The Witch's Black Cat

Wow, the witch's black cat is sooo much better. No complaints today of pain!! He's going to school (for a little while) and then I'll go pick him up and so he can remove his ci for a little while before going to trick or treat. This is a good time (all you AVT moms) to discuss vocab like neighborhoods, carnivals, festivals, different candy types and how they taste, you can have vocab for days with Halloween!

Get Well Soon

Brook colored this online in hopes her brother feels better soon! You can find this online coloring HERE.
So far, he's not much better...he has basically taken it easy all day and he's got major ATTITUDE. Gave him a yogurt hoping that's gonna help but whew, don't come visit us for a few days! He's super angry he can't go out to play! (even if I would let him, he doesn't really feel like it, and that makes him mad)

Update

Okay, things are looking up at the Blakely residence. I've been trying to get all the story ideas for cicircle's blog and have sent out the necessary emails needed to retrieve the story lines I want...so hopefully after the weekend, I'll have managed to produce at least one of those.
Gage's head/ear is still swollen and he'll stay w/me today and we'll be pals, take Brook to preschool, run errands, etc. since his teacher will be absent today, I didn't want to send him (he's a lot to handle anyway w/ADHD). This is the third month it has been puffy and tender to the touch, his coil even pops off due to the swelling, but because of the nature, I'm not changing out his magnet. Anyway, we finally saw the ci surgeon this time and he noted how warm it felt to him as well and put him on an adult antibiotic (he swallowed that pill like a champ) and if it gets any worse, he'll need to be admitted to the hospital for iv antibiotics. Let's all hope this little fellow recovers quickly and gets to be the cat he so desperatly wants to be on Friday. He just woke though and says the pain is spreading bless his heart so we'll see. I plan to leave his ci off as much as possible today. Will update later.

the Telecoil

Wow, remember this post a little while ago???
Click here to view






Well today, we tried something we've never used before...the telecoil option on Gage's ci. I just switched the thing to telecoil and made a random telephone call and he had no idea who he was calling. Look what a difference, no help from me!!!

Teaching the deaf child

Most of you know by now that my husband and I are ALWAYS entertained by our children. Here you'll see Ms. Brook teaching her baby (notice the ear of the "child") about colors by listening and following directions. She gives specific instructions in which the child needs to pick a specific color and actually color a specific object using the color named (which you don't get to see in this video unfortunately). I'm proud, she even gave the "child" a chance to verbalize during this process. See video below.



And here you'll see the note Gage wrote to my mother when he decided it was his turn to spend the night with her instead of Brook, he obviously had alterior motives.

It says "Dear Nanny, I want to tell you something (that word drops down the side), I want a John Deere toy truck. $10.00 at Wal Mart can we go please?"
and yes, of course he got what he wanted...it's Nanny he was asking!

Atta Girl

Oh did I earn the "Atta Girl" last night! During GAME time, Gage wanted to use the computer. It was getting late, I was getting Brook settled for bed, so loud music didn't bother her, she took her processors off and went to bed. Gage was wanting to share these videos w/his dad (who wanted to watch the game). As a compromise, my husband had the bright idea that he would just watch the game in the computer room so he could "watch" the videos and the game. Only when Gage uses the computer he watches truck videos w/LOUD AC/DC or some other heavy music along with it. He wanted to rock out and Chad was trying to make him turn it down and I, being the Cochlear Volunteer that I am....walked over to the implant center (when you have two kids in implants, you open your own center!) and whipped out this audio cable for stereos/tv's. Oh were they both happy when Gage could rock out, and daddy could watch the game. Yea, ATTA GIRL for me.

