What a journey it has been...
Leaving Illinois has impacted each member of our family in unique ways.
For Cole, leaving Illinois meant leaving a place where all his hearing needs we taken care of in the same building, by a team of people who have known him from the start.
It was there he was diagnosed, implanted, and given over 400 hours of therapy to help him reach the goals he has over the past 2.5 years of hearing. God is so worthy to be praised!
Cole was given a full evaluation in June, right before he left Carle Auditory Oral School.
..Here are the results...
Keep this in mind:
Actual Age when tested- 3.92 years
Hearing Age - 29.5 months (How long his implants have been activated at the time of testing)
scores in green are above his actual age
scores in red are below his actual age
gains over the last 6 months are in blue (any gains OVER 6 months mean we're doing a good job in making up for lost HEARING time! That's our goal!!!)
Receptive Language:
The level of language usage he understands...
3.6 years
Slight drop from last round of tests 6 months ago, but his therapist mentioned it may have been due to a part of the test that was tricky for Cole.
Expressive Language:
The level of language he uses when he speaks...
3.6 years
4 month gain
Receptive Vocabulary:
The level of vocabulary he understands...
3.8 years
5 month gain
Expressive Vocabulary:
The level of vocabulary he uses when he speaks...
4.3 years
8 month gain! Great job Cole!
Nonverbal Play Skills:
His interaction with objects and responses to initiations by others...
4.9 years
12 month gain...(Wow!!! Great job Coley!!!)
Verbal Play Skills:
The way he initiates play with others and what he says while he's playing...
4.8 years
12 month gain...(The result of a wonderful teacher this year and friends he loved to play with!)
Understanding of Basic Concepts:
Evaluation of his understanding of concepts typically taught in Preschool and Kindergarten
4.5 years
This was the first time he was given this test. Way to go Cole!!! Thanks to Miss Carolyn, you're ready for school!
Speech:
What the words he says SOUND like...
1.9 years
2 month gain...(This has always been the hardest part for him...we've been working on final consonants all year long :) We'll keep working hard though!
So what does this mean?
Cole continues to make gains, though not quite as dramatic as last time, he is still progressing along in his journey and we are thankful first to God for allowing Cole to continue to make progress, and for the staff who worked with him last year and were used by God to make this progress a reality! :) Thank you!!!!
Since moving, we've spoken with three different therapists who have looked at Cole's scores and said..."I think he's ready for a mainstream setting!" Now, I realize he still has a long way to go...especially in the area of speech. I also want to make it clear, that if we were still in Illinois, we would still happily have him attend the same amazing school we just moved from. Since our circumstances have changed, though, and we are now in California, our options for Cole have also changed. There are a few Oral Deaf Education options for Cole available in our area, but unfortunately they do not have hearing peers involved in their programs. We've been advised by those who are more familiar with the population of students attending those schools, that Cole may benefit more from being with students who will be more appropriate language models for him at this point in his journey.
Moving was (and always is) a big deal.
We were blessed to be moving back HOME with family, friends and a church ready to welcome us back!
The difference we experienced in moving this time, was that we were not just gaining a community we knew and loved...
we were leaving another.
Moving Cole away from CAOS was one of the hardest parts of moving for us this time around. Leaving a place where such intentional and individualized care was so available for our boy was a GIFT we will never take for granted. If we didn't believe in a God who we KNOW has plans to prosper us and not to harm us, we would've left with fear and doubt that we were making the right choice in moving Cole at this stage of his journey. Because we left in order to walk through the only door open to us through John's job search, we know God has purpose in moving ALL of us back to California. For Cole, this meant leaving what was familiar and comfortable and trusting that God has already taken care of what was a big unknown to us regarding his therapy and schooling.
Once we heard from 3 different therapists that the original placement we thought was going to work for Cole was probably not the best place for him to be around appropriate language models, John and I went back to square one. Square one always takes us to our knees in prayer. With a deep sigh and butterflies in my stomach, I gave him up...again. As a mother, I realize this practice of giving my kids back to the One who knit them together comes often. I find myself on my face when I'm at the end of my own wisdom and and my "options" basket is empty. As scary as this place is...it's begun to feel like home to me. I think it may be one of God's favorite places to meet me. Totally undone and authentic me, meeting a totally able and perfect God. These are the moments my life changes course and set me down a slightly altered path then where I started. Encounters with God do that. There is nothing flashy about it. Just me, realizing my limitations as a person and then acknowledging God and His endless power, capability, wisdom and plan. Moments like that are always life-giving to me. Always.
So, I did it again.
"God...what do you have for Cole...I'm scared we aren't going to find the right fit for him out here."
From His Word, God responded to me...
"My plan is to prosper him and not to harm him...to give him a hope and a future. Do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
And so the quest began...
We interviewed 12 therapists in the LA area and over the course of 2 weeks, nailed it down to one at the House Research Institute in lovely heart of LA :) I say that with a grin because I've lived in the LA area for most of my life, and made every effort to avoid "downtown"...the very place God has lead us for Cole. :) This time though, it's different. This time I'm excited to take my boy to the place and therapist that God has lead us to through much prayer and wise council. We even met with someone who works at House now who used to work at CAOS years ago!!! What a good God we serve :) So I'm excited to start driving Cole to LA once a week (also a change from our 5 times a week) starting in September. With his reduced therapy schedule, I'll be working with him A LOT more at home. What a blessing its been to be in so so much therapy with him up to this point...I feel ready for the challenge. I think Cole's ready too. We've been working on the AMAZING speech binder Cole's therapist from IL made us for the summer. We've gotten into a great routine and he seems to be excited to do "peech" with Mommy...we're working on the "s" :)
After the therapist search was over, we started our quest for a mainstream preschool for our boy...after visiting a bunch in the town we will be moving to soon, God again (as he does often) gave us confirmation of the one He had picked out for our boy by closing a bunch of doors in the process :) Some doors were closed through lack of space while others became less of an option because of their noisy learning environments. It was our first time "school-hunting" for Cole.
We were looking for...
Small student to teacher ratio
Opportunities for him to learn in a small group without a lot of background noise
Students who would be appropriate language models for him
Teachers willing to work with us and Cole's therapist in addressing language goals in the classroom
Willingness from the director and teachers to make and adjustments needed as issues arise.
We found all that and more at Western Christian Preschool and we're so excited for Cole to start soon!
Whew!
After months of transition and prayer, we have a plan.
Thank you, Lord for revealing to us what you've known since the beginning of time.
We would love your prayers for Cole, his therapist and teacher as we all embark on a VERY new stage of Cole's hearing journey in the next few weeks.
If I'm being honest, I'm a little nervous.
This is all very different for us, but though I could list for you all the reasons why I should be nervous, I won't. They don't matter. What matters is that God lead us to Illinois to the very finest of care before we knew there was a need to search for it. Just because he let me be in on the search process this time, doesn't make Him any less ABLE to provide the perfect plan for Cole. Bottom line...I trust Him.
SO there you have it...the PLAN.
We'll keep you posted on the unfolding of it all SOON.
Until then...please join us.
PRAY
to the One who can do above and BEYOND what we could ever hope to imagine for ourselves.
Pray for wisdom for all involved and that God would prepare the heart of our boy for all the NEWNESS he's about to take on. The cool thing is, He's not alone...he's NEVER alone. God is with him, now and to the end of time!
Pray for wisdom for all involved and that God would prepare the heart of our boy for all the NEWNESS he's about to take on. The cool thing is, He's not alone...he's NEVER alone. God is with him, now and to the end of time!
