Joshua the Trooper.

Josh has been a great little trooper. We had a huge promotion party for Daddy yesterday, and Josh had a blast. I had a "babysitter" for him so I could relax and visit with everyone and not wonder if he'd wandered off. The party literally spilled out of the house and into the street, thank God we had such good weather yesterday!

Back to Josh. His vocalizing has really clicked recently. He still has a far way to go with his expressive language, but it's really cool to see his new skills emerging. Once again there were a bunch of people who came yesterday and "forgot" Matt was deaf. He's doing so well! Had his first confession at church yesterday (I joked that's why we had such good weather). While Josh's progress has come slower, he really surprised me yesterday. He was trying to communicate with the babysitter, and he vocalize, w/o prompting, "Bye bye, Mama," when I would leave the room. Chris had to "interpret" for him with the babysitter, but he was trying to communicate with her on his own, and was comfortable with her. That really warmed my heart to see him so comfy w/someone other than Mommy. Especially in the total chaos of yesterday's party. He played very well yesterday, too. I don't sign with him much at all at home, but when I made sure he heard me (it was very loud here yesterday), he really understood what I was saying. That was great because usually when he gets overstimulated he kind of moves to a quiet place on his own. Heck, I wanted to do that all day yesterday, too! Well, Josh really made me proud. I feel much more comfortable leaving him with a babysitter now. Josh is very lucky to have great big brothers to look after him and help, too. :)

I've been looking at other schools for Josh, mostly because I want to be prepared in case anything happens with his current school. Not that I think or know anything will change, but it will have new leadership next year, and I'm the type that likes to be ready for change. We've had a lot of changes in the past, being prepared is my way of coping. Especially when looking out for my boys. We are using some sign with Josh now, but constantly pushing his oral and vocalizing skills, too. He's made amazing progress in the past year, but I'm still on the fence about an all oral program.

Okay, the boys are back from the park w/Daddy, I need to get moving. Josh is very much like me, craving peace and quiet. :)

Joshua had a great day yesterday.

It was great to pick up Josh from school today and hear how well he did. He is progressing in his communication, albeit slowly. But it was also reassuring that Josh is relaxing enough at school to show them the same communication he does at home. I've learned it's one thing for me to see progress at home, it's another for him to show his teachers all he can do.

Something seems to have "clicked" for Josh, or is just now clicking, for his vocalization. I have to remember that just a year ago getting any expressive language out of Josh was very difficult, and now he is really moving along. This gets me excited about how he may be doing in another year. Matt did move much quicker in his progress, but I remember wondering if he'd ever "mainstream". Now I forget all the time that he's "deaf". He IS deaf, has just adjusted and is coping so well that it's not the first thing I think about when communicating with him any more.

I don't know if things will ever be so easy for Josh, but I get more hope every day. We are thankful for his CI, but also very mindful that we have to continue every day to help him improve his hearing and speech skills. Two boys, same family, same physical etiology, so very different in needs and abilities. They're my kids, but this still overwhelms me all the time.

Okay, real quick back to Josh's great day. I like the school he's at right now, very much. But the program director is stepping down at the end of this year. That scares me, because she's really wonderful at what she does. I'm sure they'll find someone else great to take the job, but I'm a little cautious. I've been looking at other options for Josh's schooling. It's good to know there's another option out there for him if we find the need to change.

Ugh, I'm just tired thinking about this. But I'm keeping my mind open to Josh's options. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Major Joshua and Daddy's Promotion

Yeah! Daddy got a promotion! We were thrilled for Daddy, and the boys were excited about participating in the ceremony. Before the ceremony Joshua ran around with the old rank a little while. What a bunch of cuties I have! :)

Couldn't resist another picture of "My Guys"

Sorry, I just like coming to the page and seeing a photo or two of My Guys. :)

Two very different CI boys in one family.

Wow, I just reread my last post. It's unreal sometimes, how I can have two boys with the same etiology, but who have been so very different in their CI habilitation. Matt was implanted at 39 months with almost no speech at the time, and I remember he was doing amazingly well in therapy only months after implantation. Even in the same family, same physical etiology (Pendred syndrome w/Mondini and EVA), the boys each have their own needs, strengths and weaknesses. We are very thankful that they are both doing well with their CIs. Josh is going a slower at his progress than Matt did, but he is progressing. And he is loving his CI, too. Last night I took off his BTE at bedtime, he was furious and told me he wanted it back on. I had to take it off after he fell asleep. That's been happening at night much more frequently now, pretty cool.

Here's a funny note. Josh was wearing his BWP on Thursday and Friday. He seemed to understand us well, would respond appropriately to what we said to him. But we could tell he wasn't happy, didn't want to wear his CI as much as he usually does. Then his wire broke! HA! He had a loose wire from his processor to his headpiece! Once I corrected the problem, put the headpiece back on and turned the processor on, a HUGE SMILE came across his face. Like, "Yeah, Mom, that's what I've been trying to tell you!"

Here's another funny note. When I need to test a wire, headpiece, etc., it is so cool and helpful to have Matt around. I pulled a wire out of my "parts box", tons of parts between all four processors, FMs, etc., wasn't sure if it was a newer one or one I had taken off in the past. Hooked it up to try out with Matt first, and he gave it a thumbs up. He's getting much better now at describing sounds he hears, understands static interference, etc. What a cool kid! :)

Working on Joshua's vocalizing.

