It was great to take Inca home with us, the package they provide us to take home which is funded by the charity really helped. I did make a contribution towards this because it was free and i knew it would help someone else alike me. Each kit costs around about 150 pounds and included things like her grooming combs, leads, harnesses, her assistance working coat, her bed, 2 dog bowls, 2 weeks worth of food and some toys.. I was so grateful for this as it saved me having to run around with a last minute frenzy to get everything!!
Taking her home was exciting and lovely - i was able to introduce her to the home surroundings and we had an easy weekend - this is because the training week is so intensive - she needed a weekend of rest to get ready for more training on the Monday.
Inca in our local park xx
On Monday, another colleague of Hearing Dogs for Deaf people called a Partnership Instructor, came to visit me in the home place to introduce her to sounds in my home and work place. whom I did meet( another Lucy !!) during my training week so she could see how we were working together. It also gave her time to prepare for us.
Incas trainer Lucy V - had already collated a report of our week and Inca and me which helped Lucy B my new PI to continue the good work with us.
We began by introducing Inca to the sounds in the home
The door bell, the fire alarms, the alarm clock in the bedroom and where was best for her to sleep so she could access me to wake me up, where to place the oven timer and designated spots for Inca to go to when certain sounds went of like the door intercom.
We also walked locally to shops and went to work to introduce Inca to my workplace and colleagues.
Lucy was a huge support for me especially with showing me things like what type of treats to use and where to get them from, helping me register at the Vet was a huge relief too - so she could explain how and what needed to be done for Inca. It was quite alot to absorb over 4 days - but it was a huge help and also gave me much more confidence in the dos and don ts.
I was handed a really useful handbook so i could go over anything i had forgotten and Lucy also updated this as she went along. Incas has a personal vet record so i can record all her visits and also her weight. As Inca is a Labrador x retriever - she will have a tendency to put weight on - so all her treats are low fat and some of them are taken from her food allowance. Its easy for the weight to creep on so i have to maintain regular weigh ins good exercise and ensure she is the right weight - it helps to make her comfortable whilst working for me and also keeps her healthy.
I also at final last got my ID card - i cant publish what it looks like on here for security reasons but it looks awesome.. this will aid me when visiting public places eg restaurants, cafes, shops, pubs and many more where hygiene may be an issue
i managed to take a further two weeks leave of work after my training week so i could get Inca used to home and also to bond with me. I began by making trips on buses every other day in the week so she would be ready to face the journey i do by bus to work every morning. I also worked on taking her out some days so she was used to wearing her jacket.
Its very different when they come out of training as they have to adjust and adapt so before Inca came home she was given an adaptil collar - this releases pheromones similar to what her mother would release and helps to keep Inca calm. They last for 4 weeks and really did help Inca to settle into my life and home.
It wasn't easy to begin with as there was lots to learn and also a routine for Inca and me to get used to but after two weeks we managed just fine.
Ive realised how much my confidence has begun to improve and also how much more it was easier getting out and about - my family noticed it too so its been a valuable and life changing moment for me.
Me and Inca walking on Eastney beach, Portsmouth
I am still continuing training, me and Inca will continue to bond and work together, Inca is qualified but i need to pass a qualification too to prove that our partnership works so I am still working closely with Lucy to improve this.
Lucy B and Inca together in my home while we work together x
Its still early days - some days are better than others but overall its been the best thing I've ever done in a long time. Shes changed my life already and I'm one very happy person. I hope i can give Inca back the care love and dedication she gives me too as i wished i had applied sooner - yes it was a incredibly long wait but its been a 4 year worth waiting for .. Shes become my ears , companion - and my lifeline ...
After meeting Inca - i fell in love with her and we were invited to go back for a training week with her. The centre is based near Princes Risborough, about a 2 and half hour drive for us.
We were welcomed with open arms and settled into there own accommodation - they like us to stay on site so we can be with our allocated doggy and also work alongside us.
