Cochlear Implantation benefits

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ukgirlie

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It is likely that after being rejected once before , that I will be implanted at some point this year following my Cochlear Implant assessments the past few weeks - I am nervous/excited/apprehensive and everything about the possibility of being implanted. However, I am curious as to what sort of benefit that I will likely receive.

I was born with a bilateral moderately severe/severe hearing loss and have worn hearing aids with huge benefit since the age of 1. My speech is near perfect (can be slightly high-pitched/slight hint of nasality but otherwise fine). My hearing has never been perfect admittedly, it had its moments, but growing up, it definitely wasn't a struggle to hear. I coped fine in mainstream school and university, going on to do my masters etc.

I have always used visual cues to help me to hear but never as heavily as I do now. I could understand speech without lipreading (it's not the case now). I just don't understand speech anymore.

My hearing has now deteriorated to profound in one ear and severe-profound in the other and I can say that it is most certainly a struggle to hear now with hearing aids.

My question is - given that I was born with pre-lingual deafness but also lost hearing post-lingually... what kind of benefit can I reasonably expect? I don't really know what category I am in.. am I a pre-lingually deaf adult or a post-lingually deaf adult? Should I expect to get back to the level of an aided moderately-severe hearing loss?

I do know that everyone experiences different things and that outcomes vary considerably. I just don't know what benefit I'll likely get...
 
Yes, everyone is different but generally those with a hearing history have better success. I lost about 50% of my hearing as an adult, wore HA's for almost 20 years. Slowly that hearing loss progressed to about 30% speech scores aided. I have bilateral implants now and 6 months into each ear scored 100% on speech scores. Most people with a similar history to mine are scoring in the 90+% range with Advanced Bionics.
 
That is very helpful thank you - would you say my hearing history is good enough to benefit? Like do those who are congenitally deaf but have done well with HA have a good enough hearing history to benefit?
 
If you have been able to hear & understand language from hearing aids in the past, then you should be able to do that through a CI as well. No one can predict individual speech scores or signal to noise ratios, but generally CI's will be of benefit as long as you have auditory memory of language. That doesn't matter whether it's been through natural hearing unaided or through hearing aids.

FWIW, although I wasn't prelingually deaf I have been a hearing aid user since I was almost 3 years old I and did well with my HA. My CI has given me enormous benefits. I have much more access to environmental sounds, speech sounds, and I am actually able to understand individual people's voices in noisy environments.
 
I would think that people with progressive losses would be PERFECT users of the CI.......
 
That is great to hear, thank you guys!!! It's just that I know adults that are pre-lingually deafened don't do as well as post-lingually deafened adults with implants and I am unsure which category that I fall into... but I do have auditory memory of sound.
 
I was prelingually deafened and received my CI at 10 years old after wearing hearing aids for 9 years. I have done quite well with my CI considering but it is not the best as you would expect which I don't mind.
 
Hi Lissa! When you say that you've done well with your CI - could you elaborate on that please? Anything that you've found that you can do that you couldn't with HA etc xxxx
 
With my CI I can hear most environmental sounds, I did speak a bit better(most people I talk to don't realise how bad my hearing loss is without me telling them)
I can understand familiar people without Lipreading(my mum and my twin)
 
ukgirlie said:
That is great to hear, thank you guys!!! It's just that I know adults that are pre-lingually deafened don't do as well as post-lingually deafened adults with implants and I am unsure which category that I fall into... but I do have auditory memory of sound.
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That's b/c deafened people have a memory of sound the way a hearing person experiances it, but someone who is very early dhh most likely would NOT hear as well b/c they don't have the advantage of having heard like a hearing person. I actually wonder if that might be the reason behind the variable results from CIs......maybe hearing as an infant for an extended amount of time would give you more of a boost then someone who had never heard normally.
You'd do better then someone who only heard say environmental sounds or some speech/words with HA, but probably not as well as someone who had previous nautral hearing exposure.
 
deafdyke said:
That's b/c deafened people have a memory of sound the way a hearing person experiances it, but someone who is very early dhh most likely would NOT hear as well b/c they don't have the advantage of having heard like a hearing person. I actually wonder if that might be the reason behind the variable results from CIs......maybe hearing as an infant for an extended amount of time would give you more of a boost then someone who had never heard normally.
You'd do better then someone who only heard say environmental sounds or some speech/words with HA, but probably not as well as someone who had previous nautral hearing exposure.
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There are a lot of reasons for the variable results from basic things like equipment to more technical factors like where the electrode ended up in your cochlea to user issues with how much rehab and effort put into training your brain. Not all CI's are created equally and the programs and technology available can dictate success as well.
 
deafdyke said:
That's b/c deafened people have a memory of sound the way a hearing person experiances it, but someone who is very early dhh most likely would NOT hear as well b/c they don't have the advantage of having heard like a hearing person. I actually wonder if that might be the reason behind the variable results from CIs......maybe hearing as an infant for an extended amount of time would give you more of a boost then someone who had never heard normally.