Okay, I said Josh is getting better at his "o" sound. That's emerging, not consistent, yet. But it's exciting! Sometimes I get frustrated, working with him so much, but am thrilled when he hits milestones in progress, too. It's really neat to watch a new skill emerge, and then one day it's just in his everyday use.

I didn't keep a good journal when Matt was first going through all of this. I remember there were times when I thought he was doing so well, then he wouldn't talk for a week. Then BOOM, he's using two and three words together, just like that! It was almost as if he would fall back a little before making a big leap. Like he was processing his new skills before using them.

Josh is still using sign language, but his vocalization is coming along better now. Just to get regular use of language out of him is great. I remember a year ago when we were struggling to do that. It was if he had a mental block, could understand us, but couldn't get out what he wanted to say. Now he'll tell us what he wants, what he doesn't want, where things are, what's on TV, etc. And tonight he vocalized a couple of things on his own in two word groups, "Up plee (please)", and "Mama BO (go)!" I think he's said "Bye bye, Mama." A bunch of times, too. I'm kind of used to that now. Wa=want, op or bop=stop, his "ooo" and "oh" sounds are emerging stronger now.

This is why I need to keep journalling more faithfully. I'm seeing a pattern now. First Josh started using language with signing. As that grew comfortable for him, and we consistently worked with his vocalizing, his own oral language has developed more easily. I used to have to touch his chin just to get him to vocalize, now I don't have to do that as much, unless he's really tired.

Along those lines I picked up a book at the HEAR in NH workshop I went to a couple of months ago: Visual-Tactile-Motor Prompts for Speech, The Piper-Dobson Approach" I was able to spend a good 10-15 minutes speaking with one of the ladies who developed this system, too. I've been trying to practice some of the prompts at home with Josh, as he is learning to use specific sounds. We haven't been using it very long, but I've seen that it's helped Josh vocalize better. Here's an example. Josh can get a couple of sounds very easily now, like the "b" and "m" sounds. But let's say I want him to say his "p" better for "up up up" vs. "buh buh buh" like he used to say. I've been using the technique from the book, pages 6&7, "/p/-Place index finger just below pursed lips. Then 'pop' out." I do this when I say the "p" part of "up", and that just helped it click in Josh's mind, how to say the word better.

Lately we've been playing the "lalalalala" game, where I make a silly face while saying those sounds, mouth open a little more widely, pointing to my tongue touching the top of my mouth. When I make something silly, he relaxes and does a much better job imitating, and the work really becomes more fun for him.

Josh also does MUCH better when in a group, with his brothers in our case. Not a large group, but he likes to watch others then try to copy them. And, yes, as I've posted in the past, he does much, MUCH better when rewarded with a mini M&M. Let me tell you, I've been able to pull out a lot of great vocalization when rewarding him with small sweets. And when I do that, Matt and Chris absolutely have no problems helping with Josh's "therapy".

Josh's receptive language seems to be doing much better. He follows easy directions well, can answer "where" questions quicker than before. Now I'm working on "What's/Who's that?" He will tell me on his own what something is, or point out a picture on a page if I give him the word (and he knows the word), but I'm working him on answering the questions. Why am I doing this? Thanks to all of his great Early Intervention Teachers of the past, I have these great scales of what he should be doing at what age scales. Initially I found those hierarchy of skills very frustrating. Now I see them as a guideline on what to work on next.

So the work is going well. Josh is vocalizing much better with much less physical prompting. More spontaneously using language, two and three words, and vocalizing better, too. We still give him ProEFA, and I swear that has made a HUGE difference in his progress. Josh is a really cool little kid. He's come so far in the past year, I'm very excited to think about what the next years will hold for him. :)

We're back!

Sorry for the lack of postings over the holidays. I fell down the stairs twice in ONE MORNING, December 22nd. Hurt myself a little worse than originally though I had. It literally hurt to sit at the computer, so I haven't done that often in the past weeks. Oh, well, doing better now. :)

Otherwise, the holidays have been GREAT! Santa brought some cool toys, we've had a lot of family time with the boys.

Matt's speech seems to be improving, he's doing better with his "S" sounds in words. We still have to tell him to SLOW DOWN his talking when he gets excited. Must be that Yankee blood in him.

Josh is really communicating better at home. He is vocalizing much more consistently, too. We really don't sign much with him at home, and I am constantly reminding him to use his voice. One cool development is that I'm hearing a much better "O" sound from him now. His muscle tone has always been on the lower side, but it seems like he is finally developing better muscle strength to compensate. And when I sit with all three boys for "therapy", he tries to vocalize words that he would have never tried in the past. Right number of syllables, much better vowel sounds. He is progressing, slowly but surely. With constant, continual conversation with us. Daddy has been home a lot, and this has helped a TON.

I'm tired, but had a lot of time to rest after the falls down the stairs. The kids burn me out a bit at times, but DH has been AMAZING with all the time he's spent with them on his vacation. My immediate goals with the boys really include regular time with them every day. It's almost as if I have to schedule that time, make it part of a routine, or I just forget to do it. Sometimes the boys really grate on my nerves, but I think this time home with Daddy around has been what we all have needed. Good fresh start to the New Year.

Well, I do have more to add, will do so at a later time. :)