[BigV]

Thank you Clodfobble. I know so little about your situation, only what I've seen here. But Mr Clod's idea sounds plausible, stupid on her part but plausible. And I've seen, hell, I've lived the kind of fear that glatt suggests. Do they seem susceptible to the faith-healing idiocy we've all heard of? Are there other symptoms besides the shitty one you described? Maybe things just aren't bad enough to change. I know when ElderSon was much younger the prospect of having his hearing restored on a permanent basis by a cochlear implant was at once thrilling and terrifying. We ultimately decided the answer was "NO", but it was a very tough decision.

He was young, when language acquisition is in turbo mode, and he was not being immersed in language like other young children are. The idea that we would be risking permanent loss of his residual hearing, which was our small, weak bird in the hand by a failed operation (they insert a long hairlike electrode into the cochlea and the prospect of permanently breaking the cilia inside would effectively sever the physical biological chain making hearing in that ear impossible) was impossible to overcome. Not to mention the whole, "hey, let's crack open your kid's skull and stuff some cool electronics inside" was just too much.

So he kept his hearing aids, and his very limited hearing. And he's ok. But we agonized. I don't know your charge's mom's problem. Parenting is hard. I know she's fortunate to have you in her kid's life though. Good job, you.