Grandparents Day at CHC

Wednesday, May 2, was Grandparents day at the Center for Communication and Hearing.   It was a delightful and educational day for me.

Hannah is so at home here.   When she arrived she was the center of everyone attention.   She seems to know everyone there and she loves the doting that's bestowed upon her .   I feel so comfortable that this environment was so welcoming to her.

First we went to her therapy session with Farrah.   Farrah is a wonderful therapist who seems to know Hannah very well.   First Hannah waved her hand at Farrah, then she looked at Mommy and to my delight,  Farrah said "Say hello to Grandma", Hannah looked at me and waved and blew her awesome kisses.   Hannah's go to word right now is"up"and she usually uses it appropriately, especially when something is dropped on the floor.   She's learning words, such as in, out, open, shut, push.   She played with a doll and we all sang la la la as the baby was rocked and put to sleep.   She's learning the Shhhhh sound.and the ooo sound.   Hannah has quite a long attention span.   She played with us for about forty minutes without showing any crankiness.   Farrah shut the lights to demonstrate the shhhh sound.   This did not frighten Hannah at all.   In fact she looked at me in the dark, smiled , and waved like the Queen of England.   I don't mean to sound grandmotherly, but I think she's gifted.

After about forty minutes, Laurie Hanin, the executive director of CHC had me come out and observe the rest of Hannah's therapy session through a one way mirror.   Laurie talked about the progress that Hannah was making.   She told me that her development is equal to any other eleven month old.   She told me that she will definitely be main streamed in whatever school setting Jennifer and Michael choose for her.

Hannah is a star.   She's making wonderful progress.  

After my session with Laurie, I had my own hearing test.   By some fluke I passed, which is strange because I'm often told by people that I don't listen.   And these are the people who love me the most.

Next I took a tour of the facility with Nancy Nadler,  Director of Development.   There are not only programs for children Hannah's age, but there are also programs for school age children, adolescents, teenagers and adults.  We went to audiology rooms which were designed to make children feel at ease and not intimidated.   There was a simulated living space where people with hearing loss can learn to adapt to their own living environment.   I was especially impressed with a room that was designed by an architect and a sound engineer  to help people with hearing devices adapt to such settings as a noisy restaurant, an office or a sporting event.

Grandparents Day last spring in Central Park

I feel very reassured that Hannah is in such a wonderful environment with caring and highly professional people.  I'm writing this on Jennifer's blog for Mom mom and Pop pop who are in Florida, and for Grandpa who is recovering from hip replacement surgery.   You were all in my thoughts so I share this with you.