Friday, January 29, 2010

Can You Hear Me Now?

So, Bug had an appointment this morning at the Audiologist. There appears to be some speculation as to whether her lack of speech is due to a hearing problem. So we got up and got cute and to the doctor we went. And guess what?! She can hear. (was there any doubt?) Actually, it was pretty cool. The Audiologist mentioned that if any of the results were questionable, there were different tests he could do. Is it wrong of me that I was a little let down when she passed? I kind of wanted to see what else they would do. But alas, her hearing is fine. (probably better than Buttercup's, who actually has a little bit of a hearing problem. At a decibel that my voice doesn't reach which is under what I would consider a "whisper" so it doesn't really come into play.) The test that the guy performed on Buglet was as follows.

1- I sat in a chair in a little booth that advertised different ear plugs, which happened to be the same sort of ear plugs that Buttercup had. But these looked much cooler and I kind of wish we had picked ones like the ones in the poster for her instead of the all-one-color-ones she had. Bug sat in my lap. The Audiologist sat outside the booth, directly in front of us, so we could see him through the little window. There were speakers on either side of us with little black boxes on top of them, and there was a little black box right under the window in front of us. The little black box in front of us lit up. The guy said (through the speakers) "Look at Big Bird!" Bug, I'm sure looked at the box and thought "what the crap is a Big Bird?" because I'm absolutely certain that she has no clue what a Big Bird is. But she looked, so Bug got a check.

2- A static-y sound came out of the speaker to our right. A LOUD static-y sound. Bug looked at the floor under the speaker. (I thought, "uh-oh" followed by "oh goody! we'll get to see the next test!" So it could be said that I slipped temporarily into 'bad momma' thoughts, but I recovered quickly.) The sound continued. The black box on top of the speaker lit up. Ta-da! Minnie Mouse. (who, Bug may actually know, so that was a plus.) Bug pointed and said something in Bug-speak that isn't readily translatable into English and looked at me. Then the sound stopped and Minnie Mouse turned off. Big Bird turned on. Bug was much more interested in Minnie's box, so it took a minute for her to look at Big Bird, who, by this point, had begun to flash. Apparently, Big Bird doesn't like be shown up by some Disney character.

3- Loud static-y sound number 2 came out of the speaker on our left. Bug looked at the floor under that speaker. (again, tiny slip on my part, but I kept a hold on myself.) Sound continued, box on top lit up and there sat Donald Duck. Bug points, speaks in gooble-de-gook and seems genuinely happy to see Donald. (can you tell we live in a house where Disney rules?) Sound stops, Donald goes away. Big Bird immediately starts to flash. (Temper temper, Bird-boy.)

4- continue with static-y sounds and occasional hummy sounds thrown in for good measure. Boxes on tops of the speakers light up as a reward when Bug looks at the speaker and not the floor. And sometimes they pop on to say Hello when Bug looks at them before the sound actually ... sounds. (? was there a different way to say that?! Points if you thought of one.) With the ill tempered bird flashing away in between sounds so Bug would stop looking at the boxes where the Disney heroes waited. Bug seems unfazed.

5- sounds get quieter. Sometimes I can't hear them. But Bug looks, either because she heard it or because she was missing Minnie or Donald and they light up. Big Bad Bird Boy continues to flash with more and more intensity. I think he senses that he's losing, and this does not sit well with him.

6- all sounds and characters stop. Bug, by this time is sooooo over this whole deal that she tries to turn around in my lap and settle in for a nap. (Nap? Now? I can't convince you to nap at home, but we get out in a new place and you decide this would be an ideal time to take a snooze?) Small scuffle, I win, Bug is again facing grumpy pants. I mean Big Bird.

7- the Audiologist covers his mouth with a piece of paper. I'm not sure why, but whatever. Then his voice comes through the speaker on the right saying "Look at Minnie! Where's Minnie?" Bug looks at the floor. (honestly...) She spies Minnie and immediately Minnie turns off. Bug decides this is not cool with her, and she devises a plan.

8- Again, the Audiologist's voice comes through the speaker on our left. At this point I'm really hoping Bug doesn't begin to think this is the voice of God. I want her to know that God would talk about things besides Minnie and Donald. I'm pretty sure now that when I get to Heaven the first thing God will say to me will be about a Disney character.. : ) So, the voice from the great beyond asks Bug to find Donald. Donald, Bug knows, is sitting on top of the mystical blackish thing that the great voice issues from. So she looks at the floor. but I'm watching her and I see her cut her eyes up at Donald. She's crafty enough to not move her head. This gets her approximately 2 more seconds of Donald time. She seems content with that.

9- Big Bird is really steamed at this point. He's practically strobe-like. Bug grants him a courtesy glance which seems to pacify him.

And that concludes the test. We're told she passed and that we can go. I mask my slight disappointment that I can't see what the other tests were, tell Bug to say "Thank you" (she doesn't) and "Bye-bye"(she doesn't do that either) and we head to the car. Where Bug promptly falls asleep. *sigh* My question is, yes, we've established that she can hear. I could have told you that. But how can you tell if she hears clearly? Is there a way to determine that she doesn't hear everything muffled? Does that particular test involve Big Bird in any way? Because I'm feeling that Big Bird is a jealous bird and may need the extra attention.

On the plus side, now I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that one of my B's can hear. That's 33%. Which takes care of that excuse when she gets older.

Bug is currently in melt-down mode. I'm sensing that the 10 minute nap in the car didn't do the trick (yay!) so off I fly to try and convince her that another nap is a wonderful idea. You know, I think I may win this time...

1 comment:

  1. Glad to hear (haha) that her hearing is fine. And have all young children made a pact with each other to sleep while out and then not sleep when at home? Because my kids are definitely in on it, too.

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