Kaelen responded quite well then they were first switched on. There's a lot of messing about in the appointment before we get to the 'switching on' bit, mostly setting up the units, checking that the molds fit properly, checking that the tubing (that joins the mold to the unit, that pipes the sound into the ear) is sitting correctly so the hearing aids stay on properly, and then cutting that tubing to the correct length, talking through the safety aspects of using hearing aids with children, talking through the various functions of the hearing aids (some of which are disabled for children)...all the information, legal & procedural stuff. Then, there is the moment of truth - the aid is inserted and the battery clipped in. Pause, while the hearing aid powers up. Sound!
Kaelen was having a feed at the time his first aid was switched on, so we could see his face quite well. He didn't seem stressed about it at all, although his eyes definitely got wider :-) "Wow, the world sound like *this*?" The second one was not as dramatic, probably because it just complimented the first one, but there was definitely a reaction, and not a bad one, which is what we like to see. Then they do some quick checks with loud noise-makers to make sure he's not uncomfortable with those loud sounds, and if it's all good then that's it - we're done!
Today was not quite as emotional for me as i thought it was going to be...perhaps i processed a lot of that emotion during these last 2 weeks, knowing it was coming. Or perhaps this is just a lull, and it'll all hit me again tomorrow morning when i have to put 4 hearings aids into 2 children, not just 2 into 1...i don't know, but i must confess that i was fearful that i would cry all over the audiologists. Fortunately, that didn't eventuate, i was calm, cool & collected the whole day. Let's see what tomorrow brings...
I'm really hoping that getting hearing aids this early will mean that Kaelen will develop speech reasonably normally. It's hard to tell what's going to happen, and we don't know if there are any distortions along with the volume loss, so all we can do for know is hope, pray, and do our best to give him the best possible chance. Hopefully his brain will switch on to listening in these early months and it won't be the effort for him that it is for Jarrah.
For reference, i thought i'd upload this Frequency comparison chart. It gives a bit of an idea of what sounds fall in what ranges (both frequency & volume), both speech sounds and other environmental sounds, and therefore what sounds should be accessible by people with certain amounts of loss. This chart makes no sense for Jarrah, he constantly makes sounds that are allegedly outside his hearing range, so we just nod and keep going, but i include it anyway as i find it an interesting guide.
Next appointment: Tues 14th October - hearing aid follow-up appt for Kaelen
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