'Round Here

For the most part, we're you're average family...(except both children are deaf and both parents are hearing). But our kids remind us everyday that they are ALL KID. Gage laughed last night when he realized that I could hear him when he rode all the way around the cabin (my husband's little mansion in the woods...minus electricity, minus water, minus the mansion part). When riding the go-kart, the kids can't hear well at all...and neither can hearing people, those things are loud. But Gage's sense of feeling is greatly increased when he can't hear well especially while riding that big vibrating off road monster. I was standing in front of the porch of the cabin and he thought by circling the small structure, he could sneak up and scare me. I of course could hear the machine as he continued to ride around but he eased off the gas pedal and "scared" me. "BOO!" he said as I came into his view again. He said "did I scare you?" I smiled and said, "remember I can still hear the go-kart when you go to the other side". His mental wheels began to turn and a smile crept on his face as he realized what he'd said.
Brook continues to talk to her "children" NON STOP!! You know what she's doing? NARRATING for them. It's an AVT thing!! lol. On the way home from school yesterday, I was in a hurry and when she asked if I had any money I said "no". This was true since I usually carry no cash anyway but I wanted to avoid the Arby's drivethru and get on home. Well today, feeling bad, I knew I was going to stop and get her some chicken. So when we get near the fast food restaurant, she says "do you have any money"...I again stated "no, but I can stop today, I'll use my debit card." She says, "do you have enough for chicken and french fries?" I smile and say "yes"..."do you have enough for chicken and french fries and a drink?" again I smile and tell her "yes"..."Do you have enough for chicken, french fries, a drink and a napkin?" haha...oh I love her.

Proceed w/Caution

FINALLY. Whew, after lots of trial and error we finally got it like we wanted it. Take Gage's advice from above and proceed with caution, it's a lot of information. Introducing the new website for Cicircle. Go check it out if you haven't already. There is a parent blog page, where it groups all the parent blogs by ages...and you'll find a link to CiCircle News also. And if you didn't already know what cicircle is, it's a support group or forum online where we get a ton of information daily in regards to our children who wear cochlear implants. Enjoy.

Been a While...

I have just enough time for a quick update. I've been keeping myself busy thanks to the women on cicircle *grin*. But Brook has really been working with her babies. This one has been learning to walk. Brook goes to a special ed preschool where some kids are just learning to walk. I can tell Brook really LISTENS to the therapists and teachers. I overheard her talking to this doll " put your back against the wall, now walk, put on your walking legs" just like they do in class. Also I heard her this morning talking to another doll, she said "In the mornin'...we are goin' straight to Birmingham! You have got to have a HEARIN' AID!!" Then she changes her expression and is very animated to the "baby" saying "do you wanta hear?"
Oh gotta love it! All she wants for Christmas is 10 babies, 10 baby beds, 10 strollers and 10 high chairs. I need more house!

Annual Bilateral Pumpkin

So every year we put ci's on our pumpkins when we carve them. I started to do a unilateral one this year for Gage but he decided he wanted to paint his and then just carve random things in it(note the ACDC in parentheses, lol). He did his completely on his on, no help with anything!!


I did attempt put bilaterals in my pumpkin again this year (I'm so not crafty, don't laugh)...and Brook's is gonna dry for a few days because she put layer up on layer upon layer of paint! What is with this child, first the permanent marker now this! Everyone was happy though.

Charity

Okay, so I'm in a huge rush here but want to thank all the contributors for the charity book that Rachel C. and I have worked on. Hopefully next week we can announce the charity. Congrats to Abbie, for her success on her fundraiser, she'll be a great asset at the ALDA. And one more charity to announce at this time, introducing Dani everyone. She is working on a charity herself, she's almost reached her goal, and can do it with your help, click here for her charity page. NYC Walk4Hearing.

And I leave you with a picture of my beautiful daughter. She was left alone while I did some catching up on my emails, I thought by this age she could be trusted to eat her mac n cheese and watch "Night at the Museum" in the next room, but I was wrong. As I scrubbed her arm and hand begging for an answer, she simply stated "but Mama, I was wantin' to be a zebra". And yes, that's permanent marker.

