I received this video on my phone from Madison's therapist at The Center. Absolutely LOVED watching this while I was at work... It sure put a smile on my face!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
October 12, 2011 - Did You See Her Reaction?
Madison had her initial appointment with the staff at the NYU Medical Implant Center. This is already the fourth hospital in NYC that she has visited in her 4 months of existence. This appointment (along with several others) had been made about 7 weeks ago... The plan is to meet with their audiology team three times over the next few months, then with the surgeon in December. The staff was extremely nice and answered our questions and tried to address all of our fears. The best part of the visit was getting Madison exposed to the sound booth for the first time. Madison sat on mommy's lap in a small room where sounds were emitted and daddy was across the window pane with the audiologist. The audiologist said to daddy, "Did you see her reaction?" Daddy's response, "Umm...no." The audiologist noted that Madison eyes moved the slightest bit. However, as the audiologist increased the decibel level - sure enough daddy saw Madison react to sound! It was great to see her startle. The audiologist noted that Madison was able to hear sound between 70 - 100 decibels at lower frequencies with her hearing aids. This is nowhere near conversation levels, but it does infer that she (hopefully) has an auditory nerve and can still be a candidate for an implant. Our next visit at NYU will be the middle of November. This will consist of a follow up testing in the sound booth and a CT-scan (to determine if Madison's inner ear structure will allow for an implant). This was one of the better days we have had in a quite some time.
October 8, 2011 - 4 months old
October 2011 - 5 Days a Week
Madison's schedule just got busier, if that is even possible! She is now in therapy 5 days a week. In addition to receiving speech services at The Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Madison began therapy at Clarke School just a couple of weeks ago. She receives 3 30-min private speech sessions (Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays) in addition to one 1-hr group session. (Fridays). Madison's speech therapist's name is Lauren. The goals here are no different than what they are at The Center. We teach Madison that she needs to vocalize in order to request something, e.g., If we blow bubbles, in order to do it again, Madison needs to vocalize something, i.e., cooing. Listening is a 4 stage process (identify, discrimination, identification & comprehension). Right now the focus is on IDENTIFICATION.... the move from nothing to something. You bring your hands together to clap and a sound is produced. Recognizing this is the first stage in the auditory process to the brain. As she gets older, the other areas will be taught. Each session begins with a "HELLO" song, and ends with a "GOODBYE" song. It is important to establish a sense of routine to each session. In between we sing songs, read books and do baby exercises, i.e., tummy time. Every Friday, Madison attends a group therapy session. This consists of 7 other babies (similar age, all with different degrees of hearing loss) and their parents/nannys. This is not only a great time for the babies to interact with one another, but gives Brian and I an opportunity to speak with other parents who are in the same situation as us. So far it has served as a great support network. It has been helpful meeting other families that have the same concerns as we do. Brian and I plan to attend once a month with Madison.
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