Second grade begins!

James has officially started 2nd grade!

Last year, at this time, James was new to CCHAT. He had one implant that had just been activated, and one hearing aide that was amplifying distorted sound. He was using ASL full time to communicate, and trying to figure out what was going on with anything.

We had a LOT of rough drops off last year. Imagine having no idea what anyone is saying, having a robot-like sound coming in on one side of your head and a weird static on the other, and watching your mom drive away while you try and figure out what on earth is going on.

Fast-forward to this year: James is thriving. He has two fully integrated implants, and can now understand and produce spoken language. Not only can he now participate academically, but he HAS FRIENDS.

I can’t overstate the significance of this for James. He loves being part of a group, loves to play with others, wants to be involved in all the things, but his hearing loss has consistently held him back as far back as preschool. Because he couldn’t understand what the kids were saying, he couldn’t join in playground games. He would try, but would become really confused when the kids would seem to change the rules, or run in a different direction.

Most of his interactions with kids were based on facial expressions. If a child made a mad face, or seem frustrated by something, James would interpret that they were mad at him, and he would move away. “I’m scared of the friends” is a phrase we heard almost daily when it came to school, and it all came to his inability to understand the social situations around him, driven by language.

Drop-offs this year are completely different. James loves school. He loves his friends. He is excited to go play on the playground at drop-off time. He is starting to talk about his friends at home. The CCHAT program has a focus on building social skills because this is a common area of struggle for kids who have experienced hearing loss, and the gentle guidance from teachers and staff have helped James work through social situations he comes up against on the playground.

It’s going to be a great year!!