Chance is hearing better than we ever thought possible when he was first diangnosed as being deaf. There may not be a lot of hard and fast tests that can measure the impact of having a second implant, but Chance is sure a living example of the benefits.
The other night at dinner, Chance and his brother each had half of a banana. Chance ended up with the biggest half and his brother exclaimed,"Ahhh, I wish I had known which one was bigger! Chance got the biggest one!" Then Chance who was at the other end of the table and looking down to peel his banana replied,"Mine IS bigger." Chance never would have just caught a phrase like that in the past.
Chance also felt brave enough to approach a woman who had played the guitar in church. After church as we were getting ready to leave, Chance said that he wanted to talk to the lady who had sung a song . So he patiently waited until a small crowd of people around her had cleared and then he told her that he saw her holding the "baby Jesus". (she was Mary). It took Chance a minute after he got to her to actually say something, but she leaned down and just waited for him to go on. This is also a big step for Chance. It shows that his confidence is growing and he is more certain that he can talk to people and they will understand him. Chance has always been a more social kid, but he would often hang back with adults and not say a lot. In the past little while I have noticed that Chance is initiating more and more contact and conversations with adults. And not just adults that he knows really well. He still holds back some, but he is gaining assurance I think each time he steps out and talks to someone and they understand what he is saying. And he is hearing more and more of what people say back to him. This must be a very satisfying experience for Chance to feel that he has the power to understand and be understood more often now.
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