A Parent's Wish

I wanted to share this website from Cochlear Americas. It is a website for parents of children with hearing loss. The parents can get more information about cochlear implants. Here is the website:

IWantToHear.com

I am a strong supporter of parents having the right to choose what communication method they want their child to use. We chose to sign and speech with our son and to have him get a cochlear implant at the age of 17 months. He received his second implant at the age of 4 1/2. I believe that signs were a bridge to him learning language and learning to speak.

I believe that LANGUAGE is the key for all children but especially for deaf children. Whatever a parent chooses for their child, they also have to follow that child's lead. Parents have to realize that it will be WORK, but it can be fun. It will be HARD, but it will be REWARDING. Elijah chose to be oral after we worked a LONG time for him to learn to speak. He dropped expressively signing, I didn't make him stop. He can still understand what I sign to him when his processors are off. We can't have an in depth conversation, but we can communicate!

Whatever choice a parent makes...sign or speech or both, it should be remembered that this is about the CHILD and not about what is RIGHT. There is no right, there is what is needed.

I could ramble on for days, I know, but I will get off of my soap box. ALL parents need to read more with their children (hearing or deaf), spend time with them, have conversations and be their first teachers!

Sxi Weeks Later

It has been six weeks since the hail storm and we are just NOW getting our roof fixed. They started two days ago on Saturday and I mean they JUST started. The removed the old shingles and planks from the back side of the house. They have replaced the planks and laid down some other roofing materials that goes under the shingles. They don't work on Sunday (don't blame them) and it rained today, so no work today. It is supposed to rain ALL week. This is ONE reason why it has taken so long for them to get to our roof. The holes in the back were the worst and at least there is new planking now.

The contractor stated that he wants to get everyone's roofs fixed and then start working on the inside. I am not sure where that leaves us as far as when they will start with the inside of our house, but I am hoping it is before the summer ends!

Jacob is busy looking for a job. He has had three interviews in three weeks and applied to a LOT of positions. One of the jobs looks promising, but he doesn't want to get his hopes up too high. Elijah and I will be finished with school next week. We are both so ready. My honey will still be working all summer and I plan on continuing to mystery shop. I will also be supervising repairs! We may have to move out for a few days while they replace the ceiling. We don't have any major plans this summer and I am glad of that!

Keep your fingers crossed we have a new roof by this weekend....it really depends on the rain! Also say some prayers for Jacob, he really wants one of the jobs he interviewed for!

THE STORM

We had a hail storm here in town this past Monday, April 11, 2016. It was even on the national news. Elijah and I were home alone when it started. OH MY, was it loud. Water started coming in by the back door and when I went to get towels, there was water in the master bath. The water was coming in through the AC vents. There was water coming in from three ceiling fans. It was WILD. The hails stones were huge.

My honey arrived home right after it started. Thankfully my car was in the garage and she wasn't home so neither of our cars were damaged. We cleaned up some of the water, and then went to look up in the attic. There were HOLES in the roof, I mean HOLES. You could see the sky. While we were doing that the ceiling in the kitchen FELL. It landed on the dinner table and on the floor. It was a mess. We spent three hours cleaning that up. We had just signed a contract with a construction company to fix the roof the Saturday before. The roof had been damaged from a hail storm, a much smaller storm, but still damaged. I called them and they came out to take a quick look. The rain had stopped and he promised to come out the next day to tarp it. I stayed home from work on Tuesday and took care of some things. We had not gone to bed until around midnight because more of the kitchen ceiling had fallen later in the evening.

The adjuster came out today and cut us a check. I have to get the bank to endorse it since they are the lien holders on the house. Once we do that, the company can begin fixing things. We are getting all of the ceilings replaced....for the entire house, two new ceiling fans, a new roof, new planking for under the shingles, new duct work for the AC, staining the fence and a lot of other things done. I had to buy a new mattress for Jacob because his had gotten wet when water leaked from his fan and it was a lot water. Now we just have to wait until it can all get started. I have added some pictures to show the damage!

Transition

I  went up to the high school today here in town to meet with Elijah, two of his teachers and a DARS (Department of Rehabilitative Services) representative. I had asked for the DARS rep to come to Elijah's ARD but she had something come up last minute and could not attend. One of the teachers we met with is the transition teacher at the high school and the other teacher is his case manager. Elijah will be graduating in just over three years and his unique needs require us to start planning now.

Overall, it was a good meeting. Elijah was not too interested in participating. He had been pulled out of his computer class and he really wanted to get back. He did state that he wants to possibly work on disassembling computers for their parts or maybe working with animals. After he left, we all sat around and discussed what Elijah is capable of. His teachers and I agree that he is smart enough to go to college, but his writing skills are not where they need to be for college. At this point (now remember we still have three more years) we aren't sure about a technical school either. We did agree that when he is doing something he likes that he does a good job. He also needs a schedule and likes to stick to it. He doesn't handle change well.

