Hear to Learn

A friend of ours has been very involved in a parent-driven initiative to improve the classroom hearing and learning experience in the Lincoln, NE school system. Hear to Learn is an excellent program, and it started me thinking about not only Audrena's listening environment when she gets into school, but also Reyana's and Kelton's.

Soundfield systems involve a microphone worn on a lanyard around the teacher's neck. It carries the sound to speakers around the classroom, creating sort of a surround sound effect so that the teacher's voice surrounds the room, distributing the sound to students all over the classroom. (These are my own words, so not really very technical, but you get the idea.) They are a great benefit to normal hearing students, not just the hearing-impaired.

I had heard from another parent that the Vermillion elementary schools would be receiving soundfield systems in the classrooms within the next 5 years. My curiosity was piqued, so I e-mailed Reyana's principal to ask about it. She replied that, due to the statistic that students only hear about 50% of what the teacher says in the classroom, the school board had created a 5 year plan for the installation of the soundfield systems. That was several years ago, and we do now have the systems the classrooms! As it turns out, I could have just asked Reyana. Her teacher uses it daily. I was thrilled! Yesterday afternoon during our parent-teacher conference, I brought it up to Reyana's teacher, explaining that I was so excited to hear that she was using the soundfield. She was happy to demonstrate it to us, whispering from the front of the room. It was crystal clear in the back of the room. Imagine what a difference that makes for the students!

On a related note, the SD School for the Deaf Service Coordinator (I hope I got that title right) stopped in to see us at our genetics appointment. She used to be the outreach consultant for our area and had some really great things to say about Vermillion and the school district. She basically told me that if we could have landed anywhere for Audrena, this is the perfect place to be. Once again, I am feeling very thankful to God for bringing us to Vermillion 9 years ago. At the time I was not terribly happy to be moving here, but now I know that this is where we were meant to be.

Speech Banana Revisited

Here is a link to my original post about the audiogram and the speech banana. These are two very important things to Audrena's hearing journey. Today, I can say that Audrena cooperated beautifully in the sound booth at USD's Speech & Hearing Center, and we got a great audiogram!

Audrena tested at 20-30 decibels across the frequencies! We have been told that a cochlear implant patient will never achieve normal hearing, and typically they will be in the 30-40 decibel range. Now, I do know several who hear at 15-25 decibels with their implants, so it's entirely possible. However, we are thrilled with today's results! Thrilled! Audrena has achieved the speech banana levels! This means wonderful things for her speech and language development.

Through all the ups and downs of this journey, one thing has remained constant. The doctors, Audiologists, and other professionals at Boys Town National Research Hospital, and the doctors and clinical grad students at USD Scottish Rite Speech, Language, and Hearing Clinic have been top notch. Even if Audrena had not achieved such great results, we would still be able to say that with confidence. They have been nothing short of fabulous, and we would recommend them to anyone! But because they have changed our baby's life and opened up a world of opportunity for her, we will forever be grateful to them and to Advanced Bionics. If I sound like I'm delivering a sales pitch, well maybe I am. Just a little. Audrena is a success story in our eyes, and they have changed her life, so they deserve some public recognition.

Boys Town Activates its 500th Implant!

What an exciting milestone! Boys Town activated its 500th cochlear implant this week. Congratulations, BTNRH!

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120829/LIVEWELL01/120829652/0

A little about hearing and balance...

I'm trying to include research and educational materials in our blog as I find them. This video explains how we hear. At about 36 seconds, it talks about the hair cells. Those hair cells are what do not work in Audrena's ears, and it's called sensorineural hearing loss. Cochlear implants bypass those damaged hair cells by threading electrodes through that snail-shell shaped cochlea, delivering signals to the auditory nerve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTiGskc1o48&feature=related

This video shows the ear structure, including the cochlea and the vestibular system. Audrena is missing the Posterior and the Lateral Semicircular Canals. She only has the Anterior Semicircular Canal, the one that sticks up on the top. This is the reason for her lack of balance and why she is late to walk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=WDfynsIk0PI&noredirect=1

Thank you to the posters of these Youtube videos!

Cochlear Implant HELP

I checked out one of my favorite blogs today and found a new post with a link to the website http://cochlearimplanthelp.com/. It's full of great information!

Parents Magazine Article About Cochlear Implants

Here is a good, informative 3 page article from Parents Magazine about cochlear implants. (You might have to click to continue past a subscription offer to get from page to page.) It explains how they work and touches on the decision that parents must make whether to raise their deaf child with or without cochlear implants.

http://www.parents.com/toddlers-preschoolers/health/ears/toddler-gets-cochlear-implants/