So it is now 6 months since Minnie had her cochlear implant switched on, and there is a big difference.
Her vocabulary has grown, she can say short sentences like "I don't know", "please can I have ...", and "I like ...", and her articulation of the words she knows is getting clearer and clearer. Her progress slows down a bit just before we reach a transfusion, but then afterwards she has a boost and suddenly seems much more articulate.
We regularly visit the hearing implant centre, where they check the health of her ears (she usually has congestion, or 'glue ear' on top of her hearing impairment) and assess her progress, both with her implant on the right side and also with her hearing aid on the left.
They play different sounds (at various volumes and pitches) to Minnie, they can tell when she hears it by her reaction and she is rewarded with a picture of a favourite cartoon character.
And now we have moved on to assessing what words she knows, and more importantly which ones she can recognise just by hearing them (rather than lip reading or guessing). This is what is happening in the below videos.
The biggest concern I have is that she manages to get on with children her own age, as sometimes it can be frustrating for children to communicate with her. However this is where Minnie's sense of fun and confidence is invaluable, as she makes up for any lack of communication with her energetic sense of fun and mischief.
As her peers have become fully verbal, the difference between her and a hearing child has become more marked. But we hope she can catch up plenty over the next year, so her transition into pre-school/school can be as smooth as possible.
Her vocabulary has grown, she can say short sentences like "I don't know", "please can I have ...", and "I like ...", and her articulation of the words she knows is getting clearer and clearer. Her progress slows down a bit just before we reach a transfusion, but then afterwards she has a boost and suddenly seems much more articulate.
We regularly visit the hearing implant centre, where they check the health of her ears (she usually has congestion, or 'glue ear' on top of her hearing impairment) and assess her progress, both with her implant on the right side and also with her hearing aid on the left.
They play different sounds (at various volumes and pitches) to Minnie, they can tell when she hears it by her reaction and she is rewarded with a picture of a favourite cartoon character.
And now we have moved on to assessing what words she knows, and more importantly which ones she can recognise just by hearing them (rather than lip reading or guessing). This is what is happening in the below videos.
The biggest concern I have is that she manages to get on with children her own age, as sometimes it can be frustrating for children to communicate with her. However this is where Minnie's sense of fun and confidence is invaluable, as she makes up for any lack of communication with her energetic sense of fun and mischief.
As her peers have become fully verbal, the difference between her and a hearing child has become more marked. But we hope she can catch up plenty over the next year, so her transition into pre-school/school can be as smooth as possible.
