House Visit by Dr. Basha

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of having Dr. Basha visiting us at home. Dr. Basha is Afif's speech therapist from TUTUR, Klinik Audiology UKM.

Objective of the visit is to see how Afif is at home. Where he always hangs out at? What he does at home? What are the toys he plays with? How do we, as parents, interact and communicate with him? Things like that. After making the observation she would sit us down and discuss what she sees and comments on what to improve.

She came at around 11.30am. Afif malu-malu pulak salam dia. After having a drink, we straight away went to Afif's playroom. Upon entering the playroom, Dr. Basha said "Wahh dah macam therapy room!" Hehe.

Afif pon buat la apa dia selalu buat. Main conteng-conteng buku. Dia suka bila Mama pegang tangan dia and lukis beruang sambil nyanyi lagu "Anak Beruang". Upon seeing this, Dr. Basha suggest pausing at some parts of the sound to encourage him to continue singing or asking me to continue singing.

Lepas tu main masak-masak. Main bola. Conteng dinding. Ada jugak time yang dia takmo main dah. Sibuk nak turun. So we took 5 minutes off and doktor suggests what to do with some toys.

After we're done playing, ajak Dr. Basha makan. Senang hati tengok dia selera betol makan. Lauk kampung je pon. Of course la bukan aku masak dah aku sibuk main ngan Afif. Baahaha.

She said my skill of interacting with Afif is good and she has no comment on that. Cuma kene banyak ulang-ulang supaya lekat dalam kepala Afif. Idzwan has to improve and needs to talk more to Afif. The key with interacting with a deaf child is to make everything fun. Bila fun, diorang automatic akan nak main dan nak belajar.

Dia jugak suruh kitorang gunakan laman rumah yang luas tu. Bercucuk tanam atau menebas, ajak Afif. Siram bunga ajak Afif. Aku gelak je sebab kitorang memang lah bukan gardener hoih. Tapi akan cuba lepas ni.

Aku suka betul ngan Dr. Basha ni. She is the kind of doctor whose involvement with her patients is not limited to working hours. Email aku tak pernah tak balas. Weekend ada je dia buat playgroup for certain group of children. Weekend jugak dia buat house visit kepada sesiapa yang dia rasa memerlukan. Doctors like her really make a difference. Whether she knows it or not.

Thanks doctor, for your time and patience. 

Speech Learning Tools from Cochlear.com

i've been meaning to share this but kept on forgetting.

On last speech and audio discussion, Dr. Basya and Pn. Izzati suggested i view and print this printable module from Cochlear website. It has week by week activities to be carried out with your hearing impaired child. It's like a guide for doing your own speech therapy session at home.

i, of course did not know this exist and never thought of going to Cochlear website because Afif is not a CI boy. But Dr. Basya said it's okay because it's the speech lesson that matters, regardless of the baby using hearingaids or CI.

There's so many steps to get to this page so i'll just give you the link:

http://hope.cochlearamericas.com/listening-tools

Depending on your baby's hearing age, you can choose the module for babies or for toddler. Though Afif is a toddler, his hearing age is 8 months so i chose to work with Sound Foundation for Babies module. 

There are week by week module. As Afif has been wearing HA for more than 8 months, i did not start on module 1 for him. Choosing which week to start on was a bit tricky for me as week 36 module looks too advanced for him. In the end, i went through almost all of the module and decided to print week 15 onwards. Even with that, there's a few things in those module that Afif has not mastered and a few other things that he has mastered. So evaluate your child's speech and hearing and start the module according to that.

i wish i knew about this modules when he started wearing the HA. It'd be way easier for us. Anyhow, what's done is done. We'll have to work hard.

Sound Foundation for Babies: for the first 12 months of aided hearing

Sound Foundation for Toddlers: for the first second year of aided hearing

For convenience, i have saved the link under the "Informative Links on Hearing Loss in Children" tab on the right side of this blog.

 

Afif's printed module.

i put it in clear pocket by week.

