Fun in the exersaucer...

As you can see Briggs is liking his exersaucer pretty well! He sits in there, stares and concentrates so hard and you can tell his brain is just going a mile a minute. Elli loves to show him what to do with all the attachments. So fun to watch!

Deaf Children Talking!

Below is a link to a "you tube" video. It is worth watching!! The two children in this home video were born completely deaf and have cochlear implants. It is an amazing video to watch! These kids cannot hear and they speak as clearly as a normal hearing person. They do have an accent because they are from Alabama. Below that is an article I ran across online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ookFhw-IOgU

Early cochlear implants get deaf toddlers talking

Deaf babies and toddlers can develop normal language skills when cochlear implants occur between six months and two years, according to new research released by the University of Melbourne.
“This is the first study investigating the long term language progress of deaf babies and toddlers implanted with Cochlear implants,” said Head of the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Melbourne, Professor Richard Dowell.
The results were revealed after a major clinical study of over 100 infants implanted between six months and two years of age was conducted at the Cochlear Implant Clinic at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital.
“Results have shown that implantation in an infant under 12 months has a significant impact on their language skills, “said Dr Shani Dettman of the University of Melbourne, who coordinated the study.
“The most important time for developing communication skills is below 12 months of age. This is a critical period for language growth,” Dr Dettman said.
“Prior to the introduction of early screening tests and cochlear implantation, profoundly deaf children experienced significant delays in language development,” she said.
“What we have found is that the children who received implants before 12 months of age had better language than the children who received implants between one and two years of age,” she said “Until recently, most parents were choosing to go ahead with a cochlear implant when the child was between one and two years of age.” “We now have definitive evidence to recommend that parents decide even earlier. This research is backed up by similar studies carried out in Europe and the U.S.”
The study involved a three month pre testing period of communication assessment, hearing tests and radiological scans, and then long term follow up years after the implant operation.Dr Shani Dettman said the research will have a huge impact on the lives of the children and their learning capabilities.
“It is wonderful to watch the children begin to respond to their hearing, and learn to communicate. These children can joke, lie, tease and use language in all its forms,” she said.

Milk!

Briggs officially recognizes his first sign... MILK!! The sign for milk is squeezing one hand together as if you're milking a cow... appropriate! At his last teaching visit two weeks ago we chose three signs to start working with... milk, bath and love. Whenever Briggs is hungry or if we're unsure if he's hungry or just tired (because those are the only two times he cries) we ask him if wants milk and he either gets EXTREMELY excited and starts kicking his legs and moving his arms up and down and breathing hard if he's hungry or he just lays there calm if he's not. If he is hungry and the milk isn't right there and I have to go get a bottle he starts bawling - like we're teasing him by asking if he wants milk and then it's not right there. It's SO exciting to see him respond to sign. The difficult one to remember to do is bath. I only give him a bath about twice a week so I forget to use it. Briggs has another teaching visit today so we'll pick out more signs.

The sign language course is going well. We basically do a chapter a week which includes about 40 to 50 words so I haven't absorbed a lot BUT I do know the alphabet and about 20 words already so it's a start. LPS also offers courses so we plan to sign up for those as well.

I've been trying to get new pictures of Briggs but he's going through the phase of being really sensitive to the flash. Every picture I take his face is scrunched up and his eyes are closed. He is a PUNKIN!!! Elli loves Briggs SO much!! She likes to lay on the floor and cuddle with him or hold him in her lap on the couch. She is such a great big sister! I love watching her with him. Nick and I are truly blessed to have such amazing kids!

Nick and I have also been doing a TON of research on the implants. We go back to Boys Town at the end of November with all of our questions and to try the devices on Briggs to make our final decision.

Until next time...

Play dates, play dates, play dates...

Elli has already started having "play dates". Yes it is that time and actually they started last spring before Briggs came along. Elli's best friend is Macey and they get SO excited when the BIG day roles around. It is quite comical to sit back and listen to a 3 and 4 year old decide on what their names will be for that day (yesterday Elli was Katelynn and Macey was Alissa). They stay focused on what they're doing for a few minutes and then come across another toy and have to switch gears. It's almost as if they think this is the only time they get to do this so they have to play with every toy around them. They are adorable and play very well together.

Appointment Update

This was our week of back to back appointments for Briggs and they ALL went GREAT!!

Monday was Briggs 4 month check up. He weighed 15lbs., measured 24 5/8 inches and I can't remember his head measurement but he was in the 50th to 75th percentile for everything so he is perfect! Everything checked out great and we loved the good news!

Tuesday was Briggs first "teaching" visit through LPS. It was more of a detailed assessment of what he's doing - picking up toys and switching them from one hand to the other, sitting up, focusing etc. He's doing just perfect they said. Nick and Briggs play this game where Briggs is laying on his back and Nick goes in to eat his chest and Briggs starts grunting/screaming and lifts his legs and grabs Nick's ear and eats Nick's forehead. It's very cute and Briggs knows what's coming when Nick does this. Then we picked out four words to start signing to him - milk, bath, more and love. Nick, myself and our daycare provider also started our sign language course on Tuesday.