You'd do better then someone who only heard say environmental sounds or some speech/words with HA, but probably not as well as someone who had previous nautral hearing exposure.
Click to expand...


Thank you for this - yes this is what I was thinking yep. Would it be realistic to think I could with practice (lots of rehab over a period of time) use the phone? Before my hearing deteriorated, I could understand family members on the phone and have a conversation with them. (With varying degrees of success of course - I've always been able to understand sentences without lipreading - from the phone, to the telly etc. This isn't the case now - can I expect that ability back?
 
ukgirlie said:
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Thank you for this - yes this is what I was thinking yep. Would it be realistic to think I could with practice (lots of rehab over a period of time) use the phone? Before my hearing deteriorated, I could understand family members on the phone and have a conversation with them. (With varying degrees of success of course - I've always been able to understand sentences without lipreading - from the phone, to the telly etc. This isn't the case now - can I expect that ability back?
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More than likely, yes. You have the hearing history and determination. You'll find you no longer have to work so hard to speech read, as well. The fact you understand the need to rehab is a great sign of readiness!
 
I was implanted 12/10/14, been severe/profound since birth, by time I was implanted I was legally deaf. I can now hear train tracks clicking 2 miles out of town, birds, things I have NEVER heard in my life. Music sucks still through CI, but everything else is awesome, I am being bi-laterally implanted on 3/18/15
 
HOH-ME said:
There are a lot of reasons for the variable results from basic things like equipment to more technical factors like where the electrode ended up in your cochlea to user issues with how much rehab and effort put into training your brain. Not all CI's are created equally and the programs and technology available can dictate success as well.
Click to expand...

Clarification.... What I said applies for the pediatric population. And you do have to admit that most likely makes a lot of sense. Yes, they're babies, but even hearing normally for a significant amount of time as a baby would give you a HUGE advantage over even someone who is HOH and has never heard normally. Only about 10% of deaf kids are born that way.
 
ukgirlie said:
[/B]

Thank you for this - yes this is what I was thinking yep. Would it be realistic to think I could with practice (lots of rehab over a period of time) use the phone? Before my hearing deteriorated, I could understand family members on the phone and have a conversation with them. (With varying degrees of success of course - I've always been able to understand sentences without lipreading - from the phone, to the telly etc. This isn't the case now - can I expect that ability back?
Click to expand...

Most likely..If you had it before, it will come back....And you most likely probably won't need a TON of rehab....which is good!
 
I hope that ability will come back... I just remember hearing so much more as a child and teen! I just don't remember struggling to hear as a child. But I am terrified I won't benefit much from an implant being pre-lingually deafened
 
BleedingPurist said:
More than likely, yes. You have the hearing history and determination. You'll find you no longer have to work so hard to speech read, as well. The fact you understand the need to rehab is a great sign of readiness!
Click to expand...

The more rehab I do.. the better my hearing will get right? (or is there a limit). Does that mean adults who were born profoundly deaf can get a lot of benefit if they keep on re-habbing? xxx
 
ukgirlie said:
I just don't remember struggling to hear as a child.
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I think that children's life is different - they are just kids and there aren't as high "requirements" (school, work, life, ..) as adults have.

I also don't remember any problems from the time when I had hearing aids - and my hearing was already quite poor, I relied mostly on lipreading, but I was good in it, so "no problem". And that was from 2 to 12 years, so exactly the "carefree childhood" :) Then I got a CI, and although I don't remember the difference, I'm pretty sure I hear better since then.
 
ukgirlie said:
The more rehab I do.. the better my hearing will get right? (or is there a limit). Does that mean adults who were born profoundly deaf can get a lot of benefit if they keep on re-habbing? xxx
Click to expand...

It's not quite that linear but yes, your results overall will be better with more rehab. I don't know that there is a limit. I notice new things every once in a while that surprise me still.
 
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