The nice thing is the DARS representative works exclusively with deaf and hard of hearing students. She can work with the school for Elijah to find a job his senior year and provide a job coach to assist him at work. When he becomes frustrated or flustered he may melt down or cry. The plan is for him to take a transition type of class his junior year. He would learn about resumes, job interviews, and do some volunteer work through the class (working in the school or working at the local animal shelter) and then his senior year he would have a job. He would be able to leave school early and go to the job. The school would even provide transportation to work and then I would pick him up.

I wanted he representative from DARS to meet him now so she would have an idea of what he might need. She can then be on the look out for possible jobs for him after graduation. She will attend his ARD (IEP meeting) next January and help in making his plan for his junior year. I am hoping that Elijah will mature in the next three years and that his social/personal skills improve. I am glad we met today and I feel like we are at least heading in the right direction. The DARS representative stated that he  had employable skills. Now we just have to continue down this road and see where it takes us!

Update on Freedom processors and upgrading

I finally got a chance to call SunMed and I found out a few things. They are no longer handling the upgrades for Cochlear, unless you have Aetna insurance. Cochlear is now handling upgrades and working with insurance companies. I then asked about Aetna and was told that Aetna will NOT cover upgrades. They will only cover processors if they are NOT working. I am SO glad that I got the N6 upgrade for Elijah the summer before we changed to Aetna (my insurance runs from Sept. 1st to Aug. 31st, not the traditional year) from Blue Cross Blue Shield. I just hate that he has FOUR Freedom processors sitting in a box and not being used for a trade in for an upgrade. I'll just have to be sure to keep Elijah's N6 processors under warranty. The current warranty is good through the beginning of June 2017.

Freedom Obsolescence Process

The Freedom Processor by Cochlear Corp. is in the obsolescence process. I received an email from them explaining the process.

Jan 30, 2016 Dear Cochlear Family Member, Our promise of “Hear now. And always” means we strive to bring you improved sound processor technologies and services designed to help you hear moments that matter most to you.  Did you know the Cochlear™ Nucleus® Freedom® Sound Processor has been in the market for nearly eleven years?  This means that the sound processor is reaching its end of life; hence, we begin the obsolescence process. Our records indicate that you may currently use a Freedom Sound Processor. Please make note of the following milestones:  End of Sale – Effective immediately, the sound processor and associated service plans (extended warranties) are no longer available for purchase.  Aftermarket components and accessories such as coil/cables will remain available for purchase contingent upon supply levels until December 31, 2016. Warranties for new products purchased will end on December 31, 2016. Trade-In – Through June 30, 2016, Cochlear will give a $2,000 trade-in allowance for the Freedom Sound Processor when upgrading to the Nucleus 6 Sound Processor and using the self-pay option. Repair Services – Cochlear will continue to repair the sound processor through December 31, 2016. All repair warranties will end on December 31, 2016. End of Life – The sound processor is no longer supported after December 31, 2016. This means that if your Freedom Sound Processor stops working, Cochlear cannot repair it. Or if you lose a part or accessory, Cochlear cannot replace it.   Elijah currently has two Nucleus 6 Processors that are about 18 months old. He also has four Freedom processors that are not being used. I am going to call SunMed tomorrow and see if he can get two new Nucleus 6 processors since the Freedom processors are going obsolete. I figure it is worth a shot. He upgraded to the Freedom processors back in 2006 and then his body worn processors went obsolete about 2 years later and we were able to trade those in for two new Freedom processors. We shall see what happens.

Life is Funny

Body Worn Processor

I met a friend of mine at a Mexican restaurant to celebrate our graduation from college and earning our Master's Degrees in Special Education. Elijah went along with me because I didn't want to leave him at home alone. My friend and I talked and we all ate a great meal. Elijah was busy playing games on his iPhone and really didn't pay us much attention!

My friend and I were talking about the certification test she still needs to take and our future plans in education. One of the managers of the restaurant came over and asked us how our meal was. My friend spoke to him about another manager that works there. She said he husband went to college with the other manager and they spoke for a few minutes. This manager then said, "The reason I came over is my son is deaf and he just got his cochlear implants." I asked him how old his son was and his son is 12 months old. I told him a bit about Elijah and how he was turned on with his first implant at 18 months of age and how he got his second one at the age of 4 1/2 years. He asked me how Elijah was doing and I proceeded to ask Elijah some questions. Elijah answered them all without even looking up from his iPhone. The manager then showed my friend and me a video of his son being activated. It was exciting to see how the boy reacted to hearing for the first time. The gentleman stayed and talked to us for several more minutes and I encouraged him to make sure he took his son to auditory verbal therapy and to TALK all the time to him. His son has the Nucleus 6 processor like Elijah wears now. I told him about Elijah's first processor which was a body worn processor. He was surprised to hear they used to be so big!

Nucleus 6 Processor

I also told him that I had continued to sign with Elijah when he was first turned on, and that sign slowly faded as Elijah learned to talk!

It was a very interesting conversation. The man was very encouraged and thanked me for my time I have not had this happen in a very long time. When Elijah was younger I was approached by parents of deaf children and adults with hearing loss all the time it seemed. I am not sure if it is becoming more common to see CI processors on people or if I just don't have Elijah with me as much as I did when he was younger. It was nice to hear this man's story and see how excited he was about his son's journey with hearing. I am happy that Elijah and I could be a part of that.