2023.08.21
“Shengyu was my precious baby, conceived after three miscarriages. I had so many anticipations for him! But despite all the predictions, I never expected that he would be a child with hearing loss,” Shengyu’s mother said with a bitter smile. Shengyu, who suffered from severe hearing loss, was the long-awaited grandson in the family, and he was the treasure his parents had struggled so hard to have.
“I’ve doubted more than once, what am I working so hard for?”
During the two years of filming the documentary, there were times when Shengyu’s mother expressed her feelings of unease and helplessness to the filming team. She said, “I’ve doubted more than once, what am I working so hard for? Children who got cochlear implants at the same time as my son are all speaking now. Why does my son still have no speaking skills?” Although Shengyu received cochlear implants when he was over a year old and started auditory verbal therapy at Children’s Hearing Foundation(CHF), he was reluctant to speak. “I actually look forward to what my son’s voice will sound like. Of course, since I love singing so much, what I look forward to the most is one day being able to go to KTV and sing together with him, haha!” When talking about Shengyu’s mother’s biggest wish, she said this, but at the time, this wish seemed unattainable.
It’s not just Shengyu’s mother who puts in effort every day to provide language input; the whole family comes together to help Shengyu hear and speak. Even though these efforts may seem endless, and they are unsure when they will see Shengyu’s progress, his grandfather, whenever he has free time, accompanies Shengyu from their home in Yangmei to the Zhongyuan Center of CHF, and even to the Northern District Center in Neihu for auditory verbal therapy and hearing evaluations. His grandmother buys different themed flashcards, audio books, and picture books, all to provide her grandson with more language input. His father and aunt plan family outings on weekends, taking Shengyu to various places to listen and play with sounds.
Don’t give up; every child has their own pace.
As it came near to the end of documentary shooting, among the three children involved in the filming, Shengyu showed the least progress in his oral language skills. The filming team even began to wonder if they would ever capture Shengyu speaking. However, to their surprise, one evening, his mother suddenly shared some exciting news: “Shengyu came over and sat down beside me and said, ‘Mom, can I chat with you?'”. Finally, at the age of four, Shengyu started speaking!
“I was so amazed! My son’s first words were incredibly mature! Just a few days later, he went to his grandparents and said, ‘Can I chat with you?’ It was so touching, but also cute and funny!” Shengyu’s mom said with a smile. The whole family had been waiting for this day for four years.
“Mommy, let me tell you about the little Charmander in Pokémon…” Shengyu is now five years old, and not only does he speak well, but he also loves singing and introducing Pokémon to his mom. We believe that every child has their own pace, and as long as you maintain an unwavering desire, Shengyu won’t be the only child to experience the transformation to live their life!