First Music Class - A Disaster

i have been reading Rhianna's Cochlear Implant journey and i'm amazed at Yanti's (her mom) effort to get Rhianna to hear better. After Rhianna was diagnosed with her hearing loss, she got he cochlear implant. Yanti took a long time off work to intensively care for Rhianna. She signed her up for music and reading class, and actively went for playgroups/seminars.

i decided to enroll Afif into a music class for toddler too.

We initially went for a trial class. Us being us, we got there half an hour late. Afif being Afif, he was so amazed at a new place and busy exploring. Instead of joining in with the teacher and other kids dancing and singing, he went to bang on the wall, tried to open drawers, and busy pushing buttons at power outlet.

Totally not what i expected.

The teacher assured us that it's common for newcomers to be like that. Busy exploring and not joining in. i felt a bit better. So we signed up for the class.

Last  Saturday we went for the first class. Got there half an hour early, at the teacher's advice. Afif, as usual, busy running in the mall, went up and down the escalators (my brother and i took turn to watch him). 

At 3pm, the class started and Afif has gotten a little cranky. i guess he was tired from all the running and climbing. Again, he refused to cooperate and join the crowd. He followed instruction when he feels like it but most of the time he'd just do his own stuff. 

The teacher gave a pair of bells. He just played with it for a while and then threw it on the floor. When i picked it up, he'd cry and want it back and then proceeded to throw it on the floor. The same with plastic mirror. More throwing and crying. A couple of times, he laid on the floor and bang his head on the floor. That's the first time he did that!

It was chaotic. Music playing, 5 toddlers with parents dancing around and there i was, desperately trying to calm my child and getting him to join the fun. 

i was so depressed. What happened to my fun loving boy? My singing and dancing boy? The other parents looked at us like we're aliens. i could feel them judging me- a bad parent.

At the end of the class, the teacher told me to sign Afif up for a sign language class. She said that he can't tell me what he wants, that's why he's so angry. i felt so humiliated, especially as she done that in front of other parents. 

YES, my child is deaf. i want him to hear and speak that's why i sent him to a music class. If i want him to sign, i would've taught him sign language without you telling me to. Besides, i know he wanted milk but would you like it if i breasfeed right then and there in the class with fathers watching? Instead of saying that to her face, i kept quiet and left.

Sigh.

If it's up to me, i would never want to go back. But we paid for a semester of music class and the money would've gone to waste. We'll see how it goes next week.

Toddler Activity: Bathroom Painting

Ok so Afif loves the iPad. i came to realize that after two mornings of him getting up and out of bed and point the iPad at me. Now before you bash me, don't worry. It's not an addiction yet. Setakat ni tak pernah la lagi dia mengamuk tantrum kalo tak dapat. Phew phew..

But yaa.. Of course we have to plan stuff for him to vary his activities. Mainan banyak tapi kejap-kejap main dia bosan. Dia suka main air, aku layan la jugak kat toilet tapi susah sebab takot basah hearing aid dia. Main hide and seek pon layan. Dia layan gak crayon, pencil color and magic color tapi lelama dia ada idea conteng dinding plak (-____-) so i minimize his contact with those.

i got him this Crayola Washable Kids' Paint a few weeks ago. The first time we painted was one rainy day after he got up from his afternoon nap. Kononnya fun activity. Tapi time tu dia cranky, dia conteng sekali dua je pastu marah aku cat tapak tangan dia pastu we wrap up. So much for being artsy.

The supplies for painting activities.

 End product

Cranky kene paksa melukis

Then yesterday i had this bright idea of combining his favorite place, the toilet, and some art stuff. Maka terjadi lah bathroom painting!

Bangon pagi dan brekpes, i stripped him down. Ingatkan nak mandi la tuh. He got excited pon seeing the paint i laid on the stool in the bathroom. Then i started painting the house and tree, he followed suit. But of course, no house, tree or even stick figures from him yet. Conteng-conteng ikot suka je.

Muka puas hati main conteng-conteng

Our masterpiece.

He was so happy experimenting siap cover toilet bowl pon dia conteng. i think this activity is good to train our baby's motor skill and also to teach them colors. i even mix a few colors together to create a new color for example blue+yellow=green!

