Chance is going to language camp!

So, Chance got a letter the other day.  The opening lines said:

Aloha, loa shi men and tong xue men:

Congratulations!  After three rounds of review/evaluation, you are selected to participate.....

Chance, our little deaf Chance who worked his little buns off to learn English for years, has been selected to attend a language camp that only selects 20 kids each summer.  TO LEARN MANDARIN!  He is so excited!!

We are excited for him and busily planning out details like.....how the heck is Chance going to get himself out of bed for the 3 weeks of camp?  We need some help from people who know.  How do you all wake up? I have talked about this before, but waking Chance is like waking the dead.  We had one of those vibrating alarms that shook and Chance didn't wake up to that....unless it was on the side of his face or right under his head.  I don't know that we can count on the alarm staying in either of those positions all night long.  Especially when if Chance doesn't get up on time, he will miss camp.  There is a time change involved as well, so Chance will have to adjust to that.

Do you see why we may have some concerns as Chance's parents?

CHANCE GOT IN TO THE PROGRAM!! Who could have imagined this day when he was a little 3 year old preschooler with the goal to hear and respond to his name in English?

Now we just have to get him to wake up:)

This boy is going to language camp!

Living With a Deaf Teenager

I thought I would share with you what it is like to live with a deaf teenager.  Mostly, it is pretty much like living with any teenager, EXCEPT, deaf teenagers can take their ears off and then ask questions to which they can hear no answers.  See, regular teenagers pretend not to hear their parents, deaf ones really don't hear them. But that doesn't stop them from asking questions that need answers!

I am going to attempt to play out for you a scenario that happened at our house tonight.  Chance comes walking up the stairs and said,"I need a pillow.  Where is a pillow?"

I reply with, "There is one right there by the couch."

Except, Chance doesn't hear me because he doesn't have implants on and he walks down the hall.

I wait for Chance to walk back through the living room and when he does, I point to the pillow."  He doesn't look my way and continues through the living room to the laundry room.

Chance comes back into the living room carrying his new shoes which need to be sprayed with a protective spray before he wears them.  I raise my arms and begin to wave them frantically so he will look over at me.  It probably looked a bit like an air traffic control person trying to tell a plane NOT to land.

Chance doesn't see me and continues to the edge of the stairs where he puts the shoes down and heads down to the basement.

I call Chance's brother who is going downstairs too, to "get Chance" which is the phrase we use in our house when we need to get Chance's attention and he doesn't have implants on.

A few minutes later, Chance comes back up the stairs.  Chance's brother comes running up the stairs behind him and attempts to tap Chance's shoulder to get his attention.  He misses.  Chance goes back down the hall. Chance's brother runs down the hall and somehow, gets Chance's attention and tells him that I need him.

Chance comes into the room and looks at me.  I am talking to his dad so I don't respond immediately, and Chance turns to go back downstairs.  Again I wave like a woman possessed.  Chance's brother throws his arm around Chance and with his face inches from Chance's says,"Mom needs to talk to you."

Chance then turns to me and says "Whaaaat?"

Wow.  All of that just to tell Chance that I needed to spray his new shoes before he wears them tomorrow.  It took a family effort, but at last, Chance looked at me and we were able to communicate.

Gives a whole new meaning to the concept of learning to communicate with your teenager doesn't it?

Chance hates shots

I was reminded again yesterday how much Chance does not like shots.  While he was cleaning the backyard, a piece of glass was hidden in the dirt.  The wound itself was not that serious, but the situation made me realize that we needed to look up the date of Chance's last Tetanus shot.

Chance did not like the idea that he may need to get a shot. Chance. Does. Not. Like. Shots.  As Chance pulled out his shot record from his file, I could see him slowly reading down the page trying to read when his last tetanus shot was done.

I explained to him what tetanus does and he agreed that he did not want experience that.  His older brother helped him clean up the wound and bandage it up.

This incident made me think back to the time Chance got his shots to enter kindergarten.  He had been playing cowboys with his brother during one of those long summer days kids have and I remembered at the last minute that we had to get him to his doctors appointment.  So Chance got loaded into the car in all of his cowboy gear.  Even his cap gun.

Later, after trying to tell the nurses that he did not want a shot, he pulled out his cap gun while sitting up on the exam table,  with tears in his eyes.  He was serious about not wanting a shot and he could see they were prepping to give him at least one.

