This week, Halle had the audiology appointment at Mayo that we have been waiting for. She had one test in a sound booth, and it went so well that her next three appointments for the week were cancelled. She doesn’t need any hearing interventions right now!
Halle had testing with both a headset and headphones, and they played tones and spoke to her at different decibels through them. She heard the audiologist’s voice at every decibel, but she ignored the tones for the most part. Apparently ignoring tones can be really common for kids her age, so they weren’t concerned about it.
The audiologists also played with her and were able to hear her speak and watch her sign and respond to what they were saying, and they believe that she comprehends speech very well. When she is older, they will be able to do more clinical tests that can determine more clearly the quality of what she is hearing. We also talked about her speech delays, and they agreed with Halle’s speech therapist that they are probably due to her mouth’s muscle weakness, trach, and hospitalizations, combined with some hearing difficulties. She has been signing a lot more lately, so we are encouraged by that form of communication!
Having Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder is a given with RTD, but they believe she is definitely on the mild end of the spectrum. Halle will keep testing every six months to monitor her hearing as she grows.
We are so, so grateful and encouraged by this outcome! God is good! Halle also travelled very well on both of the long days of car rides, and she got to go to the zoo in Rochester.
