Walk for Talk 2012

It's that time of year where we are gearing up for the Walk for Talk on May 5 to raise money for Aubrey's school, Northern Voices. 

As you can understand, asking for pledges is not an easy thing to do. However, I don't know where we would be without Northern Voices, and I would do anything for this school! This program has opened a world of opportunity for Aubrey. They have helped give Aubrey a voice, and the confidence she has gained from her experience at Northern Voices is priceless. We truly believe that she will be mainstreamed with her typical hearing peers. As a parent this means everything. 

Any amount is appreciated! You can make a donation by visiting my FirstGiving page: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/aubreyerb/walk-for-talk. All donations are secure and sent directly to Northern Voices by FirstGiving, who will email you a printable record of your donation.

Please send my page on to anyone who might like to donate! Thank you for all your support! It means the world to us.

xoxo

Kristin and Aubrey

One Year Ago

It has been just over a year since Aubrey's cochlear implant was activated. I don't know where the time has gone! I also apologize for not posting in so long. Things have been pretty uneventful - no news is good news. We finally feel as if things are a bit "typical" in our world. The appointments have decreased and the constant researching and searching for answers has subsided. We are enjoying life and all the blessings Aubrey's bionic ear has provided. She is doing well, and working very hard. Her speech intelligibility also continues to improve. I know this piece gradually improves over time, and it has been tough waiting and working so hard on articulation. I know we just need to be patient. We are starting to notice more crisp/clear sounds and she is completing her middle and ending sounds.

Aubrey's one year CI audiology appointment in December was her best appointment yet! With her CI, she is hearing in the15-25 dbl range.  Aubrey's audiologist also did the word/sentence repeating test (not sure the name), and Aubrey was able to repeat the sentences at 93% accuracy. The audiologist had her mouth covered the whole time to ensure Aubrey could not read her lips. This brought tears to my eyes!! This was the first time I had happy tears at one of her audiology appointments. We are so very pleased with the progress Aubrey has made over the year. She has worked so hard, and she loves her CI. She gets mad when it has to come off!

The bad news is that Aubrey is not getting anything from her hearing aid ear. With just her aid on, she was hearing in the 50-70 dbl range and she got 0% on the word recognition test. I was prepared for this. So, we received approval for a second CI. We meet with the CI surgeon on Monday, and we'll most likely set up the surgery for spring/early summer.

Aubrey will be turning five in April, and we plan to keep her one more year at Northern Voices to give her more time to catch up and to get some intensive experience with the second CI. We are also going to have her attend a school district pre-K program a few mornings a week to give her gradual access and experience in a typical setting. This program has a combination of typical kids and kids on IEPs. If all goes well, we plan to mainstream Aubrey the following year when she is six.

I thank everyone who has worked so hard with Aubrey over the last year, and for family and friends who show their support by donating to Aubrey's school. This is so humbling, and it means more to us than you will ever know. We are so blessed to have Northern Voices in our lives and even more blessed to have so much support. Thank you!