Chance has been noticing that his sister says birthday wrong. He has told her so too. Luckily for him, she is still young enough that she does not really correct him. Chance's pronunciation is not perfect of course, but he is coming along.
Lately Chance has been noticing more mispronunciations in people's speech - usually in kids that are younger than he is. If this does not attest to Chance's new ability to hear better I don't know what does. He is now hearing subtle differences in speech.
Chance is gaining confidence to share things that happen to him with other people, and more and more people are telling us that Chance is more understandable. He is gaining confidence that he will be heard and understood. This opens up a part of childhood for Chance that other kids enjoy...the ability to anounce to his cousins that his tooth has fallen out. The ability to tell the bus driver that it is his sister's birthday. The ability to inform his brothers and sisters of the name of the movie that he picked out at the video store. He can share more of himself with other people and enjoy their reactions to him. For a long time, chance was leery of telling grandparents or family friends that he got new shoes or that he was going to a birthday party. He did not have the confidence that he would be heard or understood. And it was hard to understand what Chance was saying sometimes. I could see that he so badly wanted to share the exciting things that were happening in his life too, just like the other kids.
Now, Chance is hearing more and his speech and language abilities show as much. Chance is engaging in more conversations with his cousins and even strangers. His world is opening up more since he can hear more of what goes on around him. And he is happy. He feels more control I think since he hears more. It is a work in progress. Chance is learning, as are all of us who are around him. Chance has been a great teacher in many ways. He has led us on a journey that has affected all of us for the better. I am grateful for Chance and for all that he has brought into our lives.
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