Chance's Scholastic Progress Over the Years

Someone asked in the comments section of my blog how long it took Chance to catch up once he got the implants.

He got both implants the year he turned 6.  One in May, three days before he turned 6, and the other in September of the same year.  They were each activated about 4 weeks after the respective surgery.

His school teacher said she noticed a difference right away.  She said that Chance was always attentive and participated, but during circle time after the implants, he didn't have to try so hard to hear.  She said it was great to watch him just flourish with out having to concentrate so hard on hearing.

Here on some observations and test results from before and after the implants.

2005.....An IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for 2005(age 5), the year before Chance was implanted, said the following:  (for receptive language)
On the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test which assessed for receptive single word vocabulary Chance scored a 67 the age equivalence of 2 years and 7 months.
On the OWLS  Chance's standard score was 67 with an age equivalence of 2 years and 9 months.

His IEP stated that Chance was delayed in his overall expressive language skills which affects his progress in the general curriculum.

For expressive language:

On Expressive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test score of 69 age equivalent of 3 years old.
On the OWLS 59 with an age equivalent of 2 years and 2 months.

His listening goals were to move from following simple 2 step directions in the classroom to 4--5 word phrases.

His IEP stated that:"Chance is able to stay on topic but has difficulty formulating answers to questions and responding to common expressions.

Chance had not heard for 2 years before we realized he was deaf and it was standard for him to score two years behind when testing.

2007.......Towards the end of Chance's 2007 school year when he was 7 and had been implanted in one ear for 1 year and four months and in the other ear one year.

On the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (receptive), Chance scored at the equivalency of 5 years and 5 months.  Almost a 3 year gain in 2 years.

Some of Chance's goals from this time state that he will,"demonstrate an ability to follow specified directions and sequence events."

Chance went back and forth between the School for the Deaf satellite school and was mainstreamed into a class with his peers at this point.  His mainstream teacher noted that she could understand Chance most of the time.

We also saw big improvements at home with what Chance was hearing and his expression of feelings and wants etc.

2008.........Peabody raw score of 102 age equivalency of 6 years and 1 month.

On Listening comprehension(receptive language) he scored 93 age equivalency of 7 years and 6 months.

On Oral expression his standard score was 97 -age equivalency of 8 years old which he was at the time.

His overall score on the OWLS was 94 age equivalency of 7 years and 9 months......about 8 months behind at this time.  He jumped from being 2 years behind.

His broad reading score was 106 - age equivalent of 9 years old.
His broad math score was 103 - age equivalent of 8 years 7 months
His broad written language was 108 - age equivalent of 8 years and 11 months

Word identification was 115 - age equivalent of 10 years 4 months

Story recall was 118 - age equivalent of 14 years 8 months

Understanding directions was 114 - age eqivalent of 11 years 6 months

Needles to say, this was a year of very excting news for us.

Chance excelled grammatically in using language but showed weakness in semantics and pragmatics and a lack of understanding of the item task.  Chance would say,'I don't know what you mean." when he came to an item he did not understand.

It was advised that Chance should receive instruction in passage comprehension as this was an area of weakness.


2010....Chance scored in the average range for his age on the Woodcock Johnson test and moderately low range for vocabulary such as nouns and verbs.  Chance struggled with sequencing events.

Chance scored well above average on the school reading test given to all students this year.


2011....The IEP stated,"Chance is a very motivated student who learns quickly and enjoys new challenges.  He has mastered his listening and language goals in a structured setting, and has demonstrated skills in language pragmatics and critical thinking.

Peabody Picture Vocabulary test score is 104 with an age equivalency of 12 years and 5 months.(Chance is 11)

On the OWLS (Oral and Written Language Scales) which measure his understanding and use of spoken language, Chance scored a 107 on the Listening Comprehension scale with a test age equivalency of 13 years and 3 months.
He achieved a 110 on the Oral Expression scale with a test age equivalency of 14 years old.
Chance is 11 at this time.

Chance's IEP stated that he needs to work on vocabulary and grade level language usage.
This is just to help tweak a few things before he hits junior high.

Chance also scores well above average on reading and math this year in school.



2012.....Chance's end of year testing has come in and we were given the results with along with his grades.
Chance's school used the Northwest Evaluation Association testing.  The test covers three main subjects, general science, mathematics and language arts.
The test grades by levels.  Level 1, is low and below average.  Level 2, is still considered below average, Level 3 is the average range and Level 4 is above average and is considered highly proficent in that subject.
Chance scored in the level 3 range is all three subjects.  I don't know how the percentage points work on this test, but Chance is at the high end in the level 3 group and only one or two points off from being in the level 4 range.

So, there is the long answer on how long it took Chance to catch up to his peers after he received his implants.
He scored about two years behind for several years which goes along with the fact that he didn;t hear for two years.
After he got  the implants, he started closing that gap and after a few years(age 8), he had moved up to  being only  a bit behind and in some areas like story recall, he scored at an age of 14 years 8 months.

It has been a journey and it has taken a lot of work from Chance himself, his teachers and us as parents, but Chance has closed the gap and now with the exception of some phrasing in writing and some vocaulary, he is at least up with his peers and in some ways ahead of them.

We are very thankful.