CI implantees, advice on learning how to hear?

B

Bon

New Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
Messages
28
Reaction score
0
Hey guys,

I had meningitis at 13 months old and have had a profound hearing loss in my right ear and a moderate-severe hearing loss in my left ear which I use an aid on. However, a few years ago I started to lose the hearing in my left ear and it's no longer much functional for me, hence the cochlear implant.

I just received my implant last week and I'm getting it switched on in a couple of weeks... I live by myself, so outside of work I won't have much interaction with people and I was after some advice on learning how to hear with it?

Is merely watching TV and listening to what people say with captions going to be enough?

I probably sound stupid asking these questions as I really have no idea what to do to develop my listening capabilities... would love to hear any advice and suggestions from other people of what's worked for them in developing their hearing with a CI.

cheers
Andrew
 
Audio books, listen to stuff on the internet or ipod/MP3 player (videos that have sounds/speech, etc.). I'm sure listening to the TV will be good auditory rehab. Go out someplace and just listen, see what you can hear. Maybe go to the library and sit in on a storytime, and just listen to the story? I don't know. I'll be getting my CI in March so I've been thinking on this.

Here's the Listening Room from Hearing Journey, http://www.hearingjourney.com/Listening_Room/index.cfm?langid=1 they have different listening activities on the site for auditory training.
 
Hi Andrew: hope you find your new Cochlear Implant to be of assistance to you in daily living.
Not mentioned above consider going to "singles" dances. That is what I continued doing after being Implanted in 2007. The reason: loud music to quiet people voices does help your brain "get used to the Implant".

Also keep the Implant on all the time-to get used to all sounds you haven't been hearing previously.

Much success Andrew with your new Cochlear Implant.
 
cdmeggers, I had a quick read of your blog.... looks like we have similar stories! I can't believe how long you've been trying to get a CI and how much work you've had to do, it makes me feel very fortunate to get mine so quickly. Good news is it looks like yours is happening soon, so I wish you the best of luck! :)

Thanks for your reply, drphil! I'll keep it in mind when I get switched on :)
 
Which model/manufacturer did you choose, Bon? How did you decide among the different models available?
 
Beach girl said:
Which model/manufacturer did you choose, Bon? How did you decide among the different models available?
Click to expand...

Cochlear.

It's the only implant you can get in Australia. :roll: Such graceful to be in a country that is monopolized by a company.
 
It has been a very long time coming, but I'm glad things are finally falling into place for me. I hope the implant works well for you!
 
If you can afford it, get a Kindle with text-to-speech capabilities and then buy a few books that have that option also, and read along as the Kindle reads to you, paying close attention to how each word sounds. That helped me the most.

You could also do the same with audiobooks on tape or CD and the physical copy of the same book, but it's a lot harder to know exactly where the speaker on the tape/CD is and keep up. With the Kindle text to speech it does it page by page so it's easy to know where you are.
 
Beach girl said:
Which model/manufacturer did you choose, Bon? How did you decide among the different models available?
Click to expand...

I had the choice between Med-El and Cochlear. I went with the latter and the Freedom implant (with the Nucelus 5 speech processor) for a few reasons:

- the Freedom implant has been very reliable
- I still have some hearing in my left ear I'm optimistic of retaining, but I really struggle with the higher frequency sounds (always have) which I thought Cochlear would help to balance out
- the external part is much more solid and sturdy, whereas the Med-El looks fragile and weak and could possibly break much easier
- Cochlear dominate the market with 60-70% share, spending 13% of revenue on research and development, so my guess is they spend more money than others on research and development. There has just been a MASSIVE hearing hub built here in Sydney by Cochlear at Macquarie University which they intend to expand in the future by mentioning adjacent land nearby.

- Lastly, because of the meningitis my surgeon thought it would be best to go with the Cochlear since the electrodes don't go in as far.
 
Lily7 said:
If you can afford it, get a Kindle with text-to-speech capabilities and then buy a few books that have that option also, and read along as the Kindle reads to you, paying close attention to how each word sounds. That helped me the most.

