about 40% on that test. Yesterday, he scored about 70%.

Chance has had his second implant turned on for about a month now, and yesterday the audiologist told us that his implant is programmed at where it needs to be. To give some context, many times it takes months to adjust implants and find the right balance. The way Chance tested yesterday, indicates that he is getting about as much "volume" as he needs from his new implant. Now it is just a matter of maintaining the level that he is at now with minor tweaks and adjustments. So as far as the technical side of the implant is concerned, all systems are go. The implant seems to be giving Chance what he needs to hear. The audiologist was excited to see that Chance had come so far so fast. The first implant took a little longer to reach this point (about 2 months). We are told by several people that the time frame for both implants is quite amazing. We are quite excited about the whole process. Chance and his implants seemed to have bonded :)

Now comes the acquisition of speech, vocabulary and learning to hear.

Chance is behind his peers in language. For almost 2 years, he was profoundly deaf without us knowing it, and no one is sure just what language Chance had in his system before he got his hearing aids.. Then, Chance had three years with hearing aids which helped him immensely but, he was not hearing all that he needed to acquire language the way he needed to. Now, after having the implants, we have seen a BIG difference in what Chance can hear and comprehend. Now we need to build vocabulary. It is hard to know exactly what Chance missed. Hearing children just acquire so much vocabulary automatically from what they hear around them. Since Chance did not have that luxury, he does not have as extensive range of vocabulary that other kids his age do. We now need to help Chance gain vocabulary so that he can gain in knowledge and learn to read. Learning to read and having a good vocabulary base are directly linked. Chance is learning to read but he is hindered some by his lack of vocabulary. He is involved in a reading recovery program at school where he spends one on one time with a teacher helping him with reading. (We are very grateful for this!) And Chance is making a lot of progress. He continues to get better at reading, but vocabulary holds him back. So, his dad and I are having a crash course on vocabulary building. There is no formal training actually, just a will and desire to help our child acquire language. We work with Chance on what the teachers tell us to, and what we observe that he needs, and then try to come up with ways to help Chance "own" more vocabulary. Luckily, Chance is right on board with his own desire to learn. I am sure that all will not be smooth, but Chance is a smart little cookie with a drive to succeed. Chance's attitude and desire greatly helps our efforts. It will not be easy, and we are all on a learning curve, but I have no doubt that Chance will triumph!