Going towards the light....

Chance went to a movie tonight with his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. I walked the mall with the baby until his dad could get there after work to take the baby home, and then I went into the theater too. By the time I got in though, the movie was already playing so I stood inside the theater watching the movie for a minute so my eyes could adjust and I could figure out where everyone was sitting. Then, I realized I could just go towards the light. There in the darkness, Chance was my beacon as the little red lights that signify that his implants are on, led me right to his location and thus the location of everyone else. Who knew that these implants could have so many uses?

Chance is really progressing with these bilateral implants. We are continually seeing improvements in what Chance can hear and understand.

For instance, our extended family plays a game called “the water game.” I don't know if it is a real game that other people play, or a family invention. Whatever the case may be, seeing as we were all together for the holidays, we ended up playing the water game. The game is simple: one person is "it" and they choose one thing from a random category and write it down. Then, the person who is it, tells the rest of the players what the category is. It could be sports people play, movies, colors..the skies the limit. The person who is it stands in the middle and goes from person to person asking them to name a sport, movie, color etc. whatever the category is. You are trying NOT to say the thing that the person who is it wrote down, because if you guess what was written down (or if you give a duplicate answer - one that somebody else gave before you), you get a cup of water thrown on you. Thus, the name of the game is the water game.


Chance wanted to play this game and so he sat in the circle. We did not know how well he would be able to follow the constant random changing of categories to guess, and if he would have the vocabulary to keep up. HE DID AWESOME! His dad or I would just ask who ever was “it” for a heads up on what category they chose, so that we could tell Chance and he could think for a minute, and perhaps we would give him examples. Most of the time he even came up with his own answers too. We only had to help him a few times (on some harder categories). And when he was it, he would usually come up with his own categories. And he just beamed through the whole game. He could be a part of things, hearing what was being said, and coming up with his own answers.

This is a big deal for Chance to be able to take random thoughts, themes etc., and go with them. To utilize so much vocabulary and think of it on the fly, is quite a remarkable accomplishment. Chance is rebounding from literally years of not hearing like he needed to. Having the implants have really opened up a whole new world to him. It is very exciting to watch him as his hearing, talking and comprehension skills improve at such a rapid rate. His understanding of the game was so good, that Chance told us that when he got splashed with water and was it, he would choose reindeer and that he would splash who ever said Blitzen. And a giant step for Chance was walking back into the room after choosing his topic and announcing to everyone what the category was. He had the confidence that people would understand him, and most of the time they did. Chance is taking flight and it is delightful to observe.