I had a trainer - Lucy who helped train me and show me how to work with Inca - She was great, she taught me so much about Incas personality, the commands I needed to learn, the dos and donts and her diet. I also had a talk from one of the Kennel staff who taught me how to groom, clean Inca's teeth and look after her.
It was an intensive week - but we also adventured of the site so i could learn how to deal with visiting shops/supermarkets.. cafes, using public transport, using the car ( Inca has her very own seat belt for travelling!), taking her for walks in the park and general every day activities.
me walking inca
Inca adjusted to us very well, i did feel sorry for my husband because he had suddenly had to become redundant from alerting me for sounds - but hearing dogs staff were keen to include him as much as t hey could. He was also trained to call me - so this will no doubt improve things for us at home!
They also had a training house - where Inca did much of her sound work - for those of you who do not know much about hearing dogs for the deaf , they work closely with deaf people to alert them to sounds. Incas role for me was to do the following :
Wake me up to the Alarm Clock - my husband was so looking forward to this so he doesn't have to wake me up no more ha ha!
Telling me Someone is at the door, in my case this would be a intercom bell and a door bell - which sadly i did miss when noone was home - so was forever picking up parcels from the post office!!
My husband and daughter calling my name - she would come and tell me i was wanted and lead me to them -his is will help them so much as they have to run around after me or chucking soft items or stomping the floor to get my attention!
An oven timer - i never hear this - so sometimes i do forget to double check the oven and food can get burnt
A Fire alarm - a huge danger that i no doubt need alerting to - i have too many storys about me and not hearing fire alarms - especially when in the loo - this has always been a huge worry for me and much of my cause to anxiety
Door knock at work - im forever jumping out of my skins at work - too many a time someone has come in my office and ive not heard them - id be working away and suddenly id be shocked as i didnt hear them enter the room.
Some people do ask for phone ringing - but I've chosen to not have this because i don't answer the phone at home and don't need it
Most people have asked me how does Inca do this? well i give her treats for time she alerts me - so she knows she gets a reward for all she does for me - a bit like an adult who earns there wages - in reverse INCA gets treats!
She also has to nudge me with her nose
- as soon as she nudges me I know shes alerting me to something, i would then ask her 'What is it?' with open armed gesture - i would follow her and she would then lead me to the sound.
On my training week we repeated this alot - we also built her confidence up by using squeakers - Inca was trained this way and actually loves doing this activity so the more often she did this exercise the more stronger her nudge became. A very clever doggie and a very special one too!
The other sounds she may react differently as waking me up would mean she would place both paws on me and show me the alarm clock for which i would reward her!
Alerting me to the fire alarm she would drop and lie down on the floor so i would automatically know it was an emergency.
I was then given her coat, some toys, her bedding and most things she needed to make her welcome to my home - for which i made a small donation towards. She adores her teddy and ball - just holds and sucks it ! Its the retriever in her that does that - soo cute!!
We also had photos taken for our passport so if we did get approached in shops I could show them why i was allowed and that it was illegal to refuse access for us under the equality act.
Many people think hearing dogs are free they are not i still have to provide food and also pay her insurance but in my eyes shes worth every penny - as when i took her home I realised more then - how much more she would benefit me. If i did need help however hearing dogs did say they would support me but for now me and my husband work so we felt we could manage.
Through out my life I've always had anxiety and depression as its difficult being deaf especially as its deteriorated, i didn't like being in situations by myself without a companion, i couldn't hear things - many a times I've never heard a fire alarm and been left stranded and most of all i had to rely on my family to always do things for me - I wanted to become more independent.
I knew taking Inca home would enable me to achieve this and also help me improve my quality of life. By the way my family loves her too !
Join me next week for a follow up on how we get on with my regional trainer and also how Inca settles into my home and work place.
For my 6 month hearing therapy session, i was privileged yet again to have the lovely Geoff Plant - and was very much looking forward to it.
