More and better swimming

It's been a couple of months now since Lotte started to swim.
And she told us that it is much nicer than handball as "with handball I don't know where to throw the ball."...
A team sport is of course much more difficult compared to a sport where you listen and then perform. Especially when you don't get all the information due to having CI..
The trainers are great. After we explained them that not all information is understood straight away, that they have to make sure Lotte understands, they have used that information well. I was really pleased when I noticed a trainer actually managing to get the volume of all the kids down, so that even she could speak with a normal voice... Not an easy thing to do in a swimming pool with 10 kids in a group.. (And more groups in the next lane..)
So, she thrives. Loves to go. Is exhausted after her hour training. Two times a week...
And, great progress..
I hadn't been with her for a while (she wants to go alone... It's her way of owning this activity..) I was surprised to see how much progress she had made in the last month..
Here a video of Lotte after 1 hour of training.... Even though she was exhausted, she still wanted to show her swimming with this video..

2010-03 - Gran Canaria

Another big step...

Just came back from a trip to Holland. A little vacation packed with activities.
Flying to the birthdayparty of grandma on friday, birthdayparty of a great friend in a castle on saturday, visiting other great friends & kids on sunday... recovering on monday and tuesday, back wednesday..
We have never been in Holland with the kids this time of the year. Stavanger was cold and white with lots of snow and ice. (Not normal for Stavanger. Should be rainy and grey) Holland was rainy and grey with patches of snow.... Like Stavanger should have been..
Anyway.... for children being used to Holland in the summer, there was a little shock..
But, chocolate, sausages, chocolate-drinks etc make up for a lot.. and they had a great time.
Reconnecting with their friends and family. Being the center of attention...

Normally we see changes in Lotte due to being on holiday and around Dutch language only, compared to speaking and hearing Dutch AND Norwegioan all day.
This time we noticed a change that had developed during her absence in Norway... She grew - mentally, socially.

There are 3 girls right next door of the house in Holland. One was 2, one 4 and one 6.
Previously she would play with the 4-year old most of the time. For Lotte, communicating with the 6-year old was difficult and at times frustrating. Also for the other child I'm sure.
Playing with the 4-year old was much easier, and therefore the favorite friend.
But, Lotte got a bit older, the 6-year old became 7, and now they understand each other.
BINGO.. instand friends....

The parents of the girl noticed that Lotte speech is more understandable now. They also noticed that their daughter is adjusting to communicate better with Lotte. Shorter sentences for example..
So, in half a year, these girls grew enough to become great friends. Inseperable. Beautiful to watch.

The visits to Holland of course bring these developments to the surface. One has an image of the situation 1/2 year ago, and easily spots the changes. But the basis for these developments lies in Lotte's school situation. The second year mainstram, making friends, learning to adjust, learning to interpret situations all makes for good communication.

Lotte started with 2 years delay, due to her deafness, and started catching up 5 years ago.

She's not there yet.. But she is adjusting wonderfully and for us who see her every day, and in the same situation, it can be difficult to notice the changes.
Only when the situation changes, one can spot the differences. We can see them when we see her in a new situation, others can see them because they haven't seen Lotte for a while.

So, make sure to create those new situations, and enjoy the progress...

Making Pictures. Italy 2009

Hearing... with the shoulders, and the ears...

Lotte is doing great.
As previously, a vacation with 1 language is doing her good. Not that there are problems with her speaking Norwegian and Dutch when at school and home (besides... she loves to speak English as well..) but having people around her - especially children - that only speak Dutch helps her by focusing on 1 language.
The vacation went well. She understands much more, which gives her more security regarding upcoming events. Life makes sense when it's 7 days and then the plane, 10 days and then to Italy, 8 days and then a birthday.
The pictures here show Lotte in "Openluchtmuseum Arnhem", the outdoor museum in Arnhem. Lots of historical Dutch houses, trams, cars etc. A peek view into the past. One of the exhibitions was about the history of Holland and the "Molukken" in the second part of the 20th century. (1950's sounds closer by :-) ... btw... A sad, badly handled piece of Dutch history.)

Lotte wanted to listen to some information, and as you can see, she hears with the shoulders.
It was nice to see that for her it was an automatic, natural way to do it. With the phone we tend to put the BTE on the ear, and she can speak freely. Here, she went her own way, and put the speaker straight at the shoulders...