The best part is this Crayola Paint is totally washable. After our painting session, simbah air kat dinding tiles tu and gosok sikit-sikit pakai tangan je terus hilang color tu. No mess for lazy moms like me.

p/s: malam tu dia amek pencil color dan conteng dinding rumah while i was busy in the kitchen. Laki aku gelak je "siapa suruh ajar conteng toilet?" katanya. Haihhh..

Routine

Today is the 14th day of being a SAHM. The experience? Mixed of yayy and grrrr..

i applied for my unpaid leave in the second week of December. Ada sedikit isu sebabnya kitorang bertukar bos. Bos lama takda authority nak sign, bos baru pulak bila aku cari kat opis dia, selalu takda. But i'm so thankful that all my bosses are understanding and supportive. Siap suruh aku cuti setahun terus. Eh? Pastu kene settlekan bayar in advance loan rumah untuk 3 bulan. Perghh nasib baik ada savings. Kalo tak, susah jugak. Maka gedebuk gedebak, 2 days before actual cuti date tu baru all are signed, sealed and submitted to HR. Legaaa..

Selama ni, aku slalu berangan nak brenti keje, jadi SAHM or have small business from home. But seriously, seminggu sebelum start cuti tu, aku banyak termenung. Kat opis i kept thinking "i'm gonna miss my friends. This computer, i'm gonna miss it.." Sambil jalan kat KLCC tu aku fikir "Goshh i won't be able to drink San Francisco for breakfast for a long long time.." Sampai makcik cleaner and makcik kat foodcourt pon aku sedih memikirkan akan rindu. Tak campur lg hal kerja. Accanner kalo nanti tak reti jadi geologist dah?

And then there's this "Crap! i have to depend on hubby for money.." which stresses me out coz i've always been independent. Buy what i want with my own money. Bak kata member aku "Nanti nak beli jagung rebus kat pasar pon mintak ihsan laki.." Haih..

But a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do.

Start cuti 2 Januari 2014 tuhari tapi sebab first Jan tu public holiday, kiranya new year lah aku jadi surirumah.

Serious weh. Jadi. Surirumah. Adalah. Lagi. Penat. Daripada. Jadi. Working. Mom.

Rutin Pagi

-Bangon around 9am.

-Golek-golek geletek ngan Afif.

-Turun breakfast.

-Feed Afif sambil dia buat sepah/ suap aku/round dapur

-Mandikan Afif.

-Dia nenen setengah jam.

-Activities: Tatih around the house/tengok kucing/tengok Upin Ipin/tengok Barney/main toys indoor/ sambil stress sebab kenapa ko taknak lepas tangan mama bila berjalan? Sambil dia nangis kenapa mama suka lepaskan tangan suruh aku jalan sendiri?

-Nenen lagi

-Afternoon nap. (sometimes for both of us, sometimes only him while i do my thing to get my sanity)

-Masak Afif's lunch / kalo ada mood, masak for the whole family

Rutin Tengah Hari - Petang

-Lunch 

-Afif bangon

-Activities

-Feed Afif lunch sambil stress sebab dia makan sikit.

-Nenen

-Activities

-Nenen

-Try to get him to nap

-Do chores

-Afternoon walk around the block or playground

-Bathe Afif

Rutin Malam

-Play

-Feed Afif dinner

-Mama dinner

-Get Afif to bed (read: nenen for 2 hours to sleep gahhhh)

-Kemas bilik/lipat kain/panaskan lauk/tunggu Hubby balik.

Ini lah lebih kurang rutin aku.

i'm lucky i live with Wan and Mak Ngah. They cook. Kalau sempat, aku basuh, sidai, lipat baju. On days when Afif is not too clingy, i cook/kemas bilik/vacuum. Gitu lah. Setakat ni sempat 3 hari masak mac n' cheese and pizza. Both from scratch nan hado guna ready made sauce bagai.

Tak dapat aku bayangkan full time housewife ada 3-4 orang anak. Mana nak layan budak, kemas rumah, laundry, masak. Memang gila.

But i'm loving it, actually. This stay at home thing. i just wish i can earn what i earn at the office, being a SAHM.

 Explained why my Instagram is full of Afif.