Geoff was accompanied an lady who was visiting from Ireland - I usually do have students watching during my audiology appointments - this is because the centre works closely alongside the university of Southampton - they like to sit in on appointments. For this occasion i believe this young lady worked in the Hearing Therapy field and wanted to share some ideas with Geoff.
Geoff remembered me well - probably from my sausages incident - ha ha! i went over some more words that Ive always struggled with. Here were two that we worked on:
*SPOON*
*DIFFERENTIATE*
and a few others he picked up inmy conversation to him, he also made me say a daft sentence about - lots of bacon ham and eggs !
I guessed he was observing the way I pronounced my words!
i was for example saying SPOON like POON and DIFFERENTIATE as DIFFERENT ATE.. ( i used this long word at work to explain abt something and it tripped up on me so was keen to get it right - the determined soul i am!!)
He broke down words for me in to parts and began making repeat the word :SIRRR - POON at a slow pace.. with SIRR being much quieter and making me speed up the word that was in two parts .. it became easier the more i did it and i became so much more confident. So in the end I was able to articulate a perfect SPOON word!! I was well chuffed in all my life that was one of my most difficult words alongside SAUSAGES of course!
He did the same with DIF FREE EN TI ATE I suppose I was visualising the word but not quite getting the phonetics.
PHONETICS
For those of you who don't know what phonetics are : Phonetics deals with the articulatory and acoustic properties of speech sounds, how they are produced, and how they are perceived. Something that is very difficult for deaf people like me!
A majority of phonetics in speech are quiet so it can be difficult to articulate this into sounds for speech and in hearing aid users they find it hard to establish - hearing aids do not receive those sounds very well. In my case I've never heard the silent sounds so its difficult learning something I never knew!
Now that I was a CI ( Cochlear Implant) wearer I was beginning to hear some of those silent sounds but struggling to know how to say them - so I've had to retrain my mind and voice to say them - which was very hard - especially when ive been saying it wrongly for almost all my life : 30+ years!!
Ive enclosed an example of a chart below that shows the phonetic way that vowels are said and shown - which often is highlighted in a dictionary above a word . ( by the way Geoff told me about this so this is why im sharing it with you haha!)
SPEECH BANANA
On one of the face book CI pages I've joined ( i know im sad - im a social networking freak haah!)- a pal of mine was talking abt the 'Speech Banana'- i thought id post some information about it because it describes how sounds of speech vary in the frequency and decibel chart:
The speech banana is called such due to its shape. When the sounds of speech or phonemes of all the world’s languages are charted in a diagram with one axis containing decibel levels (dB) and the other axis containing the frequency (Hertz or Hz), the shape is that of a banana. Generally, the graph known as an audiogram is charted with frequency levels (Hz) on the X-axis and the decibel levels (dB) on the Y-axis.
However, normal human hearing can occur with sounds outside of the Speech Banana. These sounds include ambient natural sounds such as a rustling of leaves in the wind or birds chirping. Man made sounds outside of the Speech Banana can include music and mechanical noises (i.e., automobiles, lawn mowers). Audiologists are primarily concerned with hearing loss that occurs within the Speech Banana because it can slow the development of a child’s language and speech abilities which, in turn, can profoundly interfere with learning. Hearing loss within the Speech Banana can also hinder communication capabilities in adults.
Geoff then went on to help me with music and sang a song called : about Sheep being Sheared Ive enclosed a clip from You Tube below for you to see:
A very educational song,and a brilliant example for lots of words with lots of silent letters!. Geoff kindly explained what some of the words were and some background about the song to me - which was very kind of him because i didn't know what half of some of the words were!
From this song we had a discussion about how i was learning music and progressing - I explained how my i pod touch was helping me and also that i still struggled with classical music - he did warn me that classical music was the hardest and that sometimes if you persevere with listening to it - it does support improvement. He told me about a deafened pianist who was wearing CI now and he too struggled but continued repeat playing the piano until things progressed. It may never be something I can hear again - but I'd like to try so i definitely will be making enquires to see if someone can assist me in this task.
