Since Katya's diagnosis of being deaf (at 18 months), a lot has happened. But our aim has always been to get Katya's listening and speaking age as close to 5yo when she started school at 5yo. I termed it 5 at 5.
I can remember a number of the team who have worked with Katya trying to temper that goal. I wouldn't hear a bar of it. That was the goal and that was it. If you aim high, then even if you miss by a little bit, you are still going to be ok.
As we started school we knew we had succeeded in getting Katya's listening age up to the 5yo level. But her speaking age when we did some benchmarking tests was not quite there in January.
However after 4 weeks of school, it seems as though she is well and truly able to hold her own in her class. She is doing everything all the other kids are. She is certainly needing some support, which we get from our most excellent special teacher, Erin. But she is doing really well.
This is pretty special for me. When I think back to the day we were told she was deaf, it seemed like so many hopes and dreams that I had for Katya as a baby would be limited. Now, thanks to her Cochlear implants and all the work that has gone in, those limits are vanishing. In fact there are a number of things she can do that she will be able to do better than normal hearing people.
Its also special for me because part of me becoming a stay at home dad was to get Katya ready for school and see her settled there. As many of you know, being a stay at home dad was never on my radar. But God had different plans for me. Claire got very bad post-natal depression after the birth of Larissa and it was no longer an option for her to look after the kids. So up to the plate I had to step (whether I liked it or not). The goal has been simple. Raise my kids and get them ready for school and kindergarten. With Katya doing so well at school and Larissa settled in kindy, I feel a real sense of accomplishment.
I know the journey and work is not over. Over the next year or so we will still need to have specialist support for Katya. Her pronunciation needs tuning. And there will be the ongoing issues around hardware. But to get to this point successfully is very cool.
Getting here has not been something that I have achieved on my own. It is amazing the number of people who have contributed over the years. And I also thank God that He has given Katya some horse power upstairs to absorb what we throw at her.
2 comments:
You do realise sir that your daughter is still deaf, she may have an apparatus to help her hear but she is still deaf and if you cannot accept this then I feel sorry for your daughter. I know your views on sign language and pushing for CI but do you realise not everybody is a candidate for CI, I for one, am one of them also I grew up drs telling my Mum I could hear fine, I failed school, had I learned sign, I would have done better. I ask you sir, how do you communicate with your daughter when she's having a bath/shower? How do you communicate with her when her batteries fail or CI breaks?
Hi Anonymous
A question for you. If I'm in a dinning hall in a camp with 120+ people having lunch and I struggle to be able to have a conversation with the lady across the table, am I deaf? My audiogram is 0db across all frequencies (i.e. no hearing loss). Yet I struggle in that situation. My daughter however has no problems with her CIs having this conversation. Yet you label her deaf.
I don't view my daughter as deaf. She hears through CIs, just as many many people see through glasses.
As for not everyone being candidates for CIs, sure. only about 99%+ of children with severe to profound hearing loss are able to use CIs.
What you are struggling with is that times have changed from your journey. Imagine what your journey would have looked like with newborn hearing screening. What would it have looked like if you were hearing and speaking on a par with your hearing peers by age 5yo? That's the age we now live in. While it is tough on those who have missed these opportunities, please try not to rain on the fabulous opportunities today's children have.
As for your final two questions... obviously we gesture for the 20min every second day that is bath time. Soon that will not be an issue as she transitions to showers and washing herself. And as for flat batteries and breakages... we never have flat batteries. We change them out so they never run flat. And she has bilateral CIs. If one breaks, she can get by with just one - much like a normal hearing child who has an ear infection. We also have spare processors. We do everything we can to ensure she has hearing via her CIs from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to bed.
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