Kat's advice

I was on a parent's panel a few days again, and one of the other parents said that their daughter (age 12) is very embarrassed by her CI. She thinks that everyone is staring at it. So, I decided to ask Miss Kat what she would say to such a girl. Here was her response:

"I would say that they are just curious. You are deaf and that makes you special. Everyone is different, and that is ok."

It was beautiful. She was empathetic, but also completely matter of fact. It was so amazing to here her articulate how she felt and how she would encourage someone who was having trouble. She is growing up so fast!

Music Mornings

Every morning on the way to school, Miss Kat and i have been listening to music in the car.  She prefers classical because she says it helps her relax and have a good day. Today, we had arrived at her school and were listening while we waited for the doors to open to let the kids in. I asked her what instrument was the melody and she immediately recognized the violin and said "Violins are for sad songs".  Some people claim that kids with cochlear implants cannot hear and make sense of music, but that has not been our experience at all. Here is an extremely late implanted child who loves music, enjoys listening to variety of types of music, and can even accurately identify the emotional motifs of passages and particular instruments.  Not too shabby.