At that point, Chance still could not communicate all that he wanted to, and his attempts to tell the nurses that he didn't want a shot were not understood.  Although, I am sure the fact that he watched the nurses like a hawk, and his eyes flitted from  his leg to them was indicative that he knew something was coming.  Plus the fact that when he pulled that cap gun, he was seriously scared.

Chance did not need a tetanus shot this weekend.  I don't know if I can adequately explain in words the sigh he gave and the look of relief that spread across his face when I told him his shot was current.

An attachment to the hearing aid

Chilling at the dentist while playing a video game on the television in the ceiling.

So, we have discovered that Chance's brother is reluctant to take his hearing aid out in his right hear and just use his implant.  Our audiologist talked about having time each day when only the implant was used, and then by default, due to running out of hearing aid batteries, the implant was the only option for a few hours.

This was not a popular development with my son.  Since his dad was going to pick up hearing aid batteries on his way home from work, I thought the time would be good practice to just use the implant.

My little son told me several times that he needed batteries so he could wear his hearing aid.  When I told him we were waiting for his dad to get home with the batteries, he was not amused.  And he kept telling me he needed hearing aid batteries.

Now part of the persistence about getting hearing aid batteries, is the personality of my son. He is conscientious about taking care of his supplies and having what he needs.  The other part was that he did not like to rely just on the implant.

I noticed when we were sitting in a dance recital this weekend, that when I talked to my young son, he would turn his head so that his right ear was facing me even though his implanted ear was the one closest to me.

Obviously we need to start having  time every day where he uses only the implant for a few hours.  I don't think he is going to like it.  He really likes using that right ear.  He hears fine with just the implant, not as well as when he has both the hearing aid and the implant, but he does hear well with the implant.  Being able to hear with the implant is not the problem.

The fact of the matter is, he is going to have to get used to using his left implanted ear more because this week we learned that the hearing is dropping again in his right ear.  His word test dropped by half in the last 3 months when he is tested in the booth with just his hearing aid.  We may be heading toward implanting his right ear as well.

We haven't told our son yet.  We want to have one more appointment in April where we validate the tests we had this month and consult with our audiologist.

When I ask my son if he is hearing the same or if he is hearing worse, he tells me his is hearing the same.  If I ask him if he is hearing as well with his hearing aid he says yes.

We will have to wait and see how this all plays out.  In the meantime, we are going to practice everyday just hearing with the implant by taking the hearing aid off.  I do not think this is going to be a popular decision.

Chance hears the call for a substitution across the field.

Chance had a soccer game this week.  He played for the entire two 40 minute halves.  I do not think we have to worry about Chance developing a weight problem while he is on the soccer team.  That kid just runs his buns off for over an hour during games, and works out for 2 hours on the other days.

We had to get a physical before Chance could play soccer.  I say we, but Chance did all of the hard stuff like getting checked over by the doctor. I just got to talk to the doctor who said that Chance had rock hard abs and he was thin enough that if he needed an x-ray, we would just need to hold him up to the light. (because we could see through him).

Chance passed his physical with flying colors and the doctor told him how cool he thought implants were.  I have to admit, I think they are pretty cool as well.

During the soccer game, one of the boys on Chance's team got a nice kick to the leg that left him limping.  The kick happened over by the stands where we were sitting, but across the field from Chance.  One of Chance's team mates called to Chance who was across the field and closest to the coach and sidelines, that there needed to be a substitution.  I held my breath a  little waiting to see if Chance would hear the call across the field when he wasn't expecting it.

HE DID! He ran over to coach and told him that there needed to be a substitution made in the game.

I love implants. They are beyond cool.

Soccer Team Tryout Results Are Posted

WE HAVE A SOCCER PLAYER IN THE HOUSE!!   After several weeks of training and lots of sweating, Chance has made the school soccer team.  To say he is excited would be an understatement.  We just had parent teacher conference and his Chinese teacher said that while Chance is doing well, he and a friend(who also made the soccer team) have been talking in class A LOT about soccer.

We told Chance he needs to chill out on that a little.

Chance will now be at school working out 5 days a week for 2 hours each day.  On Fridays, he has a mandatory study hall as the soccer coach insists that the kids keep their grades up.  I like this.  Chance told me he agrees with the having to keep your grades up requirement.