Even though we can see that Lotte is doing well with the BTE's on the shoulders, on her back, we were wondering what the real difference is between the that position and on the ears.
The Norwegian support group has alway been pushing for it, like anywhere else in the world, and supplied us with baby-worn stuff.

Clips to keep the BTE on the clothes. Worthless in our opinion. Far too bulky. Not an option to start using that. The pouches we are using now, with their different ways of attaching (clips or safety-pin) is working far too well.

In order to put the BTE on the ear, a clip (snugfit) is provided that holds the processor, and of which the end can be bent around the bottom of the ear. Since we have no desire to start using earplugs to secure the BTE, this seemed like a good thing.......

The batteries can be on the back due to a special cable... So, the weight of the battery is removed from the ears... but there is still a cable down the back... or front, wherever preferred.... (armpit.. Hmm..) .

We were still not convinced, or motivated.... so we thought about finding someone to experiment for us... To see how much difference there was..
The idea was that we would send long coils (We understand they are very expensive..) and two little bags to a Bi-lateral Freedom CI -user that would be willing to try it out and give us feedback about the difference between the BTE on the ears and on the shoulders...
Via some people from messageboards we came across Laurie Pullins. (See her blog entry here..) She was very willing to give it a try, so we send her Lottes old "bags" (we have plenty of them thanks to Kylie) and some used coils that we keep as spare.

This was before the holidays, and the result was in when we came back..


Laurie indicated that there was a difference. Here's part of her experience..

===============================

.... .....I did notice that when I put my CI's on my shoulders with the little pouches you gave me, that my voice sounded distant and "nasal" like I was in a swimming pool. This did not change after a few days. But, the brain is amazing and would probably have adjusted just fine over time if I kept them that way.

When I was Lotte's age, I wore a body aid and my microphones were on my chest. I never knew anything different until I went to the BTE's (Behind the Ear) in my 20's. And I adjusted.
Also, I am an adult and the distance from my ears to my shoulders and the pouches between my shoulders is probably greater than a child like Lotte. Her CI's are probably closer to her ears from her shoulders than mine were.
Because I use the phone and have to change my batteries regularly, it was not easy having my CI's on my shoulders. I had to hang the CI on my ear so I could use the phone and take them off (out of the pouches) to change the batteries. You probably do all that for your daughter.
As for "surround sound" with the bilaterals, no difference.

That is all I can think of. If I think of anything else, I will let you know. .........

===============================

Needless to say, this was great information, and we decided that we would start testing the BTE on the ear.
Our main worry is if the BTE stays on. We never needed to worry about losing it.
So, last weekend we did the test.

Converted the BTE+AccuLong Coil to Earhook+BTE+Short Coil+Accu. Required the magnets to be moved between the coils.. but OK...
Then for putting it on the ears.
We realised.... Lotte doesn't have an indentation on the bottom of the ear. No earlobe.... Whatever it's called, the hook has nothing to hook around. (Take a peek..)
Lotte's mom doesn't have it either. I do, and Lotte's brother and sister both do... without ever using it.. :-)

Still.... it was "hanging in there"... and Lotte didn't mind the change.
It was pretty obvious that having the Accu's on the back is no real improvement compared to the BTE's on the back.
So..... the complete BTE on the ear. Again, same problem, but the weight actually helps pinning it down. So.... forward with that contraption..
It was great to see her use it immediately... Picking up a phone at will (without us needing to adjust the BTE from the back to the ear), and when asked if the sound was different, she acknowledged that. However.... I'm not sure if she understood the question.... I think it's one of the moments that she guesses the right answer....
All well, until the next morning.... She came to us, crying, upset, because her "ear" was broken.
Turned out it dropped from her ear, and the connection between the Battery/Accu-holder and the processor was damaged. (A bayonet-type connection where three lips hook into the other side. 2 lips were broken off)
Some tape keeping the two pieces together fixed the problem until the new processor arrives...

So.... we went back to the BTE on the shoulder... We do keep it up much higher, and closer to the neck instead of low on the back. This is a bit more awkward when carrying the schoolbag, but who knows, perhaps it makes a difference.

