Certified Auditory-Verbal Therapists®

James G. Watson, MSc, CED
Lea Donovan Watson, MS, CCC

544 Washington St.
Gloucester, MA 01930
978-282-0025
avcc@avcclisten.com  www.avcclisten.com  

 The Chaikofs came to AVCC when Rachel was just a baby. Rachel received a cochlear implant in 1989. She was the first child in New England at that time to receive a cochlear implant. We had the privilege of participating in Auditory-Verbal Therapy with her for three years before she and her family moved to Atlanta, GA.

Her mom, Melissa, writes: "Dear Lea and Jim,   Every year, our county schools have a contest, called Reflections, which Rachel has won at the school and county level before for her artwork.  However, this year, the theme was "I am happy when..."  For this, she entered a piece she had written for her website www.cochlearimplantonline.com , and, so far, it's won at the school and county level for the writing competition.  Now, she moves on to the state level."

Leaving Silence Behind
By Rachel Chaikof

Without the rigorous but tremendous miracles that I've had, there would be no astonishing sounds traveling through my ears and around me to make my life easier.  I wouldn't have been able to just simply say or hear "Hi!  What's up?" My mouth would have opened and moved as if I were trying to speak, but no words would have come out.  My hand couldn't have been raised up in the air to answer the questions in my own crystal clear voice, like other students in my class, not to mention that I wouldn't have been able to pick up the phone and put it to my ear and my mouth to hear and speak to my long distance grandparents, which would make me miss them even more.  My beautiful long fingers wouldn't have touched the grand piano to play the tunes of magnificent songs. The waiter at the restaurant could come up to me, but all I would have seen is him/her standing there and his/her mouth moving.  What would I do?  How could I communicate with that person?  I wouldn't even have been able to hear the real quality of sounds of my parents saying, "I love you."  Even if I just had a hug meaning, "I love you," it still wouldn't be enough to show the emotions of love.  Sounds are needed to be there for me to understand the expressions of anger, happiness, excitement, and sadness.  Sounds are precious treasures that cannot be kept away from me.  It was almost like having a treasure box with precious sounds inside it, sitting and waiting for me to open it to bring all the real miracles that have come to me.
 
    I can walk in the diversified crowds of people in the halls at school or on the sidewalks in the city with noises surrounding me and seem to be unnoticeably different from each person because I can speak, hear and communicate as though it came as naturally for me.  Although, there is something different and unique about me from the rest of the crowd and even from the other students in my classroom, I can still communicate with other people well.  That's because I learned to listen and speak with a cochlear implant and Auditory-Verbal therapy!