It's always been a climb for Cole. A steady climb, with incredible amounts of support from all sides with our team in Illinois. As difficult as the journey from deafness to hearing can be, it is one that is SO worth the effort. The way his CI's have opened doors from him to be a part of the hearing world is nothing short of miraculous, but feels - very often - like an uphill, steady climb.
Since we've moved from Illinois, we've been on a rocky "therapy" road for Cole. It was our plan to have him attend an auditory oral school here in LA, similar to the one we left in Illinois. Once we arrived, we began talking with a variety of Speech and Language Pathologist and Auditory Verbal Therapists...seeking wise council, BIG time. We were all set to make the DAILY hour long + commute in traffic into downtown L.A. if that was the best place for our boy to be. My parents had reoriented their entire weekly schedule to be able and help me watch the girls part of the time and carpools were being set up for Ryder so that Cole could be exactly where he needed to for this season.
Once we began talking with other therapists in the area and sharing with them Cole's most recent scores...all of them agreed that he would benefit more from being in a mainstream preschool setting with private therapy on the side, since none of the auditory oral schools around here had hearing peers. Attending one of those schools would mean Cole would be missing out on appropriate language models, which was especially important for him at this stage since his recent scores had climbed so steadily.
So, he's been attending a mainstream preschool three mornings a week, but his therapy schedule has been VERY scattered in the past 6 months. Without boring you with the details, between therapists moving out of state and insurance issues...we're finally on a consistent once-a-week therapy schedule with a therapist we love, but it's been quite a journey. So you can imagine the nail biting that was going on as I sat through his most recent round of testing...praying for God to show there's been SOME kind of redeeming value in these past 6 months. We've worked hard at home the best we could, but only been able to have 5 total hours of formal therapy with a SLP/AVT. I can't tell you how crazy that is to type out, coming from 75 minutes of daily individual therapy with our AMAZING team in IL. Crazy, but not unseen by God. I had to keep reminding myself of that since we've been back. God sees Cole, loves him, and none of these issues and inconveniences we've been having have been outside of his sight. Just another chance to believe that He is who He says He is...a redeemer of all things unkempt, messy and unplanned for. Nothing is outside His reach.
So that's the setting for the miracle I'm about to share with you...
Over the last 6 months -
5 months of 3 mornings a week, mainstream preschool
5 hours of formal therapy with an SLP/AVT
As-much-as-we-could-in the-crazy-transition-back-home...HOME therapy a la Mom, Dad + a brother and sister (or 2)
If there's one thing I can say with certainty, it that Cole is never climbing alone...
(Drum roll please)
In 6 months time he's made the following levels of growth...
In 6 months time he's made the following levels of growth...
Receptive Language: the level of language usage he understands...
6-12 month growth
Expressive Language: the level of language he uses when he speaks
12 month growth
Expressive Vocabulary Skills:
2 year growth (What???)
Speech: how easy it is to understand him
1 year, 8 month growth
I realize reports in the past have been a bit more detailed, but with the different reporting format our new therapist used, it was too hard to figure out how to give you the amount of detail I have in the past...so aside from being a bit more simplistic...can you EVEN believe it??? Seriously??? Any growth would've been miraculous, but this kind of growth? Completely knocked us to our knees again...in praise! I was praying that he wouldn't have lost too much ground that we couldn't work really hard to make up before the next round of tests in June. My heart was doing flip-flops of doubt before we heard the results, thinking...really, Lord? You've brought us this far only to let Cole loose all the ground we worked so hard to gain? This couldn't be your way!!!
And now I sit here, recording ANOTHER time in our family's journey when God's way...though mysterious, and very much off the beaten path...has proven to indeed be one to PROSPER us and not to harm us. If I can stay still long enough in this place of praise, I may even be able to say that I have a belief...not just a momentary one, but an every moment, rain-or-shine kind of BELIEF that He has plans to give Cole a HOPE and a FUTURE. Please pray for us as we continue to ask God for wisdom in being his main therapists, these days. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have been given such a wonderful foundation of knowledge about how to help him reach his goals from our old team. God is SO good to have given us a firm foundation to build from.
I BELIEVE! Help me Lord in my unbelief.
Mark 9:24
And now I go...to slip under the covers of my bed, shouting from the rooftops of my heart, that my God is GOOD, and His kindness is forever...thank you for your prayers. He truly is good.
Praise the Lord!
I just read this blog. What fabulous news!! Coley Cole is my hero. I have his picture in my workout room to inspire me to keep going. So proud of Cole and grateful to God's goodness.
Grammie