Joshua is learning his letters, yeah!

I remember when Matt was finally diagnosed deaf, pre-CI, but not doing so well with his hearing aids, I wondered how in the heck I was going to teach him his ABC's. The only way I knew how was to sing the song. That doesn't help if you can't hear the song. When he was about 2.5 years old, I bought an ABC chart with signs as well as letters. He learned them ALL within a week! Not perfectly, but well on his way. He had the letter recognition and language skills built into him, and I believe this was a great strong point in his future education. He was not implanted until he was 39 months old, had very little usable hearing for a long time, but is doing VERY well right now in second grade, all oral education. It CAN be done.

Now enter Josh. He can hear, has a much more extensive hearing history than Matt did, but he's having a hard time actually speaking. I think that will come in his own time, with much good therapy. He can hear me sing the ABCs, recognizes the song a little, but can't sing back himself. I know, I know, I KNOW some folks would balk at the thought of teaching him the signs for the letters, but he's learning! Last Thursday I showed him the sign for C for his favorite book Corduroy, he also has the bear. On Friday he brought me the book and signed C, putting his C up to the same letter in the title! He recognized the letter! On Thursday his teacher introduced him to his written name and the letters, using sign. He is recognizing the J in his name, too! Not a pro yet, but it's a start.

Today I used a magnetic set of letters and a cookie sheet, and we went through the letters as he pulled them out. He VOCALIZED as best as he can as he signed them, too! He let me move his fingers to the right positions for the letters, and he let me help him a little with forming his mouth the right way for the letters. I'm very excited. He is NOT relying on the sign, but I think he is growing more comfortable with letters BECAUSE of the signs, and is also more comfortable using his speech, too. Way cool. And a week ago I didn't even think about teaching him the alphabet.

The alphabet sounds are what I used at home to put speech meaning to letters for Matt, too. We would go through the sign chart at least once at night, if not several times, vocalizing each letter as we signed it. It worked for Matt, I can only imagine it will help Josh, too. I've pulled out the alphabet charts I used with Matt, and taped them up in a couple places in the home.

I wish things would come easier for Josh sometimes. He is understanding more oral language every day. It would be so much nicer for him, though, if I could just wave a magic wand and he could talk perfectly. No such luck, but hard work ahead. But it really, REALLY helps to note the progress he makes, small steps as well as the big jumps. :)