Sign of the times (somewhat literally)

Last year, I did a blog project post about theme songs, in which I discussed "Right Back Where We Started From" by Maxine Nightingale. This afternoon, while getting ice cream, I heard that song. However, it had a different meaning for me this time around. That is because we had just received results from our daughter's ABR (a specialized hearing test). It turns out that just like her older brother, she also has hearing loss. We already started getting on the ball with taking the next steps. We had her fitted for ear molds so that she can get loaner hearing aids for the time being. We're also working on the steps for cochlear implant candidacy. This time around, it was not as difficult for me to digest the news. And I had a feeling of deja vu, based on what we went through with our older son. We also got him hearing aids right away and then started the speech therapy process. All of our hard work was well worth it, as we found out this morning at his IEP meeting. That was the first buffer for us. The next was the fact that we know so many people with hearing loss now. There are some great role models for her, including our son. Recently, I met a woman online who wrote a book about her own experiences with hearing loss and cochlear implants. I wish I had met her the first time around, but I'm glad I've been getting to know her now. It's nice to have insight about cochlear implants that my son is not able to provide just yet.

Hearing my "theme song" made me think of how we have to start the process of getting assistive devices, hearing tests and speech therapy all over again from the beginning. This time it won't be as scary though. We picked a great place to live with a huge support system, great school and one of the best cochlear implant surgeons in the country. She's very lucky to be born to us because we'll do whatever it takes to get her access to sounds and enable her to communicate. Some parents opt out of being involved with their kids' journey on this road. We are completely hands (and voices) on though.