sr171soars
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2005
- Messages
- 2,699
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To add my two cents 
,
I just received my CI in March of this year after being HOH all of my life. It has been a wonderful experience for me. I pretty much took off with it from the beginning...I guess I'm wired for this sort of thing.
What was almost scary was that I could understand this guy the day after my "hookup" when I had the hardest time with him using my HA. It was the pitch in his voice threw me off but with the CI it was a piece of cake. Speech was the easy part for me. I just told people to talk normally and don't shout and I understood them perfectly. It was a little more challenging to get the environmental sounds down. Cars and Trucks killed me at first because they are so loud (I'm a big believer in sticking to an optimal level for all around hearing and staying with it like the normal hearing people do). There is a lot of different sounds in engines and it takes a little while for the brain to separate them out. I would say it took me maybe three to four weeks to get to an equalibirum where I was quite comfortable with all sounds. At this point currently, everything sounds pretty much as I heard them with my HA. The only sound that doesn't sound quite right is thunder. I didn't realize how rich those sounds could be (lots of cackling in addition to the boom).
So, I guess I prove the point that many people who have had hearing and speech development often do pretty well but not always. That is the only part I wish could be done better...better prognosis on how a person will do with a CI before they get it. I never thought I would have a problem but I have researched this enough now plus my experiences allowed to me understand that it isn't an exact science yet...I could have had a poorer outcome.
,I just received my CI in March of this year after being HOH all of my life. It has been a wonderful experience for me. I pretty much took off with it from the beginning...I guess I'm wired for this sort of thing.
What was almost scary was that I could understand this guy the day after my "hookup" when I had the hardest time with him using my HA. It was the pitch in his voice threw me off but with the CI it was a piece of cake. Speech was the easy part for me. I just told people to talk normally and don't shout and I understood them perfectly. It was a little more challenging to get the environmental sounds down. Cars and Trucks killed me at first because they are so loud (I'm a big believer in sticking to an optimal level for all around hearing and staying with it like the normal hearing people do). There is a lot of different sounds in engines and it takes a little while for the brain to separate them out. I would say it took me maybe three to four weeks to get to an equalibirum where I was quite comfortable with all sounds. At this point currently, everything sounds pretty much as I heard them with my HA. The only sound that doesn't sound quite right is thunder. I didn't realize how rich those sounds could be (lots of cackling in addition to the boom).So, I guess I prove the point that many people who have had hearing and speech development often do pretty well but not always. That is the only part I wish could be done better...better prognosis on how a person will do with a CI before they get it. I never thought I would have a problem but I have researched this enough now plus my experiences allowed to me understand that it isn't an exact science yet...I could have had a poorer outcome.