My reason for being so keen on this is because with my moderate to severe hearing loss i had as a child i learnt to play the flute in my teen years and I wanted to play again - i did hear some tones but a majority of the time i played it through my feet - simply took my socks and shoes of and taught myself to feel my way through each piece i played with of course the accompaniment of the piano !
The past 3 years before i was implanted I had indeed lost confidence in playing -I guess this was my next challenge on my hearing journey. I'm not expecting too much but if i can achieve playing again with some hearing ability it would be an ultimate dream come true.
We ended this session by completing a few listening exercises where by Geoff read out loud one of his famous story's - i was given a script of words with blanks in it - this would be when i would have to guess what was said. This time was much harder as there were more blanks - so I had to concentrate really hard without lipreading him. After we finished he scored me at 70 % i was amazed and really chuffed how far I had come! This really reassured me that my kindle listening was really a huge support in helping me ! Before i left the room after Thanking Geoff for seeing me - he said to me ' I wants to hear you've been playing next time!' I left with a smile on my face.
SOME GOOD NEWS TO SHARE
A few days later I received a letter in the post which was good news :I had been selected a hearing dog - which is a guide dog for the deaf they alert deaf people to sounds. Ive been on the waiting list for over 4 years and didn't expect it to happen so soon as i was told the list was huge and it could be a 5 year wait. Many of my friends have been supportive about my C.I but some of them asked me why i would need one when I have the implant - my answer is what it always has been -
I'm still deaf and CI isn't a hearing cure.
I applied before I was implanted when my hearing began to decline and at this stage i had lost alot of confidence and at times did suffer from lack of confidence. My husband and I had a long conversation about if I still wanted and needed a dog and we both agreed that it was still a good idea as I still don't hear some sounds and noises mainly when I am in the other room. Of course he would know about this better than me becasue he has to regularly alert me to sounds he also said it would boost my confidence especially going out on my own as I do get anxiety when i have to encounter difficult situations when I cannot hear what is going on and what is behind me. Lately ive become a recluse and dont like to adventure out of my home alone.
We travelled to Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire in the UK to meet the dog that was allocated for me - stayed over on site in there own accommodation and I was introduced to my new doggy INCA, she came bouncing over with joy and affection - shes a lovely a black retriever - cross Labrador. We instantly fell in love with her. With no doubt I accepted her and both me and my husband were invited back to the Hearing Dogs site for training at a later date. I'm so excited and really looking forward to having INCA in my life - its all come at the right time for me so look forward to my next blog - i shall be talking a little about how that week went.
I attended yet another appointment at my CI centre - for my 6 month review since I've been activated - we did the usual tests - hearing field test, lipreading the strange man ( i say that because his face is strange ha ha he lip speaks and shows hardly any emotions!) and Roberta my audiologist discovered that i wasn't doing as well as i did last time - so quickly changed my processor for me. Its just one of those things i suppose - they are such clever devices that sometimes they become sensitive to any moisture or knocks - i have been using a dry box regularly so we knew it wasn't a moisture problem. Sadly BOGOF goes of to repair again! waaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
After tests we decided that my mapping was fairly stable - and that i didn't need as much alterations as i have had done prior - i was feeling much more comfortable with what I was hearing - but still struggling with the crackle. Roberta decided then to try and do some de-noising on my programme to see if it would make a difference. I like denoising because it does support any background noises - it dulls it down a bit - so i do not feel so uncomfortable. In fact I've noticed that with CI and on my programme i can have high and low thresholds so that the noise would be much more bearable. This is definitely an advantage over the hearing aids - I remember as a child i never liked doors slamming, whistling! loud motorbikes, fireworks anything that was sudden and sharp ! Where as with CI it was much more bearable.
