More auditory therapy and Kindle Listening !

Shortly after my tune in my second rehabilitation session began with a lovely lady called Anna Duncan, who is a hearing and speech therapist, i began by being nosey and asking lots of questions about herself - I'm terrible like that at times - but it comes with being deaf  - i don't hear much so i like to ask loads of questions - or if else fails I read about it ! - she was great and in turn asked me a bit about how i was coping. I explained I was feeling a bit low, but I think that was because of my broken processor, now it had been fixed i felt relieved as all sorts of thoughts were running through my head - why was it crackling? was it normal? and is this a sign the implant isn't working so well? Once again she told me all was ok and I had only been learning to listen for a short period of time and I agreed i needed to be patient! It did however feel much better when Helen had changed it and tweaked some of the settings!

We began a few exercises, she had a programme of pictures and words that she showed me on her laptop and used an old embroidery hoop that was covered in material to cover her face when talking. I had to work out what she was trying  to say without lipreading - a very hard thing to do and very tiring too. Her voice was quite clear and she spoke loudly for me. She also pointed at some of the words for me to speak so she could see what my speech was like. I'd been quite lucky as my parents taught me speech well so i knew that my pronunciation wasn't too bad. I do however struggle with my letter S and P's but that's normal for someone who has hearing difficulties. I think Anna was indeed impressed with my speech - i tell you now that didn't come smoothly - i had to really work on it as a child - I suppose i felt proud of her words. Not many people say that to me now days.

Some of the words we used were as below:

RAINBOW
ICECREAM
TEAPOT
FLASHLIGHT
BASEBALL

    -------

STARFISH
STOPSIGN
LIGHTBLUB
SEAHORSE
FOOTBALL



It felt good  for what i had achieved  out of this session, and identified that i still struggled to tell the differences in some words - i wasnt expecting miracles as i couldnt even hear sound prior to my implantation - for the month I had been activated we both agreed we had done very well. I however did need more work on my silent letters, as i was a prior hearing aid wearer -  I probably never ever heard them before there would be some more work to come . Ive also noticed recently that female voices were becoming much easier to recognise compared to male voices? and   I was beginning to learn not to shout when i spoke - Ive been doing this ever since i became profoundly deaf as i had no way of knowing the volume of my voice. Again very common with deafies who had my degree of deafness.

Anna gave me some tips and asked me to practice this at home.


My experience at Fratton park seeing my favourite football team play

I had a nice surprise a few days later - I'm an avid football fan for my home town 'Portsmouth' - and some fellow pals id be talking to through facebook for along time - so Andrea and Dave ( the gorilla- that's his nickname by the way - don't ask - too long a story to explain!!) invited me to go along with them to watch the Doncaster v Portsmouth match at Fratton Park, I took my nephew Louis along with me in tow.It really cheered me up - it was just the tonic I needed. I love football - but Ive never been able to have the confidence to go. I didn't hear what was behind me, my husband who also supports was working most match days - so my fear was if any trouble, danger or safety was needed id be stranded - when Andrea and Dave said they'd look after me - i was bowled over with gratitude. It was nice to meet them face to face as id been talking abt Pompey(The Slang word for Portsmouth!) for a long  time on the Internet to them.  As a thank you to them I asked my fellow friend Ian Johnstone to draw and design another cartoon of us together!

The match was a great listening experience for me and that not just because we won 3 v 1, I could hear the crowds and the beats, people cheering, it was a bit messy to be amongst at the start and i did pound poor Dave with a few questions as there was loads of sounds clashing but he and Andrea were great! I did struggle with the Melody's of songs they sang  - Portsmouth Fans are well known for there songs and chants all over the UK!  but overall what a great day!. I hope if i go next time it will be much clearer to hear - as I'm sure my brain was processing every moment ! I look forward to the day i can hear the crowds singing:
PLAY UP POMPEY - POMPEY PLAY UP!!! 



Listening through a kindle!!

Lately Ive been researching about Audio Books some of my C.I followers have told me about them - but my main worry was i still wouldn't know word for word as speech is still distorted for me at times. Speaking to one of my pals who had a Kindle i progressed to ask her if they had an Audio output on them - her one did - i jumped with joy when i heard this! For those of you who don't know what a kindle is its one of the latest gadgets out on the market- photo is below - it means you can download books from the Internet and read them on a screen- good stuff eh?. A discussion with someone who lived in the states USA proved also very helpful she described how she had used hers to help her learn speech, The words would still show on the screen like a book and I would be able to follow and listen at the same time. I was amazed how fabulous technology had become, now that's what you call a double jump with joy ha ha  a few days later i jokingly asked my parents if they could purchase one for me.I never thought for a second it would be taken seriously as I don't often ask for much but I was so chuffed and excited when my Mother told me my Father had purchased one for me - my birthday isn't until next month and my husband agreed to contribute towards the cost as my present.Best of all I was allowed to have it early to help me progress. My audio lead that Neurelec provided me was very helpful for this - so I am now pleased to say I am a Kindle addict ! Thank you so much Daddy - I love you!! xxx by the way something else to mention here is I'm cautious of overloading my poor brain with too much sound at the moment so i find an hour a day of listening is enough - each person is different but i with patience I've learnt - little steps!

 Im awaiting a new purple case for my kindle in the post! - it just had to be done so it will match my CI after all im a purple princess he he!

Disclaimer: Dear father Christmas i will not be held responsible for an influx of CI wearers requesting a Kindle for Christmas - much love the CI Kindle Addict Lisa B xxx

PS I think ive been a good girl apart from nicking husbands choccy bar out the fridge the other day so if theres any chance I  could have a ipod shuffle for Xmas so i can listen to all your chrimbo tunes I Promise to be a very good gal forever !