post for the list
Rick Roderick
Considering the amount of spam we've had lately, I thought it was time to
get this group back on track.
From: "Cindy Ray" <cind...@qwest.net>
To: <rick-ci...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2010 6:27 AM
Subject: Question about Cochlear
OK, I hope that folks are still reading this. I know that there has been a
lot of trash here, but this is actually ON TOPIC.
I don't know if any of you have read "Crashing Through", the story of Mike
May and his journey into new vision, but essentially the premise is there,
and it makes sense, that his sight neurons--those that give the knowledge he
needs to see--were assigned elsewhere wwhen he lost his vision at a young
age. So now to see better, he has to catalog clues that help him see things,
though the eye actually would see almost perfectly otherwise. So he has to
learn to see. The way I understand it, if you get a cochlear implant, you
have to learn to hear. I am assuming the reason for this would be the same,
which explains why people who have had hearing in the past, and whose
hearing has been quite functional, or small children are the most successful
with the implant. I have a deaf-bllind friend who got one about thirty years
ago. Hers was not successful really, though she was able to hear a few
things. She needed to work on learning these sounds that were given her in
program type things they gave her. I really don't know that much about it
because I wasn't here in Iowa then. It no longer seems to work and she's
heard that maybe she could do better with a new one. She is clamoring to get
another one, but she is also 77 years old and seems to be suffering from
some dimentia, partly, I think, brought on by inactivity and major
isolation.
So I keep arguing against the effort. Am I wrong in this and, if so, why?
And if you have had one, I wonder what is involved in acquiring a new one.
She's going to Iowa City to meet with the doctor Wednesday. Judging from her
past success, even if the doctor agreed to do it, it feels as if the money
factor is huge. Maybe I am being unfair though. I feel as if I am sometimes.
Thanks for your help in this.
I hope someone reads this. I know poor Rick will.
Cindy
Here are my thoughts. Cochlear implants have changed a great deal in 30
years. In the early days, all they could really give someone was the
ability to hear sounds. If you could understand one word, you were not a
candidate then.
Now, many people understand language. They are most successful in the young
and those who have heard before because we have used those pathways. We
know what it was like to hear. In my case, I even called my left my
sensitity ear. I heard more volume in the right, but I got higher
frequencies in the left. Then, the hearing in the left ear plummeted. When
I got the implant, I had pressure problems and such distorted hearing in
that ear that I took the hearing aid out.
What a difference a CI makes. The hearing doesn't sound natural, but it has
made a tremendous difference in my life.
There is one other thing to keep in mind. Even for those of us who really
benefit, hearing with a cochlear is generally not the same as natural
hearing. There are 24 electrodes in the cochlear implant. In the
functioning cochlea, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of hairs. The
subtlety of frequencies is not heard. I still use my right ear to hear
musical pitches. I think that is why my singing is so offkey.
As far as whether or not your friend should have a CI, only her doctors and
her can answer that. Does she show evidence of dimentia because of not
getting everything in her environment or because of difficulties in the
brain?
Rick Roderick
I have not written a post of my own for some time. Although I have touched
on this topic, I have not actually discussed in quite this way. Certain
hearing environments are particularly challenging for me They involve noise
and/or echo.
Noise is an enemy of those of us who have hearing difficulties. It is not
as bad as it used to be for me, but noise is still a force to be reckoned
with.
I attended the American Council of the Blind Convention that was held here
in Louisville in 2008. A friend of me decided that we wanted to go out to
dinner. We ended up at a place called Bistro 301, an old restaurant with a
high ceiling. The noise was almost unbearable. We could not hear each
other talk.
I was with a group a couple of weeks ago that decided to eat there. I was
apprehensive, but the evening went much better than I expected. The
waitress was hard to hear, but I had brailled the menu in advance from the
webpage. I was able to carry on a conversation with the people next to me,
though I sometimes had to ask for repetition.
Whenever possible, I avoid noisy restaurants. Some of the best places for
quiet are often Chinese restaurants because they usually have low ceilings.
Carpets can also be a big help.
The other problem is echo, which can make a noisy restaurant even noisier.
It can also make speech sound distorted and disjointed. Turning up my
hearing aid and CI processor just makes the echo louder.
Meetings can be particularly challenging. A room or other meetingplace may
be chosen with poor acoustics. then the group may break up into small group
discussions. When I see that on a program, I usually grown. If we have
time to scatter to different rooms, these can be desirable. If not, I am
not only hearing my own group, but voices from every other group at the same
time, producing a cacophony of sound with little understanding. The
cochlear implant helps, but it really can't compensate for these situations.
Stewart G. Bridgman
Glad to have another report on your hearing. Wish there was also a way to
help you see. It is good to see you, Randy, and that girl in Church on
Sundays. Look forward to the next time you preach.
Best wishes and happy Lunar New Year,
Stew (the elder)
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