Are you telling me that this isn't a Chinese to English thing...sounds about right.

Here we go, ol' buddy...a "final" installment in the health update for Big Z...until the next thing. :)

In the extensive testing done at the AEA, they also evaluated his speech. We assumed he was still transitioning from Chinese to English, and we also wondered if that missing 
"surround sound" was contributing to his struggle to communicate. Apparently, Zane also has a typical speech developmental delay...more new territory...and although it doesn't directly cause the speech intelligibility, the hearing issues just add to the existing delay. 

Here's the kicker: because he has good hearing in the one ear...and even though he's literally missing an EAR...he doesn't qualify for any assistance in school. Great. 

BUT he does qualify for speech assistance with the significant delay. Ironic, huh? SO...to date, we completed 2 different installments of speech therapy outside of school, and he now meets with the speech therapist during school hours. 

The therapists all claim that he's doing great...and then there's me, "Dude, consonants are our friends! Cozy up to a 'K', for the love!" But he acts like they're nuclear bombs and steers clear...especially on the end of words. Sigh.

If you thought (correctly) that we were big-time ENABLERS with the glasses, you should be in our house whenever he's rambling on and on...oh, and ON! Once you've been around Zane for a long time, you can understand him, for the most part...unless you're a certain dad who continually turns to me (and ANYONE else in the family) and says, "WHAT did he just say?!?" So while it's great that we can communicate with him, it doesn't really help him in the long run. Imagine his frustration at school and church when most people have no clue what he's saying. The only saving grace is that he's so OCD, he repeats the same things OVER and OVER. A better mother than I would continually remind him about all those pesky consonants...this mother tends to just roll around in all of his vowel-glory. Friends...it's this or the rubber room for me. 

Pretty sure this is one of those things that will seem insignificant in a year...right now, it's fairly consuming. So you can pray for my one-earred bandit and his battle against the consonant machine, and we will look forward to that day far down the road when our sweet boy can stand (preferably without jumping around...we're still working on that) and give a speech to the masses where the crowd can understand every word, and Zane can hear and see them at the same time. That'll be a big day...a day to highlight the awesomeness of a Creator that never abandons His children. A good reminder...no matter the outcome.