What's it been like?...
VERY OVERWHELMING!
Imagine one of your most strong-willed TWO year olds. Then add, said two year old is deaf and can't hear a word you say to him, and if he could hear you he'd ignore you anyway! Then top it off with trying to get him to wear processors behind each ear (near already sensitive surgical spots), with magnets attached to his head...
Let's just say we go trough a lot of "putting new ears" back on before 9 a.m.!
We know and understand that this whole cochlear implant process takes time: months, years... I guess the stress of everything is catching up to us and is quiet overwhelming.
Patience is definitely a virtue! I can hear my mom saying this now. ;) Most people (at least my colleagues) would be surprised to know that I'm not the most patient person, so this period of time where Sean is adjusting to wearing his new ears, learning all about his new devices, and looking ahead at all of the work and effort that goes in to teaching a kid with CI's to learn to listen and "hear," makes it hard to be patient! I keep telling myself, "One day at a time." I often think back to how challenging it was when Sean first got his hearing aids and the initial stress of understanding the device, learning to care for the aids, putting them in Sean's ears, teaching him to detect and discriminate sounds, and then teaching Sean's teachers too! Then I remember how confident we felt months later with Sean's hearing aids, and I see the light at the end of the tunnel!
"Great difficulties may be surmounted by patience and perseverance."
-Abigail Adams
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