What we did find out is that (if) any reduction in sound Lotte is perceiving does not weigh up to the ease of using the BTE on the shoulders. Not worrying about losing it, getting sand in it etc.
We also found out that for Lotte it makes no difference.
Another thing is - which we realised when we put the BTE's on the front instead on the back, is that when people see Lotte, they see her first, and then they will see a BTE or a coil. Not the other way around.
With girls, a BTE is easily covered by long hair, but with boys, a BTE on the ears is very obvious... Not a reason to remove it from the ears, but when we were experimenting, this was one of the realisations..

So, we're requesting a new processor, and continue with the BTE's on the shoulders. A bit more conscious about where on the shoulders, but still.... on the shoulders..

Visiting Dutch friends in Norway..

Pictures now, stories later.. if needed..







...

Water-rat with wings..!!

Nope.. she's not afraid any more to jump into the water..

took a while for her to get this free, but then she went for it 100%

As long as she remembers to put on the little wings... she should be fine..

Enjoy her show...!

Vacation - looking back

3 Weeks ago we went to a warmer climate for a week. We had been there before and we were all looking forward to go again. One week with nice temperatures is great after the cold weather of Norway.

Lotte was hyper from the day we told her... Turned out we did that way too early, but what's done is done. So, she started counting down. She's fanatic with that, and keeping good track of it as well. Going to bed with it (Mommy.. tomorrow it's 15 days before we go") and it's the first thing she'll tell us when she wakes up, and enters our bedroom to get the CI's.. (Mommy, today it's 15 days and then we go on vacation") All this before she starts to hear.. ;-)

But something else seemed to happen as well. With the vacation in her head, the excitement, anticipation, she lost focus.
Homework which she loves to do becomes tiresome for us (not for her) since she is no longer dedicated to it. No concentration, no trying to do a good job. Taking the easy way out.
This was especially in the last week before we went..

When finally on the move, and on vacation, she did great. She has grown so much in the last year that it's great to travel with her. Not that it was difficult before, but as apposed to previously, she required hardly any attention. Especially on the way back, she and her brother and sister were sitting on the row behind us, and we hardly noticed them. First time for everything..

All the kids loved the sun, sand sea and pool. Last year we used the CI under the bading cap every time she swam. For our sake, but also at Lottes request.
This year we did it once, but Lotte didn't want it again. She saw no need for it.. She's comfortable not hearing anyone, and we're comfortable with her floating around with her inflatable wings. For her it's just the rule. "When swimming, you put on the wings." and sometimes the rigidness the little lion works in our advantage..
Of course, another possible reason why Lotte doesn't want them is that now she can tell everyone what to do.... but she doesn't have to listen to what they say... ;-)

We had a great time. Morning buffet and dinner buffet, with possible unlimited desert was true bliss for the kids, and for us watching the downing it all... (Well, they had one day with unlimited deserts.. It's vacation after all..)

So much more to tell... but I'll add that later.. perhaps..

Vacation Time

... and as we expected Lotte is moving on in the world.
Totally ready to go to the mainstream school. The same school as where her brother and sister are going... nice and safe.
But at the moment, end of July, she's in Holland. Making Dutch friends, speaking dutch 24/7 and growing fast mentally. (Still not eating vegetables and fruit though..)

If it has to do with using 1 language at the moment, or just the relaxation, or a combination of both, we are not sure, but there is improvement.

Spend a week in the UK, Northumberland, and visited the castle where part of Harry Potter was filmed. (The first flying lessons - amongst other things). Not that Lotte has any knowledge of HP, but the other two have. And well, let's face it, running around in medieval clothing is every childes dream....

2 B continued..

Swimming - With CI - Why Not !!

Lotte & swimming is a great combination. The one minor setback was that she could not wear her CI. We used signs when we were in the pool, but it was clear that for us - and Lotte - that it mattered that she couldn't hear..

We planned a nice vacation to Gran Canaria, and we were not looking forward to running around the pool - looking for eye-contact in order to sign...

Some time ago we came across an excellent suggestion for swimming with the CI... (via CiCircle, pointing to a YouTube video.... see below.) You do need to have the rechargeable batteries for this (as the others need O2 to operate), and since November we are using them. (To our delight.. another success story...)

The solution is to seal the processor and coil in a plastic bag. (Video on YouTube..)
However... we don't own one of those "seal & vacuum" machines for the kitchen like shown in the video, and getting one in Norway is not easy - nor cheap. Especially for an experiment like this.
Dutch as we are, or just creative, ( :-o) we found those plastic bags that can be closed with an air ( and water-) tight seal/strip. (Zip-lock bags I am told..)