This is a before and after denoiseing example - for a signal noise
Another thing to note also is that it can take 6 - 8 weeks for our brains to adjust so Roberta didn't want to confuse my poor head and ears even more than need be so we didnt do a big mapping this time -we were hoping that this might assist with my crackle a bit - it has slightly got better and i think its because I've learnt how to listen through this! ( one of my favourite ways is drowning it out with music when im on a bus - one of my triggers!)
After doing my lipreading test - we looked back on my file and I was amazed with the results! I was now lipreading and getting 62% of the conversation. Amazing stuff eh? I was delighted with the results and firmly believe that all the kindle listening, i pod music listening had really supported me with my listening therapy!
I haven't attempted to try the phone yet - as i didn't feel quite ready - but when I told Roberta she informed me then that i would need to probably be getting recognising speech at 70% before i begin at phone listening - a stage that I was almost at and something to aim for! I think I was stunned actually because I never thought I improve from the 27 percent which i had with wearing my hearing aids!
A week later I was booked in for my 6 month hearing therapy review and I quickly emailed Roberta - to see if she could squeeze me in on the same day prior to that appointment - I was beginning to hear a echo in the tail end of speech. This does sometimes happen when you are adjusting to new programming. In my case my brainhad adjusted to the tweaks that Roberta made prior and it just needed a bit more adjustment to place me at a comfortable pacee I think . It was quite an interesting session because the speech went from an echo to a wisp to completely dull . its amazing what can be done but modifying a frequency and also having the knowledge of a audiologist who understands sound is an added bonus as well. i really am in awe of there expertise and knowledge it takes a certain amount of dedication and time to help people like us and particularly when i feel like I'm moaning all the time - but like Roberta always says to me - it isn't too much trouble and its important that they get it right for me - after all I have to live with it. I totally wants to hug her at times as its nice they care so much. I feel very lucky to have such dedicated people to help me. ( ps roberta if you are reading heres a big hug from me to you!! and to all the rest of the team aswell )
Some other good news is that i brought a second hand i pod touch ( 3rd gen) of a close pal- talk abt amazing - I've been enjoying listening to music again - did get on with my shuffle but i couldn't see what the name of the songs were so this is why i upgraded ha ha ! Its lovely to hear and recognise some parts of old songs i know.. its also nice to move from nursery rhymes now and listen to abit of pop and rock! Trouble is its incredibly addictive as I've been downloading all my Cd's onto the ipod that i used to listen to - so every so often my husband catches me dancing away ! Its still not perfect can be a bit blurry and skittish at times but the more i listen the better it gets !
In February amidst the rain and dull weather - I received a lovely surprise from a friend, Nicky who invited me to go to see War Horse at a London Theatre with her.
I hadn't had the chance to venture to far since my operation so i thought it would aid building my confidence and also to test how I cope with all the sounds and noises i have been learning - London is the capital of England and a very busy place. So there would be lots of background noise and sounds that would be new to me.
I gladly accepted this invitation which was hosted by stagetext - for those who do not know much about stagetext. Stagetext is a charity who work closely with theatres to provide captions for shows - deafies alike me can follow what was being said. I hadn't been to a theatre for some years due to my inability of being unable to follow speech - so i kind of gave up going to theatre land! I have a performing arts background i did an A level in it ( i did the course as challenge when iwas severely deaf to see if I could achieve something hearing people could)- so you can imagine how excited i was! For those wanting to know more about these type of performances please click on the link http://www.stagetext.org/
Staying over with Nicky the evening before we travelled to London eased my journey - Nicky lived closer to London than I - me and Nicky are old school pals so it did us good to have a good catch up. I think i corrupted her as I took my Kindle up to show her - shes a C I wear too with a Advanced Bionic Implant in only one ear and she loved it few days after she went out to buy one - opps sorry Nicky but it is a useful tool for helping with hearing therapy.
