Peter is now six months old, and he has had his hearing aids for exactly three months. Today we did the first sound booth test. I had never been in a sound booth before. It is a small, square, totally soundproof box, with sound absorbing walls, ceiling and floor. Entering I saw a chair, a window to the right looking out on the audiologist, and speakers with animals in boxes on top. Right in front of us was a clear box with a mechanical puppy. It could sit, bark, and make walking movements. It was supposed to "center" Peter's attention. On the left was a dark box with a rabbit who would light up and play a drum set. On the right was a drum-playing elephant.
I held Peter on my lap, and T. would make the dog move/bark, then play a whooshing noise from one of the speakers. The corresponding Animal would light up and bang away on cymbals and drums, too. Peter did turn to look at the lit up boxes, but just because he could see them. We did the test for about 10 minutes.
T. explained that some of this was just to teach Peter to associate sound, response and the reward of seeing the animals. She thought she saw him startle a little to the sound of her voice at 70 dB, and some eye-movement in response to the 1000 mHz noise. But she couldn't reproduce the responses. Even so, she thought it was better than expected! It's just another tiny point in the complete picture of his hearing. We go back in a month to add another point.
Okay, I'm caught up and won't be spamming your inbox further! I'm really glad Peter is a healthy, happy baby and that you're able to give him access to the things he needs! I really look forward to meeting him, and to seeing your girls!!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think the animals in the boxes are more of a distraction than a reward for Butters. We can't get him to focus because he's constantly turning his head waiting for the stuffed lions to come out again. It's hard to get any solid info from that first booth test. Once you get the second and third one you tend to get more results. I feel like I understood the level of Butters' hearing loss more after this second test last week. Keep us posted on your blog about how Peter's doing!
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