Sunday, July 3, 2011

Speaking of metaphysics....

Tonight before bed, Ben announced, "This ... is this," pointing first to one book and then to another.  After reflecting on it for a moment, he explained.  "You know why I said that?  Because they are both books.  That's why I said, 'This is this.'"

Maybe Neil can step in with an exposition on the strengths and flaws of this argument.

Ben went without his hearing aid today.  For several weeks he's been getting more and more tetchy about anyone touching his left ear, especially to put the aid in or take it out.  At one point Neil thought he saw a little redness just inside the outer ear canal, but I can't see it.  At his last audiological appointment we decided not to get a new ear mold, even though we'd been running on this one for over six months, since it still fit so well.  (I do not miss the early days, when his ears grew so quickly that we had to go to Buffalo every two weeks for new molds.)  Maybe the latex is starting to degrade -- although we don't see any visible signs of it.  A mystery.  Anyway, today he actually started crying in pain when I tried to put the hearing aid in, so I desisted.  On Tuesday we'll follow up, either with the audiologist or pediatrician.  And of course, his CI was beeping all yesterday and today -- not clear whether the battery was in poor contact or this cable is starting to die.  Impeccable timing.

4 comments:

PinkLAM said...

Love that kid and the stuff that comes out of his mouth!

And don't you know, the rule of audiology is that if one hearing device can't be worn, the other will inevitably break?! When I wore hearing aids, it seemed like they broke in pairs.

Strange that he is finding the hearing aid uncomfortable. When I was in first grade I decided I need rainbow earmolds since they were much prettier than the clear-turned-yellow ones I always wore. Turned out I was allergic to the dye and could not wear my molds/aids for over a week (DISASTER!). If he's worn the mold for so long, I doubt that would be the problem. It could possibly be a sore that you can't see? Or maybe an ear infection, I suppose...

Are you positive his reaction is to the mold and not something with the hearing/aid itself?

leah said...

Hey, seems like our kid's ears have similar timing (sigh). Nolan's running on one ear, too - his right aid just up and died on us. Water damage? Dog? Old Age? Who knows...

We've had discomfort with earmolds before - sometimes it is an outer ear infection (not always obvious) - especially in the summer where the hot, humid air breeds infection behind the earmold. We've also had earwax cause discomfort, because the earmold pushes it in against the eardrum. I hope the pediatrician or audio can figure it out!

Ben's sayings are just priceless. It sounds like he is ready to study philosophy! :-)

Neil Feit said...

Ben says memorable things every day, I'm sure most 3 1/2 year old kids do.

Now, when he said "This is this" it could mean two things. It could mean this particular book, which he pointed to first, is this particular book, which he pointed to second. That would be false. But it could mean this KIND of thing is this KIND of thing, which is true, and knowing Ben and given his explanation, what he meant.

Julia said...

Thanks, honey! Now, can you get a paper out of that? Probably not, but it might be a good anecdote for your students.