the DENTIST

Whew!! Glad that's over! Gage did great as usual. He's not scared, he even went back by himself at first because there was a kid back there screaming and they knew it would upset Brook (even more) so she and I continued to wait until the screaming kid left. First of all, I was actually glad that kid was making his mom sweat back there because she was totally rude out in the waiting room, which I totally ignored (yea for me!). My kids were not being bad at all, they (mostly Gage w/ADHD) just play a little louder and w/a little more movement than her three year old. There was a car that the kids can ride in and I tried to tell Gage he was a little too big for it but he wanted to ride in it anyway. Well, as long as no one was around him, he scooted a little fast in it, but I made him get out of it when he was getting a little too fast around the three year old. The three year old then hopped in and was acting like he was reving up the motor and she says "no!! YOU know better" with an emphasis on YOU. Meaning she was too happy about Gage in the car. Anyway, payback for her, when the three year old screamed from the time he went back, to the time they walked out!! Brook goes back and does okay. The first time she went to the dentist, she bit and spat, the second visit she just screamed and spat...and this being her third visit, she screamed and spat on the floor (she wouldn't let them suction her mouth) but not near as much as last time. It was just two occasions when they were actually cleaning..whew! So we are getting there. The hard part is getting her to stop screaming so she can hear me, she can't hardly hear them because they wear those masks w/a spit guard (shield) over their faces which also reflects a lot of light...making it impossible to read their faces for extra help. For a moment we had pink processors flying across the room when she was shaking her head....then it was over! All done! whew!

So He Needs Both...

Sorry so short but tonight I noticed something...it's been like 6 months since we started closed captioning on our tv. Well tonight I had him watch a different tv (we never use) couldn't find the remote to turn on closed caption after he requested it...so we moved him back to the family tv so he could read/watch. He stated he really needed it.
After that, he gets a shower and goes to bed, then calls me back in there to tell me he needs his processor, he needs to hear it too. He was tired and I don't think he wanted to rely on reading Spongebob, so he needs both. Until Brook learns to read well, we won't know w/her, but for now she just listens, and she's bilateral while he's unilateral. I'm thinking that may make a difference. Either way, doesn't matter to us, but I need to add that to his IEP next year, "no movies/shows, w/out cc"!!!

"other issues"

Okay, so we are officially one of the 40% of children with hearing loss that have other issues. We really already knew this and were in that category anyway because Gage has Goldenhar Syndrome . Well today we went in for our consult with the pediatrician after the teacher and I had completed the paperwork necessary to determine if Gage has ADHD. It has long been suspected that he is a sensory kiddo, requiring movement, usually fast, and even as a baby I had to read to him while I bounced him on my lap, he would never sit still. At my wits end when school started I suspected it was ADHD and his teacher then began to look at him w/concern and not as a kid w/bad behavior. He's not hurting kids, he's not poking someone's eye out...he's excessively talking, getting out of his seat, running, etc. The doc thinks yes, sensory. The teacher believed maybe ADHD, but is leaning towards sensory and she threw in GIFTED. Okay, could there BE anything else added to our plates, and the answer is yes, so we need to take what we've been given and move forward, with our heads up. The doc says his hyperactivity may affect his testing in Jan when they do all that gifted testing. No one including the teacher thinks he needs medication, he's very bright, and with the right intervention he can do just fine. The doc says all the meds can cause weight loss, and the average 5 year old weighs like 50 lbs. (I think). Gage is seven and a half and in second grade weighing in at a whopping 45 lbs. We do not want meds. The doc says that if his grades start dropping he may need the medicine but we all want to hold off as long as possible. Right now we have a wonderful teacher who is doing everything possible for my little man, and he's doing GREAT in school because of it. So this is where we are, we are treating him as a gifted, ADHD kid w/hearing loss and sensory issues to compliment his syndrome....got that? It's easier to say "other issues" isn't it?
It's never boring here!

Deaf Village Rocks...

