Third day with two ears

Today is Jack's third day with his new ear. He has been consistently wearing both of his implants all day, but he does not like to just wear the new one alone yet. He still has some swelling and the magnet seems to fall off easier, even after I added another magnet. Good news is when the new implant falls off he does put it back on most of the time.

Yesterday we had our first AVT apt. he fell asleep in the car which didn't help his mood and then when we got there we had him work alone with just his new ear. Well he cried half of the time...he was not a happy camper. We worked on ling sounds, listening tasks, and animals, things that are very familiar. He did listen to Lynn (avt) do ling sounds and put the bingo chips in the bucket to show that he was in fact hearing all of the sounds, but he was not able to repeat them. He still seems to be confused by what he is hearing and that he is not yet able to make out words. It is a little frustrating, I was hoping for him to at least respond to his name after the first day. After Jack's first CI surgery he was able to turn to his name that same evening. His hearing loss is symmetrical, his anatomy is perfect, and he has full insertion in both ears. I know Jack is going to do well with the new one, but I was hoping for a little more than we have gotten.
Last night before bed I did go over ling sounds with him and he did repeat "e" and "a", but for the rest of them he just moaned, he seems so confused by what he is hearing, but that he repeated any ling sounds is a good sign.

This week our homework is for Jack to spend 15 to 30 min a day wearing just the new implant alone. We are going to be reading books that are familiar, play with puzzles, playdough and activities that Jack really enjoys. I hope I don't get too much of a fight I know I will get some. He sure does love his first ear and does not understand yet the importance of "training" his new ear. Hopefully by next post I will have some improvements to report.