Because of Kay’s hearing loss in both ears, she receives a few extra services through the school district. These services are meant to support her learning and ensure she can hear her teacher as clearly as possible. As part of this, she has a hearing test with the district once a year in addition to her regular visits to her audiologist every six months. The school audiologist also checks in with Kay’s teacher during the year to see if there are any needs, and her teacher even has a microphone that connects directly to Kay’s BAHA (a bone anchored hearing aid) so Kay can hear her no matter where she is in the classroom.
Keeping her BAHA on can be a challenge, and appointments that involve checking or working with her ears are often difficult. Over the last four years, this has made it hard to get consistent results, since she doesn’t always handle the tests well. That is why, around age one, she had a sedated hearing test to give the doctors a clearer picture. The hope is that as Kay grows, she will begin to understand that these tests are not painful and are only there to help her. With time, this should lead to more accurate results and better ways to support her.
This visit was also a first for Maeve. Normally (aside from our visit at the dentist) she waits with me in another area while Kay finishes therapy, but this time she joined us in the enclosed, quiet sound room. At first she was unsure and restless, but after a while she settled down and waited patiently. The audiologist also tried a game with Kay, asking her to place a toy in a bowl each time she heard a sound. Kay understood the idea at times and would put a toy in when she heard something, but other times she added a toy simply because she wanted to. She will likely need a little more time before this method can give reliable results.
Overall, this appointment went more smoothly than previous ones. That gives me hope that Kay is beginning to recognize these visits as something meant to help her rather than something to be afraid of.