Wow, Deaf Village rocks!! at least the manager at the local fast food restaurant thinks so! So I'm sporting my DV t-shirt today and run inside a fast food rest. to pick up a quick coffee after I dropped B off at preschool. The manager/supervisor taking my order says "so is Deaf Village an actual place where people live or is it a rock band?" It caught me off guard and I smiled running thru the answers in my head to find the quickest (I was then holding up the line!) and an answer that was easy to understand, knowing he likely didn't have a clue as to what blogging is. I came up with "it's a place online where you can read about deaf related issues, that sort of thing...my kids are deaf" I tell him. His eyebrows raised quickly, he began to stutter, "oh, well I think everyone should learn sign language 'cause deaf people come in here all the time and my employees don't have a clue"...he then adds quickly "my daughter loves that show on PBS and is learning sign, all people hearing or not should learn sign" I knew a lot of people in the Deaf Community would have loved to hear that but it was a half hearted comment I know, otherwise he'd teach his employees some basics. I just smiled because he was only telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. I simply said "that's great, my daughter likes that show too, but in general my kids don't sign, they speak"...well I had to move on before people started complaining about the line, and I then closed with "they wear cochlear implants and were able to learn how to speak". He added "oh I've heard about that, they can regrow hair cells and all" and as I walked away, I said "well, we're not that advanced yet...my kids have cochlear implants, like an implantable hearing aid"...I felt like he was enlightened a bit, and was capable of learning more, but that's all I could give him...just goes to show, people don't really know!! But at least he didn't clam up like some people do, he really meant well.

Annual Speech/Language Evaluation from the AVT !

Okay, so we packed up our snack boxes drove many miles yesterday after Brook got out of preschool and we had her full speech/language evaluation. We did it!! We completed it!! That in itself is an accomplishment...do you know who long those things are? Takes a while since they perform several different tests to cover everything from ariculation to sentence structure and so on. Well, she did great and if you take an average of the scores she's right where she needs to be. If you look at each individual test it came out as articulation, great...a couple of age appropriate errors...receptive= average to low average w/a couple of dips below the norm. Those were areas I had not worked on at all basically and I knew MY WEAK SPOTS would shine thru and that's perfectly fine, at least I know what to work on. And expressive was above average which is opposite of what you typically see. Most people understand (the receptive) more than they can express. My kids have always shown opposite than that on these tests and that's due to the way these tests are laid out. Our AVT had no concerns w/it being anything more than just that. I asked her upfront if this proves that my kids talk too much and won't let other people get a word in edgewise and she agreed that could be it!!(she knows my kids well!!) So, I'll get my detailed report in a few weeks and I'll use that as my guidelines for this next year to prepare her for K. Her teachers and therapist seem to think she'll have no probs going into the mainstream setting so that's what we plan to do.

Absense makes the heart grow fonder

Look what a little break can do, they are actually playing a made up game with a piece of bamboo and a toy tire...didn't take too long for a fight to break out though, luckily I was nearby to remove the weapon...I mean bamboo from the "game" and they were off in their seperate ways.



This morning Brook called her brother on the phone, she spent the night with my mom (Nanny) and she was giving us a call to announce she'd be arriving home soon. Gage still has a difficult time on the phone and needs assistance and I think Brook being bilateral, does much better. I think he'll need one of those phones that prints out what is being said when he gets older...we have cords to hook him up to the phone with, however it's an inconvience to him, he doesn't like being confinded to cords and he uses the phone very little anyway. And I leave you with another clip...Look out Jordan the Italian Stallion!!!! You have competition here in the states, Gage Blakely is singing love songs now! ...well sort of.... enjoy! and yes there is another music video I'll possibly put up later in the week when I caption it.

Charity Events

Wow, thank you all so much for being so kind about our book I'm All Ears ! It was a true labor of love and it basically took me a whole book to explain my reasons for our choices as a family and to explain in full how we got to where we are and how we became who we are. Now, I also want to thank you all for the submissions for the charity book Rachel and I are putting together. We (she's doing most of the work *grin*) are hoping to have this completed and on sale by Christmas! We still have not named the charity (needs to be at least national) so we will post that when we decide.
On to other news... Abbie is raising money so she can attend the Association of Late-Deafened Adults convention known as ALDA. Abbie is a fantastic advocate for hearing loss awareness, she is a cochlear implantee (if that's the proper term, I use it all the time) and uses her fantastic writing skills to create awareness on her blog Chronicles of a Bionic Woman . So donate to send her to this convention because she uses her knowledge and spreads wisdom to many.
One other charity to mention is Karen's fundraiser that's been a long time coming...Live Love Hear in the Pennsylvania area. Karen has worked very hard on preparing this special event to raise awareness about cochlear implants.