Notice anything missing? Nolan has been leaving his hearing aids in for no more than 15 minutes at a time. If I keep him extremely occupied, I might get an hour of hearing aid wearing. How frustrating is this behavior?
Imagine, if you will, hunting all over the grocery store/house/preschool/parking lot for two very tiny pieces of ear candy worth $3000. Now imagine doing this EVERY DAY. We do have a retention lanyard, but Nolan can disassemble the entire aid faster than I can blink, and the aids are removed from the string and thrown or hidden quickly.
At least he can't hide them well yet. I keep telling myself it is just a phase. But it is a frustrating phase! I deal with things better when I have a plan-of-attack, so here's what I'm planning on doing:
- This will not become a power struggle. I dont' want his hearing aids viewed as a negative or as a source of tension. When he takes them out, I will wait a few minutes and then replace them without a word.
- I am taking his aids in for some maintenance because the right one sounds a tad "rough." I don't have a better description for the sound, but it is every-so-slightly coarse. There might be nothing wrong with it, but it won't hurt to have it checked out.
- We get new earmolds on the 13th, which might help with keeping his aids in.
I don't think we've had a change in hearing, since Nolan can still say all the Ling sounds back to me (with the exception of ooo and mmm, which he can't discriminate). He is still adding new words daily, though his articulation does give me some pause (daddy has turned into da-yee, coffee is boppy, diaper is bahpoo, cup is bup, etc). Because he has lost hearing since birth, the possibility of losing more is always in the back of my mind. If all else fails, we'll schedule another hearing test.
14 comments:
Ugh! I HATED that phase, and was constantly hunting for hearing aids. The whistling they make when pulled out was my saving grace.
I finally ended up using really fun bandanas folded just right to cover his ears, but leave the microphone uncovered. Worked like a charm!!!
At about 2 years old, he finally caught on that they help him hear, and he's never looked back when it comes to wearing them.
That gives me hope! His Unitrons have a feedback cancelling program so we don't always hear them (unless they're laying just right and the microphone is against something). We were using pilot caps, but he can untie them now so they're useless.
Oh, that is so frustrating!
Miss Kat did this too. She received her aids right at 20 months and was terror about pulling them out. She even pulled them apart and would hide them in the dirty laundry or under the couch. BUT, the good news is that it didn't last very long. Maybe a few weeks, but it felt like an eternity...I almost gave up!
Um.... duct tape?
JOKING!!!
How frustrating. Hope it passes soon.
Hehe.
I've often thought of superglue.
I'm joking, of course. Honest, I am!
Oh! We have I'll been there. Don't get discourage keep putting them right back in right after he pulls them out. Eventually this phase will pass! Gavin is now 2 and comes to me in the morning pointing to his ears, as if he is saying "k mom I need my ears in!"
As Aimee said that feedback is awesome in that situation cause you can find them. With the implant it is totally silent which is much harder to find and I tear apart the entire house looking for it! Gavin is Bimodal which is He has a implant on the left and a Hearing aid on the right. Good Luck know that this will pass and keep up the Great work! Check out my blog for the new video I just found.
Dustin Heather and Gavin
I used critter clips from adcohearing dot com. Then when they pulled them out, at least they were attached. A nine dollar clip could save thousands!
We have critter clips (the dogzilla one), but the little rascal pulls the earmold off of the aid and slips the cord off the aids, then drops both pieces to the floor. I'm a tad beyond frustrated at the moment, lol!
We did get in early to the audiologist because of the funny-sounding aid. Turns out it is fine, the sound I was hearing is normal. The earmolds just now fit into the end of the stethoscope properly so I wasn't hearing the full effect before. At least we aren't in for expensive repairs!
After our son pulled his aids off during a walk in the stroller and my husband eventually found them on a sidewalk a dozen blocks from our house, we invested in Ear Gear and worth every penny! (They have a website.) Same concept as many clips supplied by the aid companies, but with soft nylon cords and available in many fashionable colors.
Leah,
Have you tried the string (critter clippers) so you don't loose them? After we lost one of Luca's aides, we rely heavily on the critter clip.
Luca went through this phase too and some days I feel like we are in it again. Some days Luca pulls off his aides, and if he does it repeatedly, I just let him be. However, I must admit he does ask for his aides to be put on every now and then. The other day, my mom was watching him and he had been pulling his aides off so she put them up high. Then, his sister was watching cartoons and Luca went over and pulled a chair up and was trying to get his aides so he could watch cartoons with Sophie. So there is hope!!!
Thanks for the your comment about the clip on my blog. A professical gave it to me on a cd. If you email me I can send it that way.
heatherfrost1206@hotmail.com
I love all these pics, the ones of the boys in speech therapy are precious! We just got retention molds for Ethan so he can wear his batteries at ear level and it's not working out. No way No how. I'm bummed. Keep trying mama...I agree with you completely about not wanting the association between "bad" and hearing aids to be made. May the force be with you!
Loudest House on the block mama once said she'd tried everything but the staple gun......lol
Post a Comment