Our journey to London began by catching a train to London Waterloo which was a bit eventful as we as deafies have to check and recheck the details. On most platforms they have an electronic display which shows the trains destinations - route and time it leaves . In the past this hasn't always been the case - trains do get changed or cancelled and you still have to double check. i cant hear the tannoys and never have done. Having two of us to do the journey helped as we could both double check everything before we got on the correct train - i usually develop a case of anxiety and panic when i find myself searching for the guard to make sure we really are on the correct train ! Many a time in the past I've got on a train and ended up in totally the wrong destination so to us deafies its important we get it right ! This explains my dislike of travelling alone on a train.
Ive always struggled with noises on stations and hearing what the tannoys say were one of them- i didn't have high expectations of hearing them via my implant - i knew it may not always be possible to hear stuff i didnt hear prior - which in fact was still true in alot of cases.We still have to remember you cannot always cure hearing. The main factors i was pleased about was i could identify it was a tannoy and i could tell when a train approached - which in itself is quite important if you don't hear- tends to make you jump out your skin ha ha!
When we approached London our next step was to encounter the underground tube trains - there were lots of hustle and people rushing, people talking, probably footsteps moving - buskers singing as we walked by which was a bit hectic for my poor ears - i think they happened too quickly for my brain to identify.
However the turnstile beeps was something i was able to distinguish - which was a bit strange, they didsound warped to begin with but then became clearer.
My audiologist did warn me it would at times be like this as my brain would begin to adjust to the new frequency's that they had opened further in my last mapping . The aim for this was to give me much more clarity to help the noises /sounds become much more defined -a beginning of identifying and discriminating - a huge part in my listening journey.
Our destination was to hit HOLBORN - the show was showing at the NEW LONDON THEATRE which was a stones throw from the station and very close to the Shakespeare head pub, we met together with some other deafies - this event was run by lovely Lydia Best who also acquired tickets for us.
The noises in the pub were alright - i didn't need to focus on sounds - all my friends were deaf so all communication was defined by good lip patterns and sign language - i love meeting up with deafies alike because its like a culture we bond really well and also have an empathy for each other. I think we were also excited about going to see a show that would be accessible to us.
I had lunch with Nicky and my friend Paul and we caught up on our news before we made our way down to the Theatre for the show.
I then bumped into more of my old school pals - it was good to see them and also share news before the show began.
The show was pretty amazing as a majority of it was very focused on the horse which was designed in a puppetry nature and was manoeuvred by a stage crew - it was incredible that the horses tail moved - the mechanics mimicked real bodily functions - a real clever piece of skill and craft.
The captions in our seat were good for us - and we were able to follow the words and show quite easily - there however was an old guy playing a accordiam which did set my implant crackling of and lots of bangs demonstrating the war scene the show was based in - but i coped by flipping it of when needed. i know a pain but we all learn ways to cope with the difficulties we have in life and this was one of my ways coping with the static crackle i encountered.
I thoroughly enjoyed the show and thank Lydia for her organisation as well as stage text for doing the captions - I really never thought id see a show again so it was a real treat. I special thanks to Nicky for the invite and Paul for spoiling us with lunch.
The day was very wet and windy so i ensured i wore my rain mac but at times i found my little microphone that linked up with my processor was falling of - especially in the wind. So i did some investigations on my return home and discovered an accessory called a huggie a piece of rubber that attach to any processor. I emailed my audiologist on my findings and she replied that they did have them at the Centre so sent me some in the post. A bit fiddly to put on the microphone aid and also put on my ear but well worth it - it stopped all that annoying bother of it slipping of - when windy when running .. some people report they dont have this problem - i do however have small ears so i guessed that would be something that would happen in long term future - id been OK up till now when the winds began blowing them off ha ha - but at least i solve the problem by a simple accessory.
Over all i had a busy fantastic weekend, was so delighted to enjoy the theatre again, meet some old pals and also experience some new sounds. By the way i had to take a whole day to recover afterwards - i think all that listening whacked me out - but it was worth every moment - id do it again and hope to go back to theatre in the near so future .
A special thank you to Nicky again for inviting me xxx
