"Sean!"

Woo Hoo! Sean is turning to his name, which means he is not only hearing us, but his brain is recognizing that HE is Sean!

"Yes, I am Sean!!" 

Riddleberger Reunion Weekend

We traveled down to Greensboro, NC this past weekend to spend time with all the Riddleberger cousins!  It was great spending time together with everyone.  Thanks to Bret and Jodi for being such fabulous hosts.  Both Blake and Sean had so much fun visiting with all of the cousins!  It was non-stop nerf guns, legos, ping pong, and chasing after Sean!  Thankfully Sean did a great job of keeping his processors aka "ears" on.  It was during this weekend that Sean officially heard HIS name and would turn to his name when called.  We arrived to NC, with Sean on map #2.  Sean's processors are programed with 4 maps, at each mapping.  We decided Saturday afternoon to see if we could bump him up to map #3 to see if he might just hear a little bit more.  Well, sure enough he did!  Almost too much b/c as soon as I changed the map with the remote, Sean's head turned and eyes perked up, but then decided it was "too loud" and began to cling and cry.  :(  It was my fault that one, I tried "turning him up" while he was tired and two, while the processers were ON and on his head!  Live and learn.  The good news of it all is that these were the first couple of days where we felt that Sean was realizing that these things that he has to wear on his head and behind the ear are actually helping him to "hear!"

Brodi's Bon Bons = Delicious!

Jodi hosted a much needed and fabulous wine tasting!

A family reunion isn't complete without a "projector" and "slides!" 

Cousin Tracy came all the way from Utah!

Lachlan and Sean are on a mission.

Hundreds of slides!

Momma and Sean

 

Ling 6 responses!

Woo Hoo, Sean "turned to" and was able to discriminate 4 Ling 6 sounds Wednesday morning!!! This is a big deal and is important as Sean "learns to listen."

What are Ling 6?

The Ling 6 sound test allows a quick and easy way to check and see that a child detects these sounds that lie within the speech spectrum of hearing. Ling 6 sounds are used daily with D/HOH children, as they help detect malfunctions with devices and changes in hearing.
The Ling 6 sounds are: /m/, /oo/, /ah/, /ee/, /sh/, /s/

So which 4 sounds did Sean hear on Wednesday morning? /sh/, /s/, /oo/, /ee/!

Baby steps...

On a side note, this picture was taken by Sean's cousin, Addison! He is an amazingly talented young man.

Second "Mapping" and follow up on ear infections

Thankfully Sean's second mapping went better than the first (activation). "Mapping"(or MAPping) is the term for programming the cochlear implant to meet the needs of the user.
At each mapping, our Audiologist, Mike, sets Sean's CI's to different T-Levels and C-Levels (or Thresholds) for EACH electrode. Sean has a total of 44 electrodes implanted in his head, 22 on each side! T-Levels are the softest sounds that Sean can detect. C-Levels are the sounds that Sean is most comfortable hearing.
The brand of CI's we chose for Sean, Cochlear, has the capability to hold 4 maps. We have the flexibility of bumping Sean up or down a notch, depending on his response! Since Sean is a new CI user, his mappings are basically just slowly turning the CI's up. We will return to CHKD on Aug. 7th for 4 new maps!
Eventually, understanding mapping will become much more detailed and complex. So when I learn more, I'll be sure to share! Lol!

As for Sean's appointment with Dr. Moody, I'm happy to report his ears were both clear of infection! :). She was very pleased with how the incision sites looked, as well as the implants themselves. Although the implant is slightly raised from the head, it's not a big deal to us and will not be as pronounced as his head grows. And we all know how big the "Burke" domes can be...haha!

Water Wednesday at NBG

Sean, Blake, and Mikayla

Sean trying to feed the butterfly a leaf!!! LOL!

The Chrysalis Case

Butterfly garden

One of the MANY sunflowers in the sunflower maze

Fun in the World of Wonder Children's Garden

Today we headed back to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. We met up with Mikayla (who also has bilateral implants), and her mom. The kids were so cute together as they wondered through the Butterfly House, Enchanted Forest, Children's Garden, Sunflower maze, and finally the water play area! Sean did an awesome job of keeping his processors on, which I believe was partly because we were out and about (totally occupied), and partly due to the fact that Mikayla wears hers so well. ;)  We captured a ton of cute pictures!

First week since Activation...

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