Micah

Yesterday was all about James, so here's just a bit about Micah :).

Micah is doing great as far as developmental milestones go.  He has matured so much in the last 2 years, but really over the past 4-6 months or so!  It's been wonderful to see him turn in to a "little boy" and leave the "toddler" type stuff behind!

There's one main area that Micah has always struggled, though, and he has made no improvements in this area.

He doesn't talk.

Not just "he doesn't speak well" or "he doesn't initiate things and only copies."  No, he actually really DOESN'T talk.  He doesn't attempt to use sounds to communicate, he doesn't mimic most sounds (occasionally he can look at us and mimic something, but it's not common).

Thankfully, he DOES sign!  So he has some communication, but nothing out of his mouth... not even a "mama" or "dada."  Nothing.

At our ENT appointment in November we learned that although Micah got ear tubes at the end of September (before our month of doom where everyone was sick!), that he still isn't hearing.  He failed the OAE.  He passed the tympanogram (with ear tubes, so it was an 'open' pass).  In the booth test before he got his ear tubes, he received a functional score of 60 decibels.  For reference, I understand that speech is at a curve right around 20 decibels.  In other words, he didn't hear speech.

We knew this, but we blamed it on his ears and put him through to get ear tubes.

Then he got ear tubes... and his booth test received... a 55.  Yes, 55 decibels.  Micah still isn't hearing.

Now Micah is scheduled for a sedated ABR, which is another hearing test that will measure the response of the brain stem to the sounds given through the ear.  Our ENT is guessing that Micah will need hearing aides, but will be waiting until after the testing to say for sure.

Just for kicks, James also failed his hearing test at 60 decibels the first time before tubes.  After his tubes he received a functional score of 30 decibels.  He, too, will have an ABR just to be sure he isn't dealing with hearing loss.  Of course he mimics, makes all kinds of "Jameseneese" sounds, and we don't have concerns with his hearing in a general sense (just his listening! LOL).

Unfortunately, these tests, scheduled a week or two ago, will not be able to be done until the first week of FEBRUARY.  So, 2 more months that I'll be saying "micah, Micah, MICAH, hey, come to the table please :)"