Friday, March 22, 2019

Addee's Hearing Aids

Addallee and Carlin Bates
Addallee Bates: "The biggest difference in the new hearing aids is probably that I don't pick up so much background noise.

Kelly Bates: "Ya ‘cause there’s a lot of noise going on here all the time. There’s always background noise!"

Last night on Bringing Up Bates (check out our recap), we watched Addallee visit the otolaryngologist for a reevaluation of her hearing. Addee really likes her new children's hearing aids because they work better and are less bulky, and her family says they have boosted her confidence levels. They have also helped improve her speech and her ability to play piano (video below).

Addee's was born premature and stopped breathing soon after for several minutes, causing Gil to begin CPR while they waited for the Medford Volunteer Fire Department, which the Bates credit for saving their daughter's life. Addee was in the intensive care unit for a week, but miraculously, she doesn't have any other medical problems, aside from her hearing difficulties.

The three double letters in Addallee's name symbolize the second chance at life that God gave her. Her situation inspired young Zach, Michael, and Nathan to join the volunteer fire department.


Photo/video courtesy of UPtv

36 comments:

  1. Addallee is so sweet. My daughter played with her at Trace and Carlin's graduation party. We saw her again years later at one of Lawson's concerts and she remembered my daughter.

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  2. The thing with hearing aids they only amplify existing hearing they don’t restore sound like glasses restore full sight.
    I’m younger than Kelly and I wear both glasses and hearing aid without either I can’t see or hear enough. I think Addee does really well in such a big noisy family where everyone talks at once!

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  3. Addallee looks so much like Tori!

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  4. Wow! What an amazing testimony that they have been able to share!

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  5. This part of the episode was outstanding! I'm pleased that Addallee is feeling more confident and is excelling in school. Shine on Addallee!

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    1. Totally agree!!! Excellent part to the episode! Really happy for Addallee to keep getting adjustments to her aids to improve their comfort and sound!

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    2. I'd also like to see Kelly and Gil practicing her speech therapy exercises with her (I'm assuming she gets speech therapy). I hope someone (a parent, an older sib) works with her often.

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  6. Love the piano. Who taught you how to play?

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  7. Why didn't they get her new hearing aids sooner? I feel bad for the poor kid.

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    1. I’m sure her hearing has been tested at other times over the years and no change was necesaary. Also digital hearing aids have only come down in price in past number of years and the Bates before the show didn’t have a big income. .

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    2. because the technology is new!

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    3. It's not that new. It was first developed and available in 2014. Why didn't A. get her new hearing aids then?

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  8. Being homeschooled, I wonder if she has had speech therapy and extra help. I teach hearing impaired children in school. It would be a huge disservice if she did not receive the appropriate services.

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    1. I am a public school teacher. Speech therapy services can be as little as 20 minutes every other day! People have such a distorted image of the actual services provided in pubic schools! A speech therapist's job is to diagnose, then teach the child, family and others, how to practice those exercises daily. I am certain the Bates have much more time in their instructional day to differintiate the individual needs of their children than I ever could in my public school classroom!

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    2. 10:21. Speech therapy isn’t quite like that in the public schools where I live. The amount of services depends upon the student and their IEP. The therapist tests, diagnoses, writes goals and provides the treatment. The parent and child are not expected to carry out the treatment plan. (I was a public school special ed teacher, my son received speech therapy and I have good friends who are speech therapists.)

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    3. 10:21...with all due respect, I am not sure where you work, but that is not the case where I live and work. I teach Deaf and hard of hearing children within the public schools. My students receive daily speech and daily intense teacher of the deaf/hh services. Cases and IEPs are managed by me, the TOD, and never have I heard of a student receiving such little service. Ever.

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    4. Where I live homeschool kids can still receive speech services from the school.
      I’ve worked in some schools though where a student will only receive services if the speech/language/hearing problem is affecting their academics. My nephew has a speech impediment that he is embarrassed by but it’s been pulling teeth to get him evaluated and seen because he’s a straight A student.
      I think it all depends on where you live. It’s not fair to assume that they haven’t done anything for Addallee because we don’t know the whole story just because we watch the show. I seriously doubt she is neglected. Keep in mind she’s old enough to decide what she wants her parents to put out there about her story and she may not want all the details laid out in public.

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    5. Kelly has a degree in special education. I'm sure she is aware of her daughter's needs. Which is probably why Addallee has a good speech despite her hearing issues

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    6. Kelly received that degree 30+ years ago and hasn't worked in the field since. I think Addallee needs more updated care than that. Plus, Kelly is not an audiologist or a speech therapist.

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  9. Aww love Addalee!! She’s precious

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  10. It was good to see carlin being a thoughtful adult. I wish we got to see more of that family interaction. It made me think differently of Carlin. We see only moments of their day. It's easy to form perhaps a false impression. Almost like someone is cast that way.

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    1. It’s so nice seeing this interaction. I’m sure these moments of mentoring happen a lot and obviously we don’t see these moments of advice giving etc etc on camera and definitely many of these moments should stay off camera but it is beautiful to see.

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  11. I agree. That was a side of Carlin I have never seen before. She did a great job with the part of the lesson we saw. Looking forward to her wedding.

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  12. I have this worried feeling that Addallee got a pair of hearing aids a few years ago, a second updated pair now, and nothing else has been done for her. Her parents seem loving but they are also constantly traveling, starting churches, caring for their many kids and grandkids, planning and preparing for their TV show, etc. Addallee has a disability and needs special services. Has this been a top priority? I hope so.

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    1. Just remember you are only seeing a snapshot of their lives. What they choose to make public. All this stuff isn’t happening at once. They don’t film everyday every week. They also don’t share every detail of their lives. Think about that. You don’t see everything.

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  13. Does Carlin have training to teach piano? She is being kind and patient, but she could be steering Addallee all wrong. Maybe they should find someone who has a degree in music.

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    1. Erin her sister has a degree in music.
      You don’t need a degree to teach piano. I personally don’t know any piano teachers that do
      .

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    2. You don't have to have a degree in music to teach piano. Our kids' piano teacher doesn't, in fact she doesn't even have a college degree, and she's an awesome teacher.

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    3. There are a lot of things that you absolutely should have a degree in before you teach someone. Music is not one of them.

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    4. Carlin is studying music at Crown College so she is definitely qualified to teach piano. I wish we could see more of her musical studies, it seems like that side of her is not shown much.

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  14. That's great for Addee!! It seemed she had a problem since I would hear her speech was off.

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  15. As someone who has been hearing impaired her entire life and has worn hearing aids since she was 4 (I'm now 35), I really can relate to Addallee. Good for her for being willing to wear hearing aids if she knows it will help her!

    Seeing Carlin teach piano was nice because it is a side of her that we don't see much. I always got the impression that she is immature, so this changed my perspective some. :)

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  16. I have noticed a drastic change for the better in the past few years, in fact I can barely tell that she has a speech problem anymore.So whatever the parents are doing for her seem to be working great.People assume too much, no one knows what goes on every minute of every day in the Bates home.What I am sure of,is the extreme love and care that is in that home😇🕊💜😊

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  17. She's a sweet girl, and very good at piano! Those Bates girls are well rounded.

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