Hearing Test results 1-30-07



Burke underwent his last BAER test yesterday...it was literally a "Bear" as he cried and cried for the first 30 minutes until he finally fell asleep. For those who don't know...Burke needs to sleep through the test so the audiologist can get accurate data....the testing usually takes 2 hrs! In order to do this, we had to sleep deprive him and allow him to get hungry so he'd take a nice long nap (he is typically a cat napper)...this is usually not a good idea for preemies and Burke is sensitive to being overtired and hungry! After he finally fell asleep, everything went well and we were able to get more information about his hearing. In a nutshell (there are many details of which are super complicated) his left ear has no measurable response to sound BUT his right ear has more responses to sound than we originally thought. With his "ears on" (hearing aids) he hears our voices and most speech sounds with the exception to the quieter sounds like "s" "th" "k" "f". He is really responsive to our voices and he is even starting to respond to his name...super exciting! :) He is constantly talking and his auditory-verbal therapist (Star) said she's never heard a baby (in her 30 yrs of working) who talks as much as Burke (we can't even get a word in without interrupting him)! Of course we never imagined Burke would have hearing loss on top of all his other medical battles but we are so hopefull that he will be able to learn how to listen & talk. We plan to teach him some sign language but will rely on verbal communication as primary. If you'd like to know a little bit more about the really great program that Burke is enrolled in to learn language, it's called Listen & Talk....http://www.listentalk.org

Comments

Anonymous said…
Oh, he is soooo cute! I just want to squeeze those cheeks. :) Thanks for updating us on Burke's hearing. We're still praying for you guys as you adjust and have to deal with everything. God gave Burke the most perfect parents for him. You guys are awesome! Take care,

Jen Kallevig
7:17 PM
D-Lo said…
Hey guys. What a long road; the excerpts from your previous post give us a glimpse of what it might be like to be in your shoes. I'm glad to hear the encouraging news that Burke has hearing to build from. Thanks for keeping us updated, and that's a great picture that your took. We're keeping you in our prayers.
7:57 PM
D-Lo said…
I meant to say "a great picture that your friend took"!
7:58 PM
Anonymous said…
I love the new format!!! I will continue to pray that God will bless and give you endurance and patience as you wait on Him regarding Burke's hearing. What huge advances have been made in the "hearing impaired" medical area! I'm praying for a full recovery of Burke's hearing! Dawn
7:20 AM
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