The power of an FM at the Symphony..

I was given 2 free tickets to the Symphony and was able to take Evan this past Sunday. I did my homework before hand to make sure that his FM system would be able to be hooked up so he could have full access. The box office assured me that this would be possible and when we arrived to just let an usher know and they would get us the proper equipment. This was a Kids Series put on by St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis so they had many things for the kids to do before the concert, which was nice. Evan and I were able to eat in the Mall Food Court, which he loved the orange chicken, and then headed over the the Symphony.

The first thing he did was make his own shaker with a box and some rice, then we headed upstairs where one of the music players was giving a demonstration to the kids. He struggled a little because I had the FM on my neck and not the person speaking, we did this because we showed up late and it was only a couple of minutes. It was okay!! Then the last room we went into was the "Petting Zoo for Instruments". They had put out so many instruments and the kids were able to play them all. He was able to play the violin, tambourine, maracas and many others. He really enjoyed that and then the music started down below so I told him it was time to go get his FM hooked up. We walked down found an usher and was taken to the coat check and given their receiver. I was informed our cable would hook right into receiver and he would be able to access it through the speaker system. So off we went into find our seats.. The gentleman seating us informed us to turn it to Channel 180 and I kept looking at the receiver and there was no dial to change the channel. I started testing Evan to see if he was hearing the conductor speaking and he couldn't. It took me about 10-15 minutes to get the picture that I had to change the channel on his FM receiver and he was able to get full access to the speech and music. Every time the conductor would say someone's name I would quiz Evan on what did he just say to just make sure the FM was still working. The show took about an hour, which was way too long for Evan, but all in all it was a good day. Him and I were able to spend all afternoon together and I can say that we have at least been to the Symphony once in our lives!!

To me this is just another fine example on why ever deaf/hard of hearing child should have a personal FM system and should be allowed to take it home with them. My child was able to have full access thanks to our school district!!

I had to add a picture of him after he lost his first tooth!! My little boy is growing up so fast!!!