Monday, August 16, 2010

I hear crickets


my boy got a buzz

This week I've been thinking a lot about those first few weeks after Lucas was activated, and how we spent all of our waking moments connecting sounds with meaning. It was absolutely amazing to me to watch him make those connections, and I happily chronicled those moments on video and on this blog. Check one of my favorites out here. We're at a much different place now, watching his expanding expressive vocabulary each and every day. But, we haven't forgotten where it all started.

As we learned at JTC, there are 4 levels of auditory development: detection (presence/absence of sound), discrimination (difference between 2 sounds), identification (recognizing/labeling sound) and comprehension (understanding meaning of sound). Since Lucas is speaking in 4 & 5 word sentences, he has made his way through those 4 levels pretty well by now. But, we still always revert to identifying sounds, like any good AV parent. I still always point to my ear when I hear a new sound and say "I hear that". Lucas now points to his ear and says "I hear" when he hears something new too.

I do have a point here.......... Lucas detected, discriminated, identified and comprehended a new sound the other night, when he heard the little creaking of crickets outside on a balmy summer night. He laughed his giddy little giggle when I explained to him what he was hearing and that they were little bugs "singing" in the bushes. Then, when we were driving home from my parents house, Lucas asked to "hear crickets", so I paused just a little longer at a stop sign, put down the windows and just sat and listened to the crickets with him. In that minute I paused and let it sink in that Lucas can hear the crickets and he loves it. It makes it all worth it. It's the little things that we don't take for granted anymore.

We haven't forgotten where we've come from with Lucas, and we're oh so happy about where we're going. The journey to hearing with a cochlear implant is constantly changing, evolving, moving. It's never stagnant. And it's oh so exciting.

3 comments:

tammy said...

I was just having a similar conversation with our AVT the other day, to continue to point out all background sounds to let our CI kiddos know that they're just as important. I found it funny that when you posted this on FB, we had just taken Aiden on a walk and stopped to point out the crickets chirping and the geese honking. He doesn't have the crickets down yet, but now when he hears the geese, he stops, points to his ear, and looks up and smiles. Definitely the little things like these that keep this journey such an exciting one.
hugs to you all!

Kel said...

That is just so awesome - BOTH of your stories, guys. I can't wait until Danny finally gets past detection, LOL.

leah said...

He looks so much older with his haircut! Perfect for the hot, sweltering days of summer, though!

How cool that Lucas picked up on the sound of crickets chirping and wanted to know what it was. Detecting that sound let him learn about a whole new concept (bugs singing)!

Have a great summer (I hope these next two weeks go by slowly for you guys, lol)!