You could also do the same with audiobooks on tape or CD and the physical copy of the same book, but it's a lot harder to know exactly where the speaker on the tape/CD is and keep up. With the Kindle text to speech it does it page by page so it's easy to know where you are.
Click to expand...

Great suggestion, thank you!
 
I don't mean to jump in since I do not have a CI, but for some reason I thought Med-El was restricted to middle ear issues rather than cochlear. Am I wrong?
 
AlleyCat said:
I don't mean to jump in since I do not have a CI, but for some reason I thought Med-El was restricted to middle ear issues rather than cochlear. Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

Funny.... I thought Med El only sold cochlear implants and not middle ear implants like Cochlear's Baha.
 
Bon said:
Hey guys,

I had meningitis at 13 months old and have had a profound hearing loss in my right ear and a moderate-severe hearing loss in my left ear which I use an aid on. However, a few years ago I started to lose the hearing in my left ear and it's no longer much functional for me, hence the cochlear implant.
Click to expand...

How old are you now? If you are over 20 years old, be prepared to be surprised and disappointed at the same time.

Good news: You will hear a lot more than you did with a hearing aid. Get used to the everyday sounds first...doors closing, shoes squeaking, birds chirping, etc, etc, and worry about understanding speech later. It is an overwhelming thing, your brain will hurt for awhile.

Bad news: For those of us that have lost most of our hearing at a very young age, and implanted with a CI much later in life, it is very hard for our brains to decipher all these new sounds, and takes a long time to "map" these new neural pathways. Contrary to popular opinion, I believe a CI should be put in the better ear, the ear that has been using a hearing aid, which increases your ability to learn how to hear. I am living proof of that; my right ear was the better ear, CI works great in it, whereas the left ear was untouched for many years before the CI, and doesn't work as well as the right, even after one year.

Still, the left CI complements the right CI to give me better hearing overall. Again, every individual responds differently. Some folks are very happy, others are miserable.

As you can see on this forum, the politics of CI's touch a lot of nerves...some are in favor, others are defiantly against them.

Good luck and be prepared for the upcoming turn-on, and do NOT expect anything to work perfectly.
 
green427 said:
How old are you now? If you are over 20 years old, be prepared to be surprised and disappointed at the same time.

Good news: You will hear a lot more than you did with a hearing aid. Get used to the everyday sounds first...doors closing, shoes squeaking, birds chirping, etc, etc, and worry about understanding speech later. It is an overwhelming thing, your brain will hurt for awhile.

Bad news: For those of us that have lost most of our hearing at a very young age, and implanted with a CI much later in life, it is very hard for our brains to decipher all these new sounds, and takes a long time to "map" these new neural pathways. Contrary to popular opinion, I believe a CI should be put in the better ear, the ear that has been using a hearing aid, which increases your ability to learn how to hear. I am living proof of that; my right ear was the better ear, CI works great in it, whereas the left ear was untouched for many years before the CI, and doesn't work as well as the right, even after one year.

Still, the left CI complements the right CI to give me better hearing overall. Again, every individual responds differently. Some folks are very happy, others are miserable.

As you can see on this forum, the politics of CI's touch a lot of nerves...some are in favor, others are defiantly against them.

Good luck and be prepared for the upcoming turn-on, and do NOT expect anything to work perfectly.
Click to expand...

I am 26. Your post was pretty much bang spot on the money.

I've been switched on for about 3-4 weeks now... at first, it was extremely tiring and frustrating with all these beeps and blips making very little sense. I made myself wear it every day.. that's all, just wear the damn thing! Now it doesn't beep and blip so much, I get more "normal" sounds coming through most of the time.

I absolutely love it now.. it gives me stability with my hearing even though my left ear fluctuates like crazy. My hearing ability is very close to what it was before I lost hearing in my left ear, so I am absolutely stoked. Speech is starting to make much more sense, it sounds wayyy better than when I was first switched on.

One of the best decisions I've ever made for sure!
 
Andrew,

Glad you like the implant so far. Did you get Sound and Way Beyond? It is an auditory rehab program for the computer and I found it great for learning to hear with the implant. I agree with you about wearing the implant everyday. I did the same thing and it payed off.
 
Back
Top