More CI Moments

Laynie understood two more words today: okay and look. I guess she's on her way!

Hm, maybe she doesn't need a new map after all. She has a mapping appointment this Tuesday, I think.

And in related news, a wonderful audiologist friend lent me a couple of FM transmitters and receivers to play with until Tuesday. :) :) :)

Overheard

McConn, age 6. Carson, age 7.

M: Lard Vader? Why they called him Lard Vader? They're doing it wrong.

C: Lord Vader.

M: Lard Vader?

C: LORD Vader. Sometimes they called him that.

M: It's as'posed [supposed] to start with a D. DARK Vader.

Met Some Deaf Men

Yesterday, Laynie and I were at Arby's, and we happened to run into two deaf men there. One saw us signing and came over to ask if we were deaf. Laynie said yes, and I said no, I'm hearing. He said, "You're hard of hearing." I said no, I'm hearing hearing. So he said, "Oh, you're learning sign."

Eh? A minute ago you saw me signing and were convinced that I was deaf, or hard of hearing at least... now because of my hearing status you think I'm just learning? Deaf people are as biased as hearing.

These guys made me sad, though. The one who questioned my hearing-ness (and then my signing ability) said that he had graduated from the deaf school in Frederick in 1961 and worked 47 years making bricks. I cannot imagine doing such mind-numbing work for so many years. Now he is "retired" but still works there part time. And the other guy graduated from Frederick in 1984 and has worked at the brick factory ever since.

I had to laugh at the irony of running into deaf people (which seriously never happens) on the FIRST day that Laynie has worn her hair in a ponytail since getting her implants. Let me tell you, those blue and red processors and coils cannot be missed! The younger guy was really staring. Gosh. At least she's young enough that they might assume her parents forced her to get them and not lose her deaf "cred." What a complicated world.

CI Moment

Laynie is being a cheeser and doesn't think this is worth blogging. It obviously is. ;)

She accidentally started music play on my laptop (in the background) while she was using another program. She thought it seemed familiar. Then at the end of the song she thought that it sounded like "For Good," from Wicked, which she has heard three or four times and liked. Could it be? 

Yes, it was! I asked how she recognized it, and she said she just heard them say, "For good," distinctively.

Pretty Cool

Laynie understood a few phrases last week, auditory only. I should have blogged it at the time, because I already forgot what they were. I do remember one that she didn't get exactly right but very close. The Wii was being particularly encouraging, and she turned to me and asked, "Did it say, 'Nice job?'" It had said, "Nice shot."

Listening

You know, I really hate titling blog posts. I also hate subjecting emails. Anyway...

Laynie was just watching the BBC Pride and Prejudice, and she turned to me to ask, "Do these people have a British accent? I'm really hearing the stops." (Yes, I have nerdified her with SLP vocabulary.) What nice listening skills!

On Christmas Eve afternoon, Laynie and I sat down at the computer to make a nice Christmas playlist that she would enjoy, since she wasn't into mine. As she accepted and rejected hundreds of tracks, I noticed some patterns. Likes: country men, David Archuleta, Sarah McLachlan, Andrea Bocelli, some Ella Fitzgerald, Christian rock/pop. Dislikes: sopranos, country women, choirs (because the tracks were hard for her to hear--I wonder if iTunes has auto gain control). She observed that many of the songs had the same name; for example, I have seven different versions of Away in a Manger. She noticed that they all had different takes on the same song, that they didn't sound alike. But she thought that people should be more creative and make up new Christmas songs instead of just doing the classics over and over.

I will be curious if her tastes are the same when the artists are performing their own (non-holiday) songs.

Today we were doing some listening therapy, working on picking one word out of a group of four words that are similar in some way. It was funny that Laynie was able to get more common words (walk, but, long) easier than less common words (roam, hoof, mace). You might think, well duh, of course more common words would be easier. Um, only if she's learning incidentally--learning them by overhearing them. The groups of words are equally difficult as far as the differences between the words, but some of the words must have been more familiar. So... I guess she's learning just by listening to the world. Good thing, since we hardly ever do therapy anymore.