CI and glasses

ashleysmommy

ashleysmommy

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Its me again. Another question. Has anyone had to work with the implants and eye glasses? I am hoping we won't have any problems. I was just wondering if any issues have popped up and any good advice on how to make them compatible with each other on such a small head. Ashley just got new big girl glasses today (wire rim that go behind the ear versus plastic held on with with a band around her head). They look like they will work better but just wanted little feedback on the subject. Thanks
 
Wire rims will definately be better than the old ones. Lilly does not wear glasses, but she does wear sunglasses. We have had a difficult time getting the earpeice and the arm of the sunglasses over her ear. With wire rims, they usually have more narrow arms, so they should be smaller. It may still be a challege, but the new glasses could only help.
When dealing with the small ears, and the CI earpeice, everything is a challenge. But you know how important the CI is, so you make do, get VERY creative, and eventually figure it out.
The dressing on Lillys head following the surgery is a cup bandage. It is a band that goes around her head, and velcros. The dr used this so Lilly will be able to use her existing CI. The normal gauze bandage would not allow the other side CI to be used because the coil would be blocked. So they used this, the problem is that the strap falls behind her ear, this prevents the earpeice from staying on her ear. I ended up safety pinning the earpeice to the strap to stop it from falling off. It looks weird, but screw it. Look at the new avatar to also see the other accessory to the strap. You have to give me am minute, I need to upload the latest pics.
 
Also, the picture was taken today. Surgery was wednesday. Notice the lack of swelling!
 
I wear glasses, and not the wire rimmed kind - I prefer the plastic frame type. I am able to wear my glasses and the BTE. You will eventually figure it out. :)
 
Lillys dad: I also had a cup bandage for my second CI surgery so that I could continue wearing my first CI. It worked out quite well.

ashleysmommy: I wear sunglasses (wire rimmed) with my CIs and they don't pose any problems with comfort or not staying in place. I experimented with several types of frames and found the wired frames worked best for me.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
I wear glasses, and not the wire rimmed kind - I prefer the plastic frame type. I am able to wear my glasses and the BTE. You will eventually figure it out. :)
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Never thought about how eye/sunglasses could "interfere" with wearing CIs! Actually I've never worn behind-the-ears HAs, only body HAs (that's how old I am, LOL).

(psst Lucia, are those your real eye colors? I've seen brown and blue combos but not like yours -- they're really pretty and unusual)

Have a great weekend, all! :cool:
 
greema said:
(psst Lucia, are those your real eye colors? I've seen brown and blue combos but not like yours -- they're really pretty and unusual)
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LOL, no. I was bored and did that in Photoshop. :giggle: Both my eyes are chocolate brown. :D I know quite a few people with differently colored eyes and I kind of think it is awesome. :)
 
As you can see in my avatar Ashley has her new glasses. I guess you guys are right. We will have to wait and play around with different frames and such to see what works better with her. So far she will only wear these for about 30 mins at a time. She is going to have to get used to the new strength. Thanks again for the info. Any other advice or suggestions are always welcome.
 
know quite a few people with differently colored eyes
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That's b/c of the Waardenburg's population in the Deaf community.

Ashley'smom, if you want I will ask a friend of mine who's blind-hoh, and went to Perkins, if he knows of anyone who might be able to give you advice re: this. However, I do know that glasses users are VERY common overall. This isn't an unusual situion at all by far.
 
deafdyke said:
That's b/c of the Waardenburg's population in the Deaf community.
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Yes, I have Waardenburg but both my eyes are brown. My father who was hearing and dark skinned however had one brown eye and one brilliant blue eye. It looked very striking! They didn't know he had Waardenburg's though until I was born deaf.
 
I just wanted to add that I use both CI AND glasses and have no problem whatsoever with them.

I also use the "children's" earhook on my CI as my ears are too small for the larger ones and my CI kept falling off!! LOL.
 
deafdyke said:
That's b/c of the Waardenburg's population in the Deaf community.

Ashley'smom, if you want I will ask a friend of mine who's blind-hoh, and went to Perkins, if he knows of anyone who might be able to give you advice re: this. However, I do know that glasses users are VERY common overall. This isn't an unusual situion at all by far.
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That would be great. Thanks. I will take all suggestions I can get.
 
Cool glad to hear that no real problems have come up with the glasses and CI. I am just trying to get all the info now that I can. Once she has her surgery I will probably be a basket case. She is so high strung I have a hard time keeping up with her now. Thanks for the input. Keep it coming.
 
Thanks for the links. Ashley is followed by a worker from the Deaf Blind Project in my area. They have given her teacher approval to order anything Ashley needs for therapy. She qualifies for services for as long as she needs or wants them. They will follow her through school. Help her with college. They also help her with employment. She can get books, computers, or any other aids she may need. It has been a great help so far.
 
ashleysmommy said:
Thanks for the links. Ashley is followed by a worker from the Deaf Blind Project in my area. They have given her teacher approval to order anything Ashley needs for therapy. She qualifies for services for as long as she needs or wants them. They will follow her through school. Help her with college. They also help her with employment. She can get books, computers, or any other aids she may need. It has been a great help so far.
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That's great and will definitely help Ashley with her educational persuits. :)

I also had similar services when I started college. Upon high school graduation, I was immediately referred to my local vocational rehabilitation office who consulted with me on appropriate accommodations for my deafblindness for college and employment.

I also met with an employment specialist at my local deafblind center who explained my rights under the ADA as well as what kind of career choices were best for me given my interests and abilities.

As for computers, I had to pay for mine myself. For whatever reason, my local VR office doesn't provide more than one computer per client (even though I've heard of cases where other clients have received as many as 3 different computers).

The computer I'm using now is almost 4 years old and still works perfectly, knock on wood. When I upgrade my computer, I plan to appeal VR in hopes that they will provide me with a new computer. If I don't win the appeal, I'll have to seek other means of funding through the Lion's Club or similar organization. :)
 
Good luck with that. We have been lucky with the services Ashley has gotten so far. Most of it was referred to us by the Infant Toddler Connection. She gets her therapy through them. Well, all but speech. The hospital Ashley was at also put us in touch with a lot of organizations that could provide services for her. I hope you can get them to help out with a new computer. If not the Loins Club is usually very good about helping. They were going to help pay for Ashley's HA's but her insurance finally agreed after her doctors kept on fighting it.
 
We have been lucky with the services Ashley has gotten so far.
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What area are you in? Maybe we can point you towards some more good resources! Are you guys in touch with your state's schools for the Deaf and blind yet? It's not too early to see what they can offer. If Ashley gets the proper early intervention and proper access to services, (rather then just generic EI services) she'll have a really good foundation to REALLY suceed!
 
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