A princess bike and an angry bird cake

It's been a long time since we last posted anything so Happy New Year to everybody!
My (not so little ) girl is doing tremendously well in term of speech and hearing.I can say she is bilingual now even though her Malay is a bit better than her English.

During the long semester break we worked on her reading skills and I'm proud to say that she is now reading very well for a not yet 5 year old.She is reading for both languages and her Malay is better than her English of course as it is very easy to learn to read in Malay.She mastered the CVCV  form in just 2 weeks.I'm so proud of her and she is proud of herself too.She is now fully mainstreamed in normal kindergarten with no special assistance whatsoever and doing very well too.

She speaks in long sentences and has acquired the higher language skills like reasoning,predicting,bargaining and other creative things.She can keep quiet for 3 seconds at one time.Really!We once played  "who can stay quiet"  game in the car during a long drive because everybody need some break from her continuous chatter.She lasted 3 seconds max!
So before this I complained that she doesn't talk,now I complain that she doesn't stop.People say that she is making up for the silent years.I say that she is born to talk and so she talks.I also think that her enjoyment of talking is one of the reasons why she talks so well and catched up very fast with 2 languages.

Another skill that she acquired during the long semester break is riding a bike.She can now pedal and handle her bicycle nicely though still with training wheels.She couldn't pedal before because of her vestibular and proprioception issues but she can now.Guess what happened next?
She requested for a new bike of course!
Her current bike is still so new because she didn't ride before.But being a talker,she talked us into buying her a pink and purple Barbie princess bike with glitter.I don't even know if such thing exists.

So far we are having a good year and looking forward to many new and wonderful things ahead.The only thing is I can't really accept the fact that she'll be 5 years old this May.
How time flies...
Happy New Year !

p/s : and for her birthday she wanted an angry bird birthday cake.The bird must be a pink coloured girl bird with a ribbon on her head.Any ideas?

Two years of hearing (and nonstop talking )

So, Miss R celebrated her 2nd hearing birthday on September 15th.She was switched on at 2 years 4 month of age and has moved at lightning speed since.She learned to detect,discriminate,identify and imitate all Lings 6 sounds within 2 weeks of switch on and produced her first words at 3 weeks post switched on.She started combining words about 2 months post switch on and she achieved all these milestones with us struggling to keep the CI on her.She hated her CI initially.I really didn't understand it since she was learning so much and enjoying the sounds that she could now hear.I guess she must have enjoyed giving us a hard time then.

Now she enjoys both of her CIs and is a true chatterbox who never stops talking.The only times that I could enjoy some peace and quiet is when she is asleep (late) and napping (rarely). We still haven't tested her recent language skill though we suspect that she is already on par with her peers.It's a tricky thing since we don't have any form of formal testing and no norm in Malaysia where most children are multilingual.Miss R is bilingual with Malay as her first language and English her second.She is learning some mandarin in preschool but we are opting for extra English class in replacement of Mandarin class for next year.We'll just keep her bilingual at the moment.

She enjoys listening to music (something that I couldn't imagine before) and going to participate in talent time contest in December organised by Opus academy of music.All the preparation is being done by the dedicated teachers so I can't write much about this.We'll start her on an instrument (most likely piano) next year when she is more ready.

So,now she looks like other kids and does things that other 4 year olds do except that she has extra gadgets on her ears.Maybe soon I will teach her how to explain her CI to other people.

Now,the only area that needs a bit more adjusting is her social skills.She's fine in preschool and daycare with familiar people but she tends to be very shy with strangers or new people.She will need at least 20 minutes of warm up time before she starts talking.
It's really ok, but it's not fun for me especially when I want to show off my talking child and the miracle of CI to some new people and my chatterbox child decided to keep quite and ignore the person who is talking to her.I have no idea what motivates her to do this, probably only the sheer happiness of exasperating her mother.God knows.

Before, I couldn't stop thinking about her deafness.Now,it has become a non issue.She could hear and talk like other children.Putting on the CIs has become second nature like putting on shoes or socks.Something that  I couldn't imagine possible but is IS possible with a little bit of work and perseverance.