We are all very excited for Chance and are looking forward to many exciting soccer games in our near future.

Chance is one happy kid.  His soccer uniform is on order, and I will post a picture of Chance and his uniform when it arrives.

Two deaf kids in the house

So,  we now have two deaf kids in the house.  We have realized that Chance still can hear absolutely nothing when he takes his implants off and walks around the house. His brother on the other hand, has a bit of hearing in that right hear that wears a hearing aid.

We realized a long time ago, that Chance is deaf as a doorknob when he takes those implants off and if there were to be an emergency in the middle of the night, we would be saving one of our most treasured valuables....Chance.  He won't hear anything and will not flee voluntarily of his own accord.  We will be hauling him out, pulling him along as he snoozes on.

Chance's brother on the other hand, can hear a bit when you wake him up.  He is disoriented, and has to get his bearings as to where he is and what is going on, but he can at least hear a smidge of what we say if he is looking at us.  After he wakes up a bit, he can hear a little more simply because he is a little more alert.

So far, Chance's brother doesn't take his implant off to read like Chance does.  Chance loves a good book, and has been known to take off his implants and totally get into his book therefore blocking the rest of us out of his world.

Chance's brother is on a city basketball team and he really likes it.  He is in the phase where he is learning the basics of the game and last week he made a basket.  He got high five's from all sorts of people and he won the best sportsmanship award for the game and got a prize from the referee.

Chance is getting ready to try out for the school soccer team this next week.  He has been working out for weeks with the soccer coaches and other kids who are hoping to make the team.  Tomorrow is the big day.   He has also been  running on his own and his work has paid off.  Chance is buff.
The soccer coach said that he has never worked with someone who wears implants before.  I don't think Chance's implants will affect him getting on the team at all.  Chance will again, show that deaf kids can do anything they want to, and they are just as capable as anyone else.

Except knowing when to take headphones off in class.  Apparently Chance has a problem with that sometimes.  In one of Chance's classes, the teacher will let the kids listen to music while they write.  Chance has not been hearing when the teacher tells the kids to take their headphones off and listen.  He has just blissfully kept his headphones on.  I have to confess that I think that if this class was one of Chance's favorite classes, he would be more in tune with when he should be listening.  I don't think he purposely leaves his headphones on when his teacher starts talking, but I think he doesn't pay as much attention to when everyone else has their headphones off as he could.  We talked to Chance about it and he is going to start paying more attention and also having his friend that sits next to him in class, nudge him when the headphones are coming off if Chance misses the cue.

Chance is kneeling to get down to his brother's level.

Two deaf boys and two journeys in deafness.

Chance and Chinese

Chance is doing fabulous in his Chinese class.  His teacher says that he is very driven and she loves to see students who want to learn like he does.

I LOVE to hear these things! I am so excited for Chance and I am glad that he likes learning Chinese.  Chance actually greets me in Chinese now when he gets home from school.  I get to learn all sorts of things being his mother. I now know one Chinese word.

There all sorts of programs that let students go to a country where Chinese is spoken for a few weeks in the summer. The students get to stay with a host family or in dorms with other students and learn during the day.  I really wish we could send Chance on one of those trips.

I was reading a book about when Mao Zedong was the leader of China and I kept pronouncing Mao wrong.  I would get it and then when I talked about it again, I wouldn't say it just right.  This would drive Chance a little crazy.

Chance is really really really tall now. And skinny. I don't know if it will be possible to buy him pants anymore if he keeps growing.  We can get the tall.  We can get the skinny. But it is hard to get them together. He needs to wear men's pants for his height, but most men are not as skinny as a beanpole like Chance.  It is a good thing that spring and summer are around the corner so that he can start wearing shorts. Shorts are easier to manage on tall skinny boys than long pants are. Chance is about 6 feet tall now and he is only 14! It will be interesting to see where he ends up.

Chance is buff too.  He has been training to try out for his school soccer team and the coach really works them.  He does lots of running: sprints and long distances, downhill push-ups and all sorts of other conditioning work.

Chance biking on a little family get away

Like a girl robot

Our audiologist is a man.  That is important to know because when he turned the implant on for the first time and asked what our son heard, he was told he sounded like a robot.

The audiologist then asked,"Do I sound like a boy or a girl robot?"