Yesterday was the genetics clinic at Boys Town and all the appointments went SO much better than great!! Nick and I walked out of there beaming!! We started with the vestibular test. This is another test he had to pass for the implants. Nick had to sit in this dark room in a spinning chair with Briggs on his lap. They put electrodes on Briggs head and a camera on his face. They spin the chair around at different speeds and watch for Briggs eye movement. The electrodes measure his brain movement and test for the balance inside his head. I'm not exactly sure what the criteria is for passing but they want both sides of his brain to have balance and they did!! He did great with it! I didn't realize he was having that test yesterday but I was so glad because it's something he had to pass for the implants and I know I would've stressed about it if it would've been scheduled in advance so I didn't have to stress about it! Then we met with the geneticist and he was great! We found out that Briggs only has Connexin 26 which is
non-syndromic, basically meaning there is no syndrome associated with his hearing loss which is so great!! He talked to us about all the details and then he assessed him. Connexin 26 is a best case scenario for us because it means all that he has is hearing loss and now that's been confirmed!! Afterwards he said... congratulations... you have a PERFECTLY healthy little boy and the only thing missing is his hearing. I can't even begin to tell you how great that feeling is to hear those words. Our last appointment was with the ophthalmologist. It is common for people with hearing loss to have vision problems AND people with hearing loss rely so much on their vision so they want to be sure he has no problems. His eyes are perfect!!! YAY! We heard that word so much yesterday which was great!
This might have been the neatest part of yesterday... When we were waiting for Briggs eyes to dilate a lady who we'd never met but worked there walked up to us and asked if this was Briggs. We said yes and she sat down and said Briggs is their youngest diagnosed and their youngest fitted with a hearing aid and their youngest diagnosed with the cause as well and she wanted to tell us how great that was. She said he was SO fortunate to have such loving parents and have SO much accomplished in such a short amount of time and because we started so early there is no doubt that he will be with his peers by the time he's in kindergarten. She kept kissing his forehead and praising us for the accomplishments. I'm sure it is so rewarding to them to see younger and younger babies being diagnosed. They have a much greater chance at leading a normal life!! All of that is thanks to the newborn hearing screening!! If it weren't for that we'd assume Briggs could hear and would not detect hearing loss for many more months.

Like I said Nick and I were BEAMING!!! We of course had to celebrate so we picked Elli up from daycare and went out to eat at Applebee's.

What's to come... We will continue on with our sign language class on Tuesday's. Our LPS teacher is going to our daycare providers house next Thursday. I don't think we go back to Boys Town until the end of November and all we have left for his implants is his CT/MRI which will be done right before his surgery.

Boys Town is amazing and everyone there is great!! We would not be as far as we are if it weren't for them! They've walked us right through everything and have provided such great support. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and for also being such great support. Nick and I and Elli and Briggs are so fortunate to have you all!!!

Elli and Briggs

Briggs is a candidate for the implants!!

I just received the call from Boys Town and Briggs has been approved for the implants!! We were anxiously awaiting that phone call! The coordinator said the implant team meet yesterday and discussed Briggs case and everyone we've met with felt he was a great candidate!! The last two appointments needed before his surgery will be a CT/MRI and a speech/language evaluation. Both of those will be closer to his surgery date. I'm SO excited! I can't even begin to explain how anxious we are for the implants... I'll post again next week. Thank you all SO much for your continued thoughts and prayers!
Other news... Nick and I and our daycare provider will be starting a nine week sign language course next week. Also, I want to let you all know how amazing Boys Town is... without them we would not be where we are today. Dr. Lusk is amazing and you just know that he truly cares for the kids!! They have guided us through this process and put ease to our minds. I know I've said this before but I just cannot believe how far we've come and how much we've accomplished in such a short time! I've been in contact with another family in Lincoln and am looking forward to meeting more. The counselor at Boys Town said there are a lot of families in Lincoln with kids who have hearing loss so I'm looking forward to meeting more of them.

What is a cochlear implant?

The cochlear implant is a complex electronic device that can compensate for non-functioning parts of the inner ear. The implant procedure involves surgery to insert the device under the skin behind the ear. Electrodes are attached, providing a direct pathway to the cochlea within the inner ear.

When the implant detects sound, impulses are sent through the auditory nerve to the brain, creating an effect similar to hearing.

While the implant does not completely restore hearing, most recipients find that they are able to receive significant auditory clues, enabling them to speak and understand oral communication.

How does it work?

Unlike a hearing aid that simply amplifies sound, a cochlear implant actually converts sound into electrical impulses that the brain can interpret. For adults or children who have ear damage that cannot be overcome by simply turning up the volume with a hearing aid, cochlear implants can often restore hearing to highly functional levels. For children, cochlear implants provide the ability to learn to listen and talk and the opportunity to be educated in classrooms along with normal-hearing peers.

I think I understand the purpose of the hearing aid!!

I forgot to post this in my last update... For starters let me say that we've known since Briggs diagnosis that cochlear implants is the only way he'll be able to hear well enough to distinguish sounds and learn to speak. Because of what I just said the whole hearing aid thing and why are we trying it has been foggy for Nick and I but I think we finally "get it" so I wanted to update. After last weeks appointments I've realized that the audiologist we've been assigned has a much more laid back approach than everyone else we've met with. She always said, don't let the hearing aid become a negative experience. Only have him wear it a couple hours a day to see if you notice him responding to sounds. Don't have him wear it out of the house or around loud noises. Even last week she said, if he goes a week without wearing it it's not a big deal. After meeting with the LPS team and last week the implant team he's been wearing it pretty much all day regardless of where we are except when he sleeps. Basically the purpose of the hearing aid is to keep any pathways that might be there open so that the auditory nerve is stimulated and the brain is responding to a noise. Loud noises are very muffled and distorted but basically we're just trying to keep that nerve stiumated and the brain hearing some noise. So keeping it in all the time means a better chance of him hearing and responding to a noise. A few days ago Briggs was in his swing and he fell asleep but we left the hearing aid in. I was cooking and the smoke alarm went off. I immediately ran into the living room and Briggs eyes were opened so big and he was looking all around. I'm pretty sure he heard something which was very exciting for us! Until next time... :-)