Bilateral joy

I don't post here as much as I would like to.Mostly because I don't have much to report about the Girl's progress...or maybe there is too much to report that I don't know where to start.

I remember thinking before her second implant that it's gonna be hard to take care of two equipments,training the new ear and maybe dealing with her resistance towards the new implant.

It turned out,she loves her new implant and the new ear needs very little training and is now almost as good as the old one performance wise.Taking care of two equipments needs a bit adjusting but is nothing compared to the joy of having a bilateral child.
Every night when I take off her processors I have this sense of joy and contentment knowing that she has bilateral hearing.

I know she loves her two 'ears'.If you tell her that she can only wear one processor,she'll tell you that she wants BOTH of them!
Believe me, I tried. Last month at the beach I thought that it would be too troublesome/risky to let her wear two processors to the beach,take them off to swim and put them back again to play in the sand.So I told her we'd only take one and she grumbled the whole time there.

She now speaks with better articulation.She still occasionally struggles with some difficult sounds but she is mostly age appropriate articulation wise.She's learning to localise sound and her incidental language learning is phenomenal.
She sings all the time.It still takes her some time to learn a song but I like the the fact that she now asks me to explain every new song or rhyme phrase by phrase.It is now not enough for her to just memorise a song,she wants to understand it.

She's doing wonderfully at preschool.She counts to one hundred and she can write them too.She reads simple words,writes her own name and knows all the phonic sounds.She's learning to add and substract.She has many friends and she loves being there.

It never fail to amaze me that she's doing all this wonderful things at just under 2 years of being implanted and I thank god every night for his wonderful gift - this beautiful child of mine.

Glamour girl

Ever since she received the tutu skirt as a belated birthday gift,she has been prancing around in it begging to go to a ballet  class.Then,she begs to shop for new blouses with glitters to wear with the skirt (check out the pic).She's also begging for another tutu skirt (purple,this time).If I knew that this tutu skirt was going to cause me so much problem,I would have stopped my friend from buying this for her.

In another development,the new ear's progress is fast and steady.Her understanding with the new ear alone is almost similar to the old one,only that she might need some repetition at times.So I guess it is still pretty effortful to hear with that ear alone.

She's doing very well in pre school too.She counts and writes up to 30,understands quantity concept (they're starting addition soon),writes her own name independantly,recognises both upper and lower case alphabets.She reads familiar words quite well and was 'outstanding' in spelling activities according to her teacher...well,as outstanding as a 4 year old could be, I guess.

I'm glad that she's picking up a lot in school.She has many friends and gaining more language skills.She continues to amaze us everyday with different vocabulary and different pragmatic use of language.

We have reached a point where people who don't know her do not even realise that she is deaf...until they see the processors, if they could see it since the processors are pretty hidden now that she has short hair.

We still have many things to teach and show her though.Not just how to listen and speak,but how to grow into a strong individual.How to advocate for herself and have a positivite attitude.How to care for other people and give back to the community.How to live well and be happy with your life...for in the end this is what matters most.

School's over!

School holiday program is over.I'm sure Rhianna will miss her teachers and friends.I know I will miss sending her in the morning,singing in the car and seeing her grinning face in the afternoon.
She always came back with many new words and songs and of course with many interesting art and craft to show off.

Fruit platter from "the wonder of fruits" week.We made a real fruit platter and she is more willing now to try out new fruits no matter how weird they look like.

Her banana tree - notice the monkey? She was saying a rhyme about monkey and banana tree that she learned in a different class.I'm glad to see that she is generalizing more things that she has learned into daily activities

Silly looking penguin from "the antartica" week.She doesn't even know where Malaysia is but she can point to the antartica on the map.

 

The children made all the ornaments on the tree.It looks beautiful and they enjoyed the activity.

She told me that Teacher 'Posh' painted her face.The teacher's name is NOT Posh so I have no idea why she nicknamed her Posh.Maybe the teacher looks posh in Rhianna's eyes?




So we're now officially on school holidays until next year when the new semester starts.I can't wait to see what the new year will bring for her...until then,I have to find ways to keep her busy and entertained for two loooong weeks.

