Our deaf 18 month old was sitting in his high chair watching his big sister be the seeker in Hide & Seek when he suddenly shouted out, ‘There!’. He was pointing at a large beanbag beneath which a 10 year old boy was hiding. I was so proud of him. It was so spontaneous. So appropriate. So funny.
The speech therapist had been to visit him for the second time earlier in the week and I was conscious that she felt he hadn’t improved since her first visit pre Christmas. His hearing levels have gone down due to the glue ear but I have recently noticed a marked improvement in his responses, partly due to his cold getting slightly better, partly due to the volume settings on his hearing aids being ramped up to the max.
I desperately wanted him to impress her and was disappointed she felt his speech hadn’t improved but I suspect it is because my husband, with whom she had the last meeting, is a ‘cup half full’ kind of guy and as far as the deaf issue is concerned I am ‘cup half empty’. I completely understand my husbands enthusiasm but whereas with the other children I was forever claiming that I could make sense of their baby babble I am wary that if we exaggerate his achievements our deaf little boy might not get all the help he needs.
However there was no exaggeration required on Sunday night. As he enthusiastically screamed ‘there!’ and completely ruined his sisters attempts to play Hide and Seek I beamed with pride. We had friends round to celebrate my mothers birthday and the spontaneous cheering his performance elicited made him show off even more. Perhaps all my deaf baby needs is an audience and he’ll be speaking fluently by the time he’s two.
That’s wonderful!