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Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Chance is getting the s's

I have noticed a big difference lately in Chance's articulation of the s sound. This is so exciting because for the longest time, I don't think that Chance ever heard the s sound in words. He could sometimes make it out if the s was in the middle of the word, but that was still hit and miss.

Enter the implants. Now Chance can hear that s sound and he is using it more and more. I am struck with gratitude each time Chance says ," It is?". Before the implants, Chance never used that phrase. What's more, even if you tried to point out the s sound in is, Chance would miss it and become frustrated because he could not figure out what we expected him to say.

I remember reading a story with Chance before he had implants. The story was about a mouse, and Chance kept calling it a mou. I would draw out the word for him and emphasize that there was an s sound at the end. Chance just kept saying mou. Finally he just looked at me and said "I said that!" But he clearly could not hear that s sound at the end.

The s sound is one of the first things we noticed when Chance got implants. Now Chance is refining the use of the sound. When first implanted, Chance would really make an effort to make the s sounds in words. We would point them out if he didn't get them and he would really work on saying them correctly. He had a great drive to hear and say things right. I am noticing that he is working on the z sound too. He tries to make sure that he pronunciates that sound in words.

We are loving the implants at our house. We think we'll keep them!

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