The ecosystem and the endangered species..

Rhianna has finished one week of holiday camp where the 3 -4 year old got to learn about the ecosystem and the endangered species..When I heard about the theme I wasn't quite sure..can a 3 year old understand this?...many of the adults still don't get it.How else do you explain animal poaching and illegal logging and other stuffs.

But the school made it easy and fun for them.Rhianna came back every day with tons of new words and many pretty crafts to show off.

Learning about the food chain..who eat who...Obviously human eat fish like Rhianna demonstrated here..I wonder if she'll take more fish in her meals now?

They also learn about farm animals and their purposes and also domestic animals.Let's hope that she wont start holding our already tortured and extremely patient cat like that.

Here,she's showing off her new knowledge about panda bear habitat,food and other stuff.She was telling me that panda bear eat bamboo..(with " I cant believe you dont know this" look)

Here is the life cycle of a butterfly (or something like that).They got to see the real catterpilar,coccon and butterfly and scrutinize them under a magnifying glass.I really hope that those creatures survived under the 3 year old hands..yikes.

So it was a really good language experience.She managed to get more new words (much more than I dared hope),learn a couple of new songs,make new friends...most importantly,she absolutely
 enjoyed herself!

Next week's theme : The wonder of fruits

A punch in the gut!

We don't have many options here in term of education for deaf children.The deaf schools will mainly use signs (they aim for total communication but most children will just sign ),there are some schools which use cued speech to help the children learn speech and that is pretty much it.

Since we have chosen CI and AV for Rhianna,we have been sending her to classes (music and reading) with normal hearing peers with no adaptation being done to support her hearing needs.But since we have carefully selected classes with small number of children (in reading class she only has one classmate and they team up very well to terrorize the teacher ;) )she has shown tremendous improvement with these classes.

Though her language is still delayed,she has developed a love for reading.Oh,she can sight read too.I initially thought that she just memorizes the story based on the pictures (she's like an elephant-remembers everything!) but her teacher demonstrated otherwise.She CAN sight read with or without the pictures...woohoo! Of course it's limited to the books and words that she has practised in class.Anyway,it's a good start to what I hope her lifelong love for books.


Back to the education option  (or lack of options) story - We have started touring the private preschools in our areas.Our public schools currently do not offer any preschool services for children below 5 years old except for daycares.So, all of our children will attend private preschools and we have many many options with many many teaching methods...and the headache starts.

With her CI,listening challenges and language delay,we have many things to consider like the teacher to students ratio,the method used and the syllabus offered.

Most of these schools have between 16-24 students in a class.Rhianna could easily become invisible with 24 chattering 3 year olds and that would not help develop her self confidence and self esteem.


The method used and syllabus offered are pretty much the same with most schools but there is one particular school that caught our attention.


This school offers a classroom of only 8 students max with one teacher and two teachers for certain subjects like science and art where the children do a lot of hands on projects.Their syllabus is focused a lot on language and speaking skills and encouraging the children to explore the world around them to develop the love for learning.They use fastrack program from the US (of course!) and I'm totally in love with the smart board.It's like a HUGE iphone on the wall with many educational games!Rhianna still talks about the smart board and pretends to play it on our wall.


We love this school,Rhianna loves this school..problem solved, right? Wrong!
what about the fees?...it's almost 10K for the first year (uugh.. it was like a punch in the gut!).Well, it's not that bad, but she still has to attend her weekly therapies (all cost money),her reading and music classes and daycare (all cost money!)...I was actually planning to send her to dance class now that's not going to happen.


So Rhianna's team started discussing (and debating) and finally we reached a conclusion.
Since Rhianna is doing so well now,we have almost forgotten about her deafness and her daily struggles to listen.She actually NEEDs this school for its low student to teacher ratio to maximise her listening ability since no other adaptation is being made for her listening needs (no FM or sound field system).Hopefully they will help her build a good academic and social foundation for upcoming years.


So yes,we are taking the punch!She's all signed up for year 2011..


