Good Listener!

Laynie has been spending a lot of time upstairs at the desktop computer, working on a project. We email each other if we need to say something, so that we don't have to run up and down the stairs all the time (I hang out downstairs).

The visual email notification isn't working right now (dumb OSX Lion), but it still pings when a message is received. I can't believe that Laynie hears that ping every time! I asked her whether she was keeping the mail program on top of everything else, and she said no, she just listens for the ping.

Even if I'm watching TV downstairs, which is very audible upstairs since Laynie's in a loft room that is open to the living room, she hears that ping!

Just now I turned down the volume on the TV a little to hear a video on the internet, and I got a message from Laynie right away. She was asking what that noise was, whether someone was yelling or if I was on the phone. She's such a good listener!

Similarly to Phyllis Nefler...

...I've lost my will to blog!

Maybe not exactly lost my will... I want to write things, but sometimes I'm lazy, sometimes I'm busy, and sometimes I just can't say that "in public." The internet is as public as it gets, right? So that means I can't say much about work.

But I can say some things about work. I went back two weeks ago, and the kids started last week. Yippee. I didn't really get a summer break, because I was working. Not full time, but still.. working. Blah. I'm happy to have my deaf kiddos back, though. One child has been SO on the ball since coming back. Our fingers are crossed that it continues. They're all doing at least as well as they were in the spring, which is a relief.

I haven't begun working with my Pals children yet. Pals is an itinerant position where my county has me visit children in private preschools and daycares to work with them there, rather than bringing the children into special education preschools. It's wonderful for children whose disabilities are not severe, and it's wonderful for parents who are uncomfortable with the idea of special education. This week, Pals team members will meet with parents and settings to get an agreement signed so that we can work with the children again this school year. Hopefully we can start seeing the kids next week.

Speaking of Pals... my Pals "home base" has been one school, Dayton Oaks Elementary, while the deaf program is in another school, Waverly Elementary. Dayton is not close to any of the preschools and daycares where I have Pals students, so I didn't really make it out there much last year. I guess it was my home base because I worked with preschool students in the Dayton Oaks special education preschools two years ago, so it made sense. It no longer makes sense, so I asked the powers that be to have my basehood transferred to Waverly. A couple of hours later, I was officially a full-time Waverly person! Not that I'll spend more time there than I already did, because it is just as far from the Pals preschools/daycares... but it will be easier to decide what to do on days when preschool has no services, professional days, etc. Mainly, it will decrease my guilt at only hitting up Dayton Oaks once a quarter. They had even started sending my mail to Waverly by the end of last school year. Yeah. I was "that" person.

This year, I get to work with little guys and gals who have hearing loss, language disabilities, autism, selective mutism, speech disabilities, cognitive impairment, and autism. And my caseload is still small. It will grow, as it always does. But it looks like a have a bit of variety to begin with, and I'm really looking forward to the challenge of selective mutism. It means the child understands everything (or at least as well as others the same age) but refuses to speak to most people. Typically, they will speak in their home, without strangers present, or they will speak to other children at school but not to any adults. Fun times, right? When you can help them feel secure enough to communicate with more people, it's the best.

So, there is already drama in one of my programs. I won't go into it, but I'm just mentioning it because it brings me to one of the highlights of my work week. I had the opportunity to sit down with some professionals while they worked out issues, and I tried to be a neutral party. It wasn't hard, because I could see both of their perspectives. I was also trying to defend one person I know has a tendency to freeze and lose her train of thought when under pressure--but I tried to do so without offending another person, who is someone I respect and who, frankly, has a great deal of power. Afterward, two people higher up on the food chain told me that they were pleased that I was on the team at this school, that I was a good communicator, had a level head... just saying nice things. One of them is a person I never thought particularly cared for me, so it was nice to hear that from her. Hope she tells my boss!

Aside from work... let's see...