So... we put the CI processor and coil in the bag.... closed the seal, put it all in a second bag (just to be sure) and all this went under a swimming cap....
And ... it worked!!
The coil has enough magnetic force to go through 2 plastic bags, and the processor will pick up sound through 2 bags AND a swimming-cap.!

Lotte loved it, and for us, being able to talk to her when she is in the pool reduces a lot of stress....
In the pool she is very happy on her own, but we do see the will to understand her siblings and the other children. And let's face it, the sounds around the swimming-pool are part of the experience. Same for experiencing sound under water....
And it seems as if she experimented with it... she would lie in the water, head (processor) under water and just lying there.... very "Zen"....

------------------ Below the video that gave us the inspiration ------------------

She's not deaf ?

It's official.. another milestone... Today... breakfast.

Lotte's sister is putting butter on her bread.. and of course, Lotte also wants to have the butter, and is "demanding" it...
So, her sister says "Patience Lotte, do you hear me? You need to have patience!"
Whereupon Lotte says "Ja-Haaaa.., Lotte are not deaf !"

So, we have it from a reliable source!

I missed it at first.. especially since we hardly use the word in our daily conversation with her. The closest we come to it when we put the CI on, and are asking if she can hear. Or when we suspect that one of the CI's is not working. But even then we use "hear" - never "deaf".
I thought she said "dead", since for Lotte, all meat and fish that is presented she asks "chicken is dead?" or "fish is dead?"
So, when my wife said - "Did you hear that.?", I realised that she did say "deaf"...

Her language (and cognitive skills) is developing so fast now. Like other summers, it seems to be triggered by being exposed to only 1 language for an extended period of time.
In Norway, more than 50% of the time she will use Norwegian (in the "Barnehage") and the rest is spent on Dutch at home. In Holland, it is 100% Dutch.
It is not that 2 languages is slowing down her development, as far as we can see. Obviously, it is first of all difficult to compare her language with what it should be. Secondly, we do not hear her speak Norwegian a lot, since we use Dutch. Only with friends visiting, we will switch to Norwegian, and she has no problem with that either. She will happily continue chatting in Norwegian.
But, the full exposure to 1 language does seem to speed up development, or perhaps just vocabulary.
So I guess...... more vacations!..... I can live with that..

BTW.... she's deaf. It's just that she can hear... Could be confusing in the future..
Ah well, she'll figure it out some day, and we'll be there to help her.

Vacation time is over...

Back in business since monday. Lotte to the kindergarden, me at work, and the other 2 children and my wife can slowly land on earth after a great vacation.

Lotte had a great time. What - in retrospect - was the biggest difference was the change in mood and reaction. In Holland she was much more willing to listen to us and agree with our proposals.
Things like how the hair was done, what kind of trousers, or god-forbid a dress were much easier to negotiate.

We thought is was a change that came with age... However, it seems to be connected with the geographical location.
Here, in Norway, things are back to normal, as in back to "pre-vacation".

Something is making here more determined to set HER ways when she's at home. And it's actually in relationship to us. In the kindergarden there are no issues. Perhaps she does feel more secure here at her own place. More free to set her own ways, more secure to defy us.
In a way her determination is great, but it is also frustrating...

Still, she learned a lot in Holland. First 2 weeks with all of us at grand-ma's, then without her parents... (We escaped to Italy and our mothers took care of the kids..... bliss!!)
As in previous years, there is a difference when she only needs to relate to 1 language. Her Dutch vocabulary has improved, and the sentences are getting better...
She played with children from the neighbourhood, went swimming etc.... She did great..

But for us, and her, reality has set in..... back to business....

It's not all fun....

Actually, she was just playing out.... telling me "NOT" to make a picture of her....

She has become more and more verbal. Getting more sure of herself.

Yesterday she played all afternoon with a new friend.

And a glass of juice is too good to ignore.. "First things first.."

Chatting away..

It's summer.. and we are visiting our family in Holland. (O.K. The Netherlands...)

For the kids it's great to be in grandma's house. Exploring the village, and, especially interesting, meeting the new neighbours.