Kids Academy, here we come!!

http://www.kidsacademy.com.my




p/s : she has a trial class next week and a holiday camp there next month.She'll start full blast come January 2011

Flying solo

Since turning 3,Rhianna has been upgraded into 'creative kids' music appreciation class.This class is for 3-5 years old and no longer adult accompanied.
Again,she was not at all disturbed by the fact that she has to attend the class alone for an hour.I,on the other hand was very anxious to see whether she can cope with the other normal hearing kids since her language skill is still delayed.
In this class,the children learn about different musical instruments,and different music and movements activities.They are also encouraged to participate and socialize with friends and be more independant.
Unlike the toddler class where they always receive a little sticker as a reward for any kind of participation,this class reserves the stickers only for good participation and good behaviour.
Never in a million years would I be this nervous to see whether my child receives a sticker or not!This sticker to me signifies Rhianna's ability to compete with her hearing peers and of course her first step towards being in a mainstream education.
The minute she got out I checked,and there it was...the shining little sticker!My child has flown solo..

Shopping!

Wednesday is Rhianna's reading class day.As I was picking her up today I overheard the teacher complimenting another child telling the parent how well he can read.Having no experience with any hearing impaired child,I don't think the teacher fully understand yet about what kind of adjustments that she needs to do or what kind of progress to expect even.So she didn't comment much about Rhianna.

As I was driving back with Rhianna,I kept thinking whether I made the right decision sending her there.Is it too soon?Can she cope?Will she progress there or will she be stressed up unnecessarily?Suddenly I noticed Rhianna was rummaging into her bag.She sorted out the books, picked one up, pointed and said "SHOPPING!" I can tell you I was grinning like an idiot the whole drive home.

The story didn't end there though.Once home, we showed daddy the book and again Rhianna read "shopping".Then she opened the pages and start saying "ice-cream,toothpaste,peas,eggs,apples" while pointing to the written words(reading or memorising,who cares!).Now daddy and mommy both were grinning like a couple of idiots and Rhianna gave us the "I know these words,so what??" look and left us to find her dolls.



Rhianna's work..how cute is that.Very funny!

Classes update

A little bit of updates..I spoke to Rhianna's music teacher last week.She said Rhianna is doing very well in the class.She's beginning to imitate singing solo when asked to..sometimes not very accurately of course.She has good sense of rhythm and tempo (she didnt get it from me.I'm musically challenged!).She can follow instructions well but sometimes get easily distracted by the noisy toddlers.I guess this class really help sharpening her listening in noise skill.I owe many thanks to the teachers and other parents in the class who cheer and encourage her all the time.They help build her self esteem.

As for her reading class...still too early to say much about the progress, but she enjoys it tremendously.The teacher reported that she's the one with the best behaviour (I wish I can say that at home!).She listens and points as her teacher reads.She tells her class mates "come,sit down" when they walk around (that's her,always bossy).
She knows ( and can say!) her primary and secondary colours,her numbers (1-10)and almost half of the alphabets.She might have to catch up more on her language skill but at least academically,she's pretty much on par with her peers...yippee!

reading class

Today is Rhianna's first day in reading class.We registered her for Opus Young Reader Program in Opus academy of Music,Bandar Sunway.It's the same place where she attends her weekly music appreciation class for toddlers.
So here I am waiting anxiously outside her classroom expecting her to scream the moment I left her..but nope.She's showing off and talking to her teacher.Sooo.. amazing.I guess one should never underestimate one's offspring.I guess my toddler is already venturing into the world outside her home and family..and she's doing it beautifully.
The music class that she attends mainly aims to sharpen her listening skill.She learns to sing and dance,follow musical cue and rhythm.she also develops self confidence and make new friends.This kind of class I think is superb for children with CI.Rhianna learns new skill every week.
Now, the reading class is actually just mom's lazy way of getting Rhianna to learn new vocabulary.They also do a lot of fun phonic learning which is quite similar to the speech babble (which Rhianna despises..I dont know,maybe I'm doing it wrong)that we are supposed to teach our CI kids.
So,these are some of the activities that is easily available and affordable in our country.So try them!