I got to babysit the twins again! Oh my, I haven't blogged in so long, I probably haven't mentioned the first time I babysat them. A couple from church has twin baby girls, who are about 8 months old now; last month, while Laynie was at her family reunion, I babysat them. First non-family babysitter, which was probably because their very young mom respects me as a former nanny. Whatever, I got to play with babies!!!!! They are so cute, and their personalities are already so different. One is adventurous and independent (backward-crawling into corners and under furniture), and the other is a bit clingier but likes to be up high and see everything. And she has an infectious giggle. Of course, they are both delightful. Well, last week, Laynie got to go with me and babysit them again. It was much easier with two people! Naturally, I got the fun jobs like booger-extracting (both had colds) and diarrhea-diaper-changing, but it was so nice to have company and an extra set of hands. One (Miss Independent) was HILARIOUS when I fed her. Even after having her nose suctioned, she couldn't breathe and eat at the same time, so she would greedily slurp for as long as I left the bottle in her mouth. The formula would run down into her neck folds... oh gosh. She would noisily suck on the bottle until I pulled it from her mouth, which would about every 10 seconds. I was afraid she'd drown herself! Then she'd gasp for air, milk running right out of her mouth. Laynie was cracking up. Miss Independent's sister, Miss Giggles, is going with "starve a cold." I know, 8-month-olds don't make very good decisions. Anyway, I had a great time with the girls, and I'm about ready to call their mom and ask if she doesn't have something she needs to do outside the home... child-free.

Ah, church. Church is great. My class is great. I never know who's going to be there, because apparently some families take loooooong vacations... and some take many vacations. But I love, love, love my kiddos. They are professional tangent-inducers. And I am always good for a digression, so we're a great team. Yesterday, a lesson on Rehoboam and the impact of peer pressure devolved into a 10-minute discussion on who Jews are and what the deal is with Hanukkah, which they now want to celebrate. Oy vey.

On to my next topic: Bug. Laynie is still a happily-implanted girl. I laugh when one of her batteries dies and she has to take off the other one, because hearing with one ear is just not pleasant. What a Picky Patricia! I guess I can't knock it, because I haven't been there. It IS pretty annoying if I lie down to watch TV and a pillow blocks one of my ears. I guess having NO hearing in one ear would be worse. But she had no hearing in *both* ears for so long! Anyway, she can still understand some simple words in context. She understood something recently that surprised me.. I'm trying to remember what it was. Oh, yeah. I was in the bathroom, and Laynie yelled through the door, "What do you want for dinner?" I understood her (yay!) and called back, "I don't know!" She understood me (a billion yays!) and said, "You don't know??" It was a really productive conversation. The other day when I stayed late--very late--at work, I guess Laynie got worried, because she called my cell phone. I showed it to my friend, Cindy, teacher of the deaf, who got all excited. She got to hear a scintillating call, which went something like this:

Me: Hello?

Laynie: Hi, Annie.

Me: Hi.

Laynie: Are you coming home?

Me: Yes.

Laynie: OK.

Me: OK.

Laynie: Bye.

Me: Bye.

Cindy got all misty-eyed, saying how she would have loved to have had even that simple a conversation with her deaf mother over the phone. Cindy's such a good egg. I can always count on her for a cheer when little listening triumphs happen. I'm sure there have been more of those little triumphs lately, but I just can't think of any. It's going to take a long time for Laynie to learn to listen--especially if I continue to sign voice-off! After a couple of tough years learning not only to turn off my voice when I sign but not even to mouth English words (ASL grammar!), it's really hard to use my voice at home. It's hard to remember, and it feels awkward when I do. Usually, I only use my voice when I'm mad. Not that I get mad... Anyway, I always notice the quietness of my home after my sister has been around. We get pretty noisy together, and the difference is glaring. Laynie always comments on how LOUD we are, and Katie tosses back, "Quit being so hearing then!"

Laynie is getting very good at identifying environmental sounds. She can describe a sound (with classifiers, which turn out to be far superior for describing sounds than any English words) and predict what probably made that sound. Next stop, speech? I guess time will tell.

Well, isn't this just like me? Once I get going, there's no stopping me! I guess I'll call it quits for today. I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the school year, fall, and whatever other transitions are going on in your lives.

