Piper is in swimming lessons for two weeks. She goes every week night for half an hour and hopefully at the end, she is passed onto the next level.
Craig and I have been tag teaming the effort to get her there and to stay home with the two youngest. I took her the first night and then Craig took her the following three nights. Then on Friday I took her and brought my camera for some photos.
It was on Friday when I noticed it. When I noticed that Piper appeared to not be listening very well to her instructor. Instead of just doing a front float, Piper would do a front float and kick her legs. Something that they had just done. So I watched… and watched… and realized that perhaps Piper just was not hearing what her instructor was telling her. It was loud in the pool. The fans were going and there were other classes happening around the pool. There were other kids sitting along the side waiting for classes to end and parents watching and talking.
Then it dawned on me. This is the exact situation that the Audiologist had warned me about. With all the other back ground noise going on, it was almost certain that, Piper was not hearing properly what the instructor was saying. It also dawned on me that we would have to tell Piper about her little left ear that can’t hear as well as her right.
So after the class, I approached her instructor and I let her know that Piper has some hearing loss in her left ear. That perhaps she could try to make a point of speaking directly to Piper or in the direction of her right ear.
Then as Piper dried off and we drove home, we talked about it. I told her all about her little left ear that does not hear as well as her right. I told her that sometimes she might have a hard time hearing what is going on around her or what her instructor is saying. I told her that she should tell the instructor that she doesn’t always hear everything with her left ear and ask her to please repeat herself.
The hardest part about this (I mean aside from the fact that my heart is a bit broken for my baby) is that Piper doesn’t even really grasp exactly what this means. So she might not always remember to ask people to please repeat themselves. She might not even realize that she isn’t hearing everything going on around her.
And so it begins….
{ 2 comments }
oh wow, my heart is breaking for you and her….
but you know that more she grows up with this, the more you talk about it and get her comfortable with it (Not you, you'll never be comfortable with it as her mom) the easier it will get.
she looks great in the water…and things will be ok!!!! HUGS
It will just be something that she learns to live with. I just pray it doesn't get worse.