SwitchOn and The Adventure of Sound

Thankyou everyone for your patience in awaiting this blog post- I have had many emails eagerly awaiting news of Jaime's switch on. I have been overwhelmed to hear of so many that are following Jaime's journey, we have been touched by all the support.

Just over one month ago I watched my precious child undergo surgery to receive a cochlear implant. Our goal, to give our daughter every opportunity to listen, speak and integrate with her peers.

After a successful surgery Jaime was given two weeks to recover and heal. She amazed us with her patience with dressing changes, and her ability to bounce back to her bubbly self within days. At the conclusion of two weeks we ventured to the Cochlear Implant Clinic for an exciting new appointment! Today was to be Switch On Day!!

On our arrival we received our goodie bag of accessories and spare parts- it felt like Christmas unwrapping a suitcase full of bits and bobs- most exciting was unwrapping Jaime's new Cochlear Processor- Jaime's new ear!

Jaime sat patiently as we fitted the processor and I attempted to hunt for the implanted magnet to attach her coil... A challenge I am only now beginning to master.

Then began the moment we had waited so long for... Switch On! 

My husband and I waited with baited breath as the technician began to play the first soft beeps, Jaime's eyes lifted, opened a little wider and looked toward the test screen to watch the dancing characters that appeared. The first responses were subtle, but none-the-less amazing! Although we still have many adjustments and therapy sessions ahead, it feels wonderful to know Jaime's journey to listening and speech is finally ready to take off.

We have now celebrated four weeks since switch on! Jaime has already begun to show some amazing progress. She has become more vocal with some beautiful new sounds, she has shown joy in dancing with Daddy and recognising music, and I have even caught her happily babbling away to herself whilst playing.

She has also developed a new behaviour in the last few days, a behaviour that excites me to no end- when both devices are removed she will cup her ears as if to ask "where has the sound gone?", she has not done this often, however it excites me that she is clearly noticing a difference!

With spring beginning we have taken the opportunity for Jaime to explore her new world of sound. 

The little things have brought so much joy... Just knowing she can hear the ocean and the birds at the park, the sounds that others take for granted!

Jaime's quiet world still exists, however, now Jaime holds the key to a wonderful world of sound!

Jaime's journey toward sound has been at times hectic and emotional, it has been a great comfort to know we have the support and guidance of the staff at Taralye behind us all the way. I always enjoy our visits to Taralye, the warmth of all the staff make us feel at home with people that understand our journey!

With all the support Taralye has provided Jaime it is time to give back. 

You can help Jaime and other kids with a hearing impairment... How? 

Do you want a night out? A three course meal, all beer, wine and chempagne included? Want to win great prizes and partake in a fun auction? Want a laugh from our fabulous comics?

Then the Loud Shirt Day Ball is the event for you!

I am personally hosting this event and have organised this in my own free time, your support will go a long way to helping Taralye get Deaf kids like Jaime listening and speaking.

We still have tickets available:

Individual tickets $120pp

Or a table of ten for $1000

Please see the poster below for more details

Get your tickets Quick! Ticket sales close at the end of September so DON'T MISS OUT!

If you are unable to attend don't forget to support loud shirt day 

You can become a loud shirt day fundraiser like us or feel free to donate via Jaime's Loud Shirt Day Page: https://loudshirtday2013vic.everydayhero.com/au/Jaime 

Why is hearing so important?

Whilst following my blog you may ask 'why is hearing so important?'
I guess in some ways perhaps it's not.
Many people communicate through sign language and get by just fine, however, in our predominantly hearing world, to find others who communicate through sign can be a challenge. AUSLAN (Australian sign language) is certainly an option and I have always wanted to learn but have been too lazy to go out and join a course. This may now be my motivation to get out there and learn, however I must also be honest, for us in our family the prospect of having to communicate via sign only is a daunting task and not our first choice, we are a hearing family, we speak and laugh together and this has always brought us closer.

So for us we have made the choice to develop Jaime's verbal and auditory communication skills as best we can. This is where the ability to hear plays such a major role.
You may then argue... (especially in the case of the cochlea implant) Why not let the child choose when they are old enough? Perhaps you could, however when making your choice consider this...

...Before the age of one, although we may see baby babble as reasonably insignificant, it is in fact the beginning of speech.
Our babies are born ready to learn and in a hearing child the instinct to listen to, and mimic the sounds around them is strong and starts from day one.
By approximately 6 months of age babies are already able to recognise all of the key sounds that make up their native language and are constantly listening to the feedback of their own verbalisations. Not long after this, first words begin to emerge.

Think now, about a child who lives in silence. How will they learn these sounds and how to speak? If all of this learning happens before their first birthday, what happens when you miss out? This ability to learn speech and language dramatically decreases as a child grows. So is it fair to wait until a child is old enough to choose? What if they choose to speak? Imagine how far behind they would be!

Jaime does not live in total silence, hers is a quiet world, although profoundly deaf in her left ear, she retains some low level hearing in her right ear, 'great' you may think, she will be listening and speaking in no time, but no, unfortunately Jaime lacks the ability to hear 'verbal sounds'.
This is where her 'purple pair' (and in time possibly a Cochlea implant) come in, Jaime's hearing aids aim to enhance her hearing to such a a level that she may be able to pick up verbal sounds, she may not be able to hear the wind whistling through the trees, or the birds chirping at her window, however with the ability to hear our voices she will be on her way to developing speech.

As of yet we have been unable to determine how much Jaime is hearing whilst wearing her aids, we are awaiting a 'hear lab' at Australian Hearing in march to determine if she is responding adequately to speech.
Children who are deaf (deafness includes hearing impairment/loss ranging from profound loss to mild impairment) will in most circumstances still require speech therapy to teach them to listen and to develop their speech to a 'normal' level. Many of you have probably heard a 'deaf accent', the aim of speech therapy is to develop speech to the extent that these speech anomalies are either not noticeable or absent entirely. This is where the fabulous work of early intervention centres such as 'Taralye' come in, although we have not yet embarked on our journey with Taralye, we are eager to begin!

With assistance and practice the ultimate aim for us is that Jaime may attend a mainstream school with minimal additional assistance required, and that she can laugh and play with her friends in the playground without any hassle.
The hearing world for Jaime will never be perfect, although it will be a little easier.

...stay tuned for Jaime's quiet times...