Ick, the Phone

I hate the phone and avoid it whenever possible. I would much rather send a text or email, because they're so much quicker. However, Miss Laynie wants to practice her phone skills, so I usually talk to her twice a day: when I get to work and on my way home. It's kind of hard, because she obviously doesn't hear very well, and her speech is difficult to understand. It's not like I can just say anything. Plus, there's a rhythm that has to be learned, like the right amount of time to pause. But given those considerations and because she always has the context for what I'm going to say (like she knows I've just gotten to work), we can have a reasonably productive conversation, like:

Hello.

Hi.

Hi.

I'm at Waverly.

Okay. Have fun.

Okay.

Bye.

Bye.

Fun times. I think she got motivated to use the phone after we spent an evening creating ringtones for her. She wanted to hear the awesome tunes she had chosen! Her ringtones are clips from:

-Halo (Beyonce)

-Rhythm is Gonna Get You (Gloria Estefan, a longtime Laynie favorite)

-Come Home (Sara Bareilles verse of the OneRepublic song)

-Saltwater Room (Owl City)

Varied, no?

This week, Laynie has tried to ask me a question or say something different while we're on the phone. Like I said, she's pretty hard to understand, but it helps that she understands a few words pretty reliably (at least from me--maybe not if other people spoke). She always recognizes yes, no, ok, and what. And hello, hi, and bye. Seriously, "what" is the best word for her to understand. I think it was on Monday that we had this conversation (Sister Fife, get your hankie):

Laynie: Hello Annie! (caller ID, ha)

Me: Hi.

Laynie: Hi.

Me: I'm coming home.

Laynie: jreantuwpioptvycoqhwtpgoghspo

Me: What?

Laynie: rhesbiahotsgu

Me: What? (then realized right after I said "what" that she had asked how long--slow auditory processing for me!)

Laynie: How long?

Me: Ten minutes.

Laynie: Ten minutes?

Me: Ten minutes, yes.

Laynie: Okay! See you soon.

Me: Yes.

Laynie: Bye.

Me: Bye.

Oh, and the other rule about conversations with Laynie is that she's the one who hangs up. It just works best that way.

Now, don't get too excited that she understood me. For every time she understands (or guesses well), there are a dozen times that she doesn't.

Ha! Speak of the devil. She just called me to say she's coming home from work. Crazy, phone-loving girl!

My Side of the Story

I was reading Laynie's blog post, describing her experiences with music in the car. Just for fun, this is my perspective of the same thing, a la Lion King 1 1/2.

Laynie wanted to listen to audiobooks and music in the car, and obviously the SLP in me had to encourage that. I let her use my CDs and burned her some, with a variety of musical genres. The reason I went with CDs is because they would provide her with the best possible sound quality (because unfortunately her car does not have an AUX jack) and because they're pretty much fool-proof. Pop them in and go. In my car, I connect my iPod using an FM transmitter, which is basically the worst possible sound quality you can get. Seems silly to use something that has the worst possible sound, doesn't it? I'm stuck, because my car is a 2002 and definitely does not have an AUX jack, and I haven't gotten around to switching out the stereo. What am I going to do, use CDs? This isn't 1998. Kidding, it's just that most of my music is in the form of bits and bytes--I've bought maybe one CD in the past two years.

Anyway, the FM transmitter sometimes needs to be switched to another frequency band when interference causes static or when other channels break through. It doesn't happen often for me, but it does happen, especially when I drive on I-695. That's the way Laynie drives to go to Towson. I considered setting up an FM transmitter in Laynie's car but decided against it, because she couldn't reliably tell the difference between music and static. But recently she has made some improvements in her listening skills (got a better map), saying that things were sounding clearer.

A few weeks ago, I began showing Laynie what static sounds like. I pointed it out to her when I heard it while using my iPod setup. I showed her what happened when the button accidentally got pushed on the transmitter and the channel wasn't in sync with the car, how to make it right again. So when she said she was bored with the CDs she had in the car and hinted strongly that she would like to get a wire like the one I had, I took her straight to Best Buy.

A few days ago, she said she got in the car and the signal was all static. She checked the transmitter and sure enough, the channel had been changed (the buttons are easy to press if you lean on them). Laynie was proud of herself for changing it back and having a nice drive with music. I guess she was ready.

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. :) :) :)

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."