Especially for Lotte (and therefore also for us) it's great, since across the street there's a girl of Lotte's age (5), and next door a girl that's two years younger.
It's facinating to observe where Lotte is standing between the two.
Language-wise, she's at, even a bit below, the level of the three-year old, and behind the 5 year old, but she is playing with both. She's leading the 3-year old, and - if it's interesting enough -being led by the 5-year old....

In addition, she loves to tell everyone about her adventures.

Be it the boat trip (a regular first conversation with strangers she meets), telling that she will go to the shops, or that she's going to swim. Anyone who wants to listen will get her full attention.

Yesterday, we came home from a long drive, having a BBQ with other family-members elsewhere, and when we finally arrived, and Lotte had to go to bed. Of course, saying goodnight is not the first thing in her mind... many people to say goodnight to.... so, she went over to the neighbour to tell her good-night.
This turned out into a long explanation about everything that had happened lately, especially about her brother and sister falling asleep in the car.
It was great to watch this little girl, alone with the neighbour, explaining away.. and especially the neighbour giving her full attention to this little girl... so eager to get her story out..

Our Lotte, she's exactly at the place where she should be... she's learning so fast, and at the same time, she's teaching us so much!!!

... She's doing great !!!

Vacation in the Netherlands

Time for an update..

Vacation time, so we took the boat from Norway to Denmark and drove to Holland (actually The Netherlands). I flew back (some people have to work) and left wife and 3 kids in Holland.
This was about 2 weeks ago and with Lotte the effects are clearly visible.
Especially now when my wife is visiting good friens (also with 3 kids) where Lotte is playing with the youngest; 3 years old. In speach he's a bit ahead of Lotte (4 years) but the have no problem communicating.
They play with each other, which for a child of 3 is unusual (normally they play besides other kids) but it goes like clockwork.

Lotte's speech has improved over the last two weeks. The cause seems to be that she is using Dutch only there. (There is absolutely no Norwegian being spoken.) Sign is still used occaisionally, but also far less that in Norway where she can use it a lot in the kindergarden.

Clear sentenses are appearing now. Like "Mom, can you give me knive". It's great to watch the development and it's going faster and faster.
She gives better indication when she doesn't want to use it any more. This is in the afternoon when she's probably tire of playing all day and hearing all deay. We have the deal that she has to goto bed when the CI is taken off, but perhaps, with 5 other children chatting in her ears all day, it might be an idea to have it taken off when she requests it. (I'm sure this falls in the category "Forcing to wear CI" for some people.) Without CI she will still talk normally. No low or hard voice, she just continues as if she hears..

The vacations in Holland have allways lead to leaps in her development. The focus on 1 language seems to make the process accelerate. When coming back to Norway (2 languages) there is no problem adjusting. The progress made is straighforward applied to Norwegian. It's a cognitive process that is stimulated..

Sign is still important. It is now mainly used when she can't hear like in the shower, the pool. Sometimes she uses it when she wants to say something and we don't get it. She'll start with speech, but will add sign if needed. When she's exited and wants to tell stories she also uses sign, but less than before.
Sometimes this is a problem, because with sign, we understood what she was talking about... now we have to guess sometimes...

But.. it's wonderfull to see her grow up like this.

Actually - this is Norway! (june 2006)

(From AllDeaf messageboard.)

August 2005

Another update on our CI-borg.
In july my wife went with the kids to The Netherlands, I joined a week later - someone had to work - and we spend two weeks with good friends in a house in the south of Holland. (OK, not Holland, The Netherlands...)

For Lotte this meant 3 to 4 weeks with only Dutch language around her. Most people don't know sign, so she was submerged in language.
She did great. Learning to say all the names and much more.
I think she made a mental change as well. I really clicked now. She sees the connection between words and actions, objects etc. It's great to watch.

One thing to mention.. she whispers. It's so great that when we start whispering to her, she lowers her voice as well. And of course, being the skeptic engineer I put my hand in front of my mouth just to make sure she wouldn't read my lips, but no problem, she understood it all. It's such a "miracle" and we're with her on the stage witnessing it. WOW.

A couple of days ago, I thought that whispering might be something unknown to deaf people. How is that. Obviously, when becoming deaf at later age, whispering is known, but how is that for HOH or deaf people? Whispering to someone with a HA seems pointless to me.
(From AllDeaf messageboard)