Triplet Princes and a Princess

Triplet Princes and a Princess

Our journey to hearing with Cormac while living our life with triplet boys and a baby girl.







Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Ok, where do I start???

Today I met with the director of Summit Speech School. Cormac receives his teacher of the deaf sevices in the house from Summit and also attends a group class once a week at Summit. I wanted to meet with her to discuss what she thought was best for Cormac as he turns three and is no longer eligible for early intervention and is transitioned over to the local school district.

The conversation started with her telling me that Cormac is going to be just fine. She was impressed with what his reports said. She even said she thought might have been done incorrectly and rechecked them becasue she could not believe the progess he has made. Basically, he went from saying nothing, to 2 words and then made a huge jump to long sentences. She said he is a child who will not have trouble learning to read (an issue for some deaf/hearing impaired children). She said he uses words that are normall difficult for deaf children to learn and have to be taught. (any, some) and he understands complex and even abstract concepts. She could not be more pleased with his progress. She said if I had been waiting for a moment to sigh in relief, this was my moment!

Ok, can you say excited??? I know Cormac is doing well. I know how hard he works. I know how much effort goes into our everyday lives to MAKE SURE he is getting what he needs. But, I am his Mom so I always think maybe he could be doing better. To hear a professional tell me he is doing better and that he is "almost right there", meaning caught up to his actual age (he is 34 months old. His receptive langugage is at 33-36 months. His expressive is at 31-33 months) when he has only been hearing 18 months is just such wonderful news. I am so proud of Cormac. He is truly amazing.

My big dilema about what to do with him for school is hopefully solved for now. I still have to wait for the school district but I think they will be open to Summit's recommendations. When he turns 3 in April he will attend Summit for mornings only (not full day). This way he can still spend the rest of the day with his brothers and he won't feel so separated from them. I am going to have a hard time letting him go 3 hours a day but it's what is best for Cormac. We are going to do this for 6 months. In September all the boys will start preschool at a mainstream preschool. COrmac will receive support services. But by giving him 6 months at Summit will just solidify the foundation he already has built. Since Ciaran and Colin can't start school until September its not like they will go without him.

My biggest concern was the next 6 months. I knew he had to continue services but didn't want him in the preschool disabled in town. It is not the appropriate place for him. This decision gives me the best of both worlds!


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! That is my sigh of relief! I feel OK about this and am happy with it.

On a different topic, I was asked to write Cormac's story for a website called thedeafblog.co.uk The woman who contacted me had read this blog and wanted thought it would be a good story for other parents to hear and perhaps it will help a parent of a newly diagnosed deaf child. I was more than happy to write the story. I am by no means a writer. I just wrote how I feel and what our lives are like having triplets and one of them being deaf. So, check it out if you would like to read it. Just click here

So, does that mean I am a published author??? LOL!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You did a great job writing the article for The Deaf Blog. That is how I found your website. :) Your boys are all gorgeous and I'm so happy to hear about the report from Summit. It reminds me of the days when my daughter was to the Moog School, catching up with her language. Cormac is luckier though, he was diagnosed and got his implant earlier. My daughter attended schools for kids with hearing loss from the ages of 2 to 6. She was mainstreamed in 1st grade. Today, she is in 7th grade and is a terrific student with many friends. The first years can be rocky or scary because of the unknown but things get so much easier as they grow. Hope you'll check out my HearingExchange blog. :)

Melanie said...

SO NICE! What a great story. I am so happy Cormac is doing so well. It is great to be reminded that kids do so well with CI's.