Audiologist

The trip to the audiologist was not all that enlightening. She basically never tried anything that he actually COULD hear. Instead, she just tried a few sounds that he could not hear. Basically, she concluded that he has no functional hearing, which I already knew. This was a fairly preliminary evaluation and he will need a more conclusive test called an ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response). This is done while the child is completely at rest or under sedation and measures brain activity in response to different auditory stimuli. Basically, it tells what a child can hear without the child having to respond accurately to the testing stimuli. We will have an ENT appointment at the end of the month and then schedule the test. What we did find out is that the hearing loss is not due to any kind of physical problem such as scarring or malfunctioning of the ear drum. The integrity of the ear drum has not been compromised. The problem is in the nerves that transmit the sensation of sound to the brain. It is likely that Kerwin has heard at one point or another. His "talking" is a good indication that he may be able to learn to speak with hearing aids or a cochlear implant but the audiologist is not hopeful that hearing aids will benefit him that much. For now we will continue to teach him as much sign language as we can as this is his only means of true communication. It's just such a shame that a child as bright as he is has gone this long without being taught a language. But I am reminded by my wiser friends that the amount of ground that he has made up in the last four months is truly phenomenal. We continue to be proud of him. He was such a good boy at the appointment: just the model patient. He is still thrilled to be at home and he is an absolute joy to us.

After his appointment, we went and visited grandpa down on UK's campus and had to go to BOTH of his offices to see all his coworkers so he could show off his grandson. Then he took us out to eat a really good Cajun restaurant downtown. Then we stopped by grandma's office so she could show Kerwin off to all her friends and then we finally headed home.

I got to rejoin my wonderful, supportive, praying, BELIEVING Bible study group last night and it was such a blessing. So of course I also had to bring Kerwin to show him off. The ladies surrounded us and prayed for us and praised God for the miracles that he has performed in our lives. Thank God for that group of women.