Liam's Special Helper

Liam is a particularly busy little bee. Keeping his hearing aids in his ears requires one on one attention to keep his hands busy and at the very least make sure he's not eating his aids. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to give him that attention on my own, I made it a point to find someone to come a couple times a week and spend time with him and help him keep those hearing aids in his ears.

Kassidi is in our ward at church and happens to live just down the street. She showed interest in the job, so I went ahead and hired her. That was one of the best things I've ever done. She's dependable, willing to learn whatever it takes to work with him, and (most importantly) happy to be with him. She's always smiling and gets right down on the floor and plays with him.

When she first started, he was pulling his aids out about every 30seconds-5 minutes. Now that he's had some time at school and with her, he's leaving them in upwards of 15-30 minutes at a time. It's working!! He's learning that he has to keep his ears in when Kassidi is here, and he doesn't mind. He loves her. The minute she comes in and gets his hearing aids, he scurries over to her and plops himself in her lap to wait for her to put his aids in and then waits excitedly to see which toy she's going to pull out and play with him.

She comes with us places when it's just me and the kids (I don't try to keep his aids in when we're out and about yet. I don't want them lost), babysits for all the kids now and then, and has just been a ray of sunshine and a blessing in our lives. She even comes over to help out now and then at church when the kids are feeling a little too rascally.

So there you go. Those of you who have hearing impaired children and are feeling a sense of guilt over the lack of time you have to help your child wear those all-important hearing aids can consider finding an eager young person to help keep them in. Someone like Kassidi who has a real desire to learn about hearing loss, has a lot of energy to spare, and is fun-loving can often be key to the success of our sweet little people. While it can seem like a crazy idea to hire someone so young to do something so vital, I can attest to the fact that even crazy things can work. And work it has in our home. Thanks, Kassidi, for all your hard work!! Liam loves you!!