Reflections at a Time of Triumph

I met with the academic principal of Chance's school this week and we talked about Chance's test scores from the end of last year. Chance scored as a 4th grader heading for 5th grade although technically on paper he is in 4th grade this year.

Chance learned to hear again twice during his younger years. He got hearing aids at age 3 and learned to hear and respond using those. Then, three days before his 6th birthday, he received his first implant. Six months later he received his second implant and so he learned to hear again using implants.

Due to the changing in his hearing devices and his late diagnosis of severe to profound hearing loss, Chance is a grade behind the other kids his chronological age. He did not repeat a grade, but had a year in between kindergarten and first grade where he was in a class of deaf children who built vocabulary and other things to get them ready to mainstream in a regular classroom as opposed to a School for the Deaf classroom.  It was the right thing to do at the time and we have never questioned the decision.

Chance's only delay has always been in language and things relating to hearing. He has been closing the gap in his language delay and last year I home schooled him and we were able to work one on one in language arts.  Chance was a joy to teach with a drive to learn and a quest to do his best in all he did.  As I taught Chance,  he was working at a 4th grade level last year and we realized that Chance had developed academically to the point where he was level with his peers that were his age and could possibly now go into 5th grade.  So we had him tested at the end of last year and he tested as a child who was LEAVING 4th grade not entering into 4th grade.  We realized that this was his shot to catch up to his peers who were entering 5th grade if ever there was a chance.

When we started this journey, it was not important to us that Chance be in the same grade as his peers his age.  We only wanted what was best for Chance and after learning to hear again twice,  it was best for him to have that extra year to learn vocabulary and get help with language.  Some parents of deaf kids were really bothered by the prospect of their child being a grade behind their peers their same age.  We knew that Chance needed that extra year.

Now the testing has shown that Chance is ready for 5th grade.  I get teary eyed thinking about that.

It is hard to adequately explain to someone who has not experienced it just what has gone into the past several years since we  found out that Chance was deaf.  The unknowing, the long road to get him what he needed and the uncertainty.  When we first found out Chance was deaf, no one dared tell us anything concrete about his future.  "How well would he be able to hear with hearing aids?"  They didn't know.

We sat through several years of IEP meetings (Individualized Education Plan) where Chance tested at least 2 years behind his peers his age in language.  That was to be expected we were told.  Chance's first goal in preschool was to respond and turn when his name was called by the teacher.

We went through years of weekly therapy where we were taught how to help Chance develop language.  We went to seminars,  read books and talked to other parents of deaf children.  We spent 6 years of our lives engaged to a great degree in deaf related activities.

I stayed up late nights, after the kids finally went to bed, searching the internet for books that would inspire Chance to want to read, as when he first learned, he got easily frustrated.  In the past, deaf kids have notoriously had difficulty in reading past a certain point.  I did not want that for Chance.  I remember sitting with him many nights as he became frustrated with reading and I would work out deals with him such as he read one page and I read the next page.  Chance went into a reading recovery program and I sat with him each night as he read the assigned books and attended the class once a week with Chance where I learned ways to help him with his reading.  I volunteered in Chance's classroom each year and watched to see how he was doing.  I kept up a dialogue with his teachers and we worked as a team to help Chance succeed.

We maxed out on the benefit of hearing aids and looked into implants.  Professionals thought the implants would help Chance but no one could tell us to what degree.  One medical intern told me the night before the surgery of the second implant not to expect too much.  Hah!  What did he know?

Chance learned to hear again with implants and we did more language therapy and learned how to help Chance basically learn to hear with the implants.   I had a box in the pantry dedicated to Chance and helping him learn to hear.  Just little things like magnets, a white board and various other things to make learning language a little fun.

Chance continued to close the gap between where his peers were and where he was in language.  And now,  4 years after getting the second implant,  the academic principal at his charter school has looked over the testing with other school officials and deemed that Chance can move up to 5th grade.  He starts officially tomorrow.  Chance has not only overcome his language obstacles but caught up to his hearing peers in many ways.  He is amazing and few people will ever realize just what it took for him to get here.  He is incredible and has been the recipient of nothing less than a true miracle in his life.  We have prayed and sought guidance from a power higher than ours to help guide us in our journey with Chance.  We know that those prayers have been heard and Chance has been watched over. I believe that our prayers are always heard,  though they are not always answered the way we think they should be.  We have had many  bumps in our journey where the way we thought things should work out, the way it seemed to make sense for things to work out, didn't happen and we had to change course. 

We'll be watching to ensure that Chance is ready and thriving in 5th grade.  It will be a change for him and he may have some things he needs to work on, but he has reached his goal. He has been telling us for the past while that he wanted to be in 5th grade like his friends his age.  It did not bother him until fairly recently that he was a grade behind.  He has worked hard and pushed himself and now here he is where he wanted to be.   Like I said, we will be watching and helping him to make sure that he is doing well in 5th grade.

I am emotional when I think about it.  We have reached a milestone in our years-long journey for Chance to hear.  There are many years left to go, but today we celebrate that years of effort by all of us have yielded what can only be termed a miracle.  A miracle that was helped along by dedicated teachers,  professionals in audiology, us as his parents, Chance himself and most notably by our Father in Heaven.