Ambrose's World

Ambrose continues to be down on his O2 and spending much less time on CPAP. Go Brosie, Go! So far he has not caught my cold.

His "hearing guy" (it's just so much easier to call him that than "consultant from the parent infant program of the Vermont center for the deaf and hard of hearing of Austine school for the Deaf) set up his new ear molds connecting to his hearing aids worn on his shirt.  The idea is to cut down on feedback and keep them in better.  It definately helps with the feedback and we have been able to keep them on for longer periods.  The long tubes do create new ways for them to be pulled out.  He does not bring his hands to his ears to pull them out, like many kids do, but he can catch onto the loops.

We compared Ambrose's audiogram (results of his ABR hearing test) with Sophia's.  Although they were both described as having "moderate to severe" hearing loss, he seems to have more hearing than her.  Yeah!  We definately want to give him as much access to hearing as we can, especially since he cannot see.  

Imagine how hard it would be to learn about your world,  starting out with no vision and limited hearing and limited movement.  How does he know how big the world is around him?  How does he know how big the room is?  He knows that we pick him up and move him from one place to another. Sometimes we sit in a special seat and take a bumpy ride with air moving against him.  Sometimes we sit in a special seat and take a smooth ride and end up in a place with different smells,  different sounds, where they often undress him, squeeze his leg, stick things in him, and sometimes poke him with sharp things.  

Sometimes we slide into a vat of cool round things, sometimes we sit in water and have it poured over us.  Often there are interesting things to touch, kick, and bat at,  and interesting sounds, and lots and lots of hugs and kisses.

When we read stories, how does he know what it is about without seeing the pictures.  How do you learn what words mean, especially if you can't hear then clearly?

Vision is usually the motivation for a baby to try to move.  Let's get to that toy, or to Mommy.  Thankfully Ambrose loves to move out of the joy of moving and doesn't seem afraid of anything.  He is trusting and curious.  And OH SO WONDERFUL!