Sinterklaas visiting

Last sunday, Sinterklaas arrived in Norway, a week after arriving in Holland.
This is an annual highlight. The children look forward to the party and (of course) the present they will get.

For Lotte this was the second time. Being 4-1/2 and having CI for 2 years now, we feel that this is the first time that she is really involved.



It showed. She went her own way. Stood at the front when the singing was done. The black "pieten" were not too intimidating.
No need for parents... a sister nearby was enough.
I guess she is becoming more and more comfortable with all the sounds around her. And with 50+ children there, singing and screaming, .. there was plenty of sound.
With bi-lateral CI the intensity of sound is much less for her.
We have noticed this before but one tends to forget. It is at these kind of gatherings that it becomes obvious..

I recall calling home - before Lotte had CI, and heared nothing, or almost nothing.
Being on the other end of the line, Lotte's loud sounds sounded even louder to me, getting it through only one ear. The person on the other side, actually in Lotte's noise would have far less problems with it.
It's the same when someone calls from a pub. (S)he might have no problems understanding, four you on the other end it seems as if all sounds are coming through simultanously..

Morning rituals

Might be a good idea to tell somethingbout our morning rituals... well, Lotte's that is..

Main problem with her is that appearently she only needs 10 hours of sleep. And with parents that have the philosofy that at 20:00 hours the day is for US, without children, it means that at 06:00 our little angel is ready to start the day. Ignoring the "moon" nightlight that lights through the night until 07:00, indicating that when it's out, it's time to get up.
She would get up, turn on the light, go to the toilet, slamming with all the doors (which she wouldn't notice, deaf as she is) and start playing... At such times we have trouble finding the angel-part in her.....


It was easy to make her understand that she has to go back to sleep when the "moon-light" is still on. She really understood that... In sign, and speech....

What she didn't understood was the need to go back to sleep.
And so... she refused.!!!!
Dramatic measures have been taken. Toys removed from her bedroom, "moon-light" is removed, books gone.. In addition a separate switch on the ceiling lamp, so that we turn it off there, making sure she cannot turn the bedroomlight on...

Nothing to play with; no reason to stay awake.

And it works. Thankfully. She gets up to pee, goes back to bed, (still slamming doors, giving us the possibility to check on her..) and tries to sleep....

But it is amazing how much energy it costs.

Visiting the preschool. Communication.

One of Lotte's best friends, Tone, visited her at her kindergarten. Tone was Lotte's speech therapist for 2 years in the "deaf" preschool/kindergarten and they really bonded. Then she started working elsewhere, and Lotte went to the new kindergarten.
We still have good contact since we all became good friends. Also, she now works close to the university, where Marieke now studies.

In her new job, Tone is still connected to Lotte, but in another setting.
This allows her to get involved, and this happened last week.

Lotte was allready informed and she was very excited to see Tone.
Tone lead a "gathering" where all the children are together and everyone is involved.
She explained sign, the colours, and as allways, the children loved it. (I still have to meet a child that is not entrigued by sign) She used sign throughout the whole gathering.
And this showed the gap between Lotte and the rest of the children.
Lotte was 100% focused and got everything. This is not the case when only spech is used. She still has to get more exposure so in a normal gathering she loses focus quickly due to the lack of understanding. Not when sign is used together with speech.

In a know situation she will be fine. When it's lunchtime, she knows the routine and has more control over what's happening. Outside these standard situations she will be less secure because she will have more problems understanding what's going on.
The "problem" is likely to be due to a lack of understanding speech, but a large part is comprehension. She does not have the capacity to think like a 4-5 year old child.

But it will come. With speech the comprehension will follow.