Our little son sat with his new gleaming brown implant attached to his head as he leaned across the table and said, "A girl robot."

The audiologist explained that this was normal and that we all may sound like robots for the next few days.

The family was all there for the big moment, except ironically Chance.  Normally I would not have a problem at all checking Chance out of school so that he could see his brother get his implant turned on, but Chance was in the middle of a special assignment at school that lasted for about 3 weeks.  He would have missed two days since we had our appointment over two days. Chance was at the hospital and nursed his brother there, so I don't feel too bad.  Besides, Chance will be joining his brother for many appointments in the future, not exactly the same, but scheduled together to make for a single 5 hour round-trip, rather than two separate round-trips.  (Of course, add the 3-hour appointment, for each boy, to the 5 hour trip, and it makes for a very long day.)

Raising his hand when he hears sounds

Shaved head where the surgery was.

Learning to find the magnet on his head so he can attach the implant.  This process is harder than it looks.

A boy concentrating on sound.

Notice the cute boy on the left.  Notice the computer screen displaying his t-levels

What a face! He took to the implant right off the bat.  Notice the dangling hearing aid...we were concentrating only on what he could hear with the implant. 

Since our appointments spanned two days, and it was  long way to drive home just to get up and drive back again, we got a hotel.

The kids were delighted.  We made sure the hotel had a pool, and from the first time he hit the water, our son had on his Cochlear Aqua+  covers. on. He was excited to be swimming with his new implant.  It was a great sign that he was immediately attached to his implant.

He took immediate ownership as well, carefully finding a plug for his battery charger in the hotel room and wanting to take his briefcase full of implant goodies with him wherever he went.

Unlike Chance, this implant activation was not quite as dramatic.  It was wonderful, but where Chance had these incredible expressions when his implant went on for the first time, our other son was more chill.  Part of this is the difference in their personalities.  Part of it was that Chance had gone without being able to hear many sounds for years, and turning his implant on, gave him access to things he was hearing for the first time and he was surprised/delighted/astonished.  Chance's brother was delighted as you can see by his little smile in the pictures, he just wasn't as expressive. And the audiologist purposely just turned the implant on while he was watching a cartoon to see if he would notice over his interest in the cartoon.  He did.  The whole family was excited for him and glad to be part of the process.

Implants are amazing. They have been a miracle for our two boys and we are so very grateful for the surgeon, the nurses, the anesthesiologist, the audiologist, and everyone else involved in the process.

Thank you.

Implant activation

I have done this before, where I watch a child get their implant turned on.  It never ceases to loose its wonder at what a miracle these implants are.  I got teary eyed as I watched my boy get sound in that left ear.  He was so excited.

Yesterday when we got the final check up from the surgeon and were handed our briefcase full of implant goodies, it was like Christmas morning.  We actually stopped in the hallway of the hospital so we could open up the briefcase and look at all the good things inside.  My son looked like a kid on Christmas morning.  He would lift various boxes out and I would tell them what they were.  He wanted to take the implant out and wear it so he could get used to it before our appointment the next day.  I had him wait.  When I dropped him off at cub scouts after the doctor's visit, he wanted to show all of his fellow cubs his loot.  The cub scouts ooh'd and ahh'd as they were shown remote controls that can be used for the implant and the aqua+ accessories that would make it possible to hear underwater.  The cub scouts naturally did not understand what all of that meant, but the cub scout leaders asked about the aqua+ and were impressed that now my boys could hear under the water while they swim.  I told the boys that now the ear was bionic.  That was impressive to them.

We almost made the same hotel mistake we made with Chance a few years ago....that is we almost let our deaf child go into the ONE bathroom that we all share and lock the door.  Deaf kids can't hear anything in a bathroom with a locked door and no hearing devices on.  Therefore, they have control over the entire family who may need to use the facilities or get in to shower themselves.  You can't knock on the door and tell them to hurry or to get out.  They just get out when they are good and ready and can't hear any pleas for bathroom use.  Luckily, our hotel bathroom door had a glitch that wouldn't let it close all of the way.  It would close most of the way, but you could open it if you pushed on it.

I wonder what would happen if we knocked on the door of the people in the next door to us in the hotel and told them,"Our deaf child has taken over our bathroom and he can't hear us so can we use your facilities right quick?


(Come back tomorrow for pictures...)