Megan's Hearing

We know that many of you have been praying for Megan. Yesterday we went to Kampala to meet with the pediatrician for a check-up and hearing test. We and the pediatrician were both very disappointed that the audiogram machine had not arrived (despite the fact that, two days before, we had called to remind to please make sure that it was all ready as we were coming a long distance etc.). The pediatrician examined Megan nonetheless. Also present was Megan’s speech therapist, Mrs. Sarah Newnham. Without the audiogram, the doctor performed some other tests to check Megan’s hearing. The result was that both the pediatrician and Mrs. Newnham believed that Megan’s hearing was fine and, as it turns out, an audiogram test might not be so helpful or reliable in Megan’s case. If Megan is disabled at all in her hearing, it would be better detected by a test that measures the brain activity rather than Megan’s voluntary responses. The pediatrician is going to look into whether that test is available in country. In the meantime, we were encouraged that both the doctor and speech therapist believed that what Megan needs the most is to begin speech therapy.

Mrs. Newnham believes that Megan has a “phonological disorder”. (She does not have “dyspraxia”, which is a developmental disorder affecting the ability to coordinate and execute actions.) This morning she was gracious enough to meet with Megan and us in her own home. It was a wonderful environment in which everyone felt very comfortable. Mrs. Newnham had already given us a packet full of materials explaining the therapy which we will be doing with Megan. In her home she spent some more time working with Megan herself and teaching us how to do this work as well as encouraging us as we begin this process. The first step will involve mostly helping Megan to discriminate sounds. We need to make sure she is distinguishing different sounds before we should expect her to pronounce them consistently.

Thanks again for your ongoing prayers for Megan!