It's always a relief to see test results after implantation, no matter how successful previous experience has been. Parents worry-- that's our job! Oliver is 15 months old, and his test results are in: 16 months receptive language and 12 months expressive. The expressive is gaining ground quickly but is, of course, delayed because of the lack of babbling before implantation and the cycle of input and internal modification when he hears the results. Now, he's babbling up a storm, but it will take a few more months to catch up. As he makes sounds and practices movement with his mouth, he hears the changes.

Anyway, this is another clear example of the fact that he UNDERSTANDS us at a rate commensurate with hearing peers! My prediction is that he will be caught up expressively at 18 months, which would be exactly 1 year after his first device was implanted. I can't wait to see.

So much for the theory that Elliot was a "star performer." We were told this once by Harlan Lane. What a joke! Oliver is a different child who even had a different surgeon. The only thing which remained the same is that he has the same parents and was implanted early. It supports the growing evidence that children who are implanted early are at a great advantage. Of course, we think Elliot is a star, but that's because we're his parents. He also has the advantage of health, a home, food and clothing, etc., but he is a normal boy who is lucky enough to live in an age of great scientific discovery.