Poor aided results above 500Hz

[overthepond]

I have been profoundly deaf all my life, I went through so many HA's in the last 2 years to get better results, EVERY top of the range powerful HA's were no good to me, I had widex senso p38 (or is it SP?) It was brilliant, I was able to hear my own voice for the first time (yr 2000) It was little too distorted but i was able to tune down my voice. I could hear the environmental sounds a bit better. I still weren't able to understand speech at all without vision. The Audi told me at the time it may not benefit for me since it's digital HA and it's not suitable for Profoundly deaf.
Since the widex got old, in need for repairs etc, I was refered to new Audi as i had moved. They couldn't replace the Widex since it was private also they have stopped making those brands for NHS so therefore i had to try others at the time they also refered me to ENT.
The ENT said... "I am not sure if i could find a better HA for you... would you consider CI? Your speech is very good". At that time I had already thought about getting and researched CI for years. I tried with another hospital in different county 2 years beforehand who refused point blank and said there is no way CI would work for me so i didn't ask my current ENT, He asked me.

When i got refered to CI centre I was using sienmens digital SP, I was in the sound booth having Aided test.... audi came back in the room asked me... can you hear anything... nope... so she asked to check the HA, she checked, it it was very distorted!!! (i had it 4 months!) So tried my widex. My lows was good. But the highs were hopeless. The Audi got me an appt to try another ha. Next Ha was Otcion another powerful digital. I got poorer audiogram with this than my Widex. The audi said there isn't anything more powerful than this and told me to take it home and try it.
Few months later the widex died. I used the otcion... my life just went! I became isolated because i couldn't hear very much. They turned it up to max but everything sounded so distorted. Gladly i only had to put up with it for few months until my CI was approved. When i told the Audi that i wanted Analouge HA for my other ear. She did say that might be better but warned me that i wouldn't hear much and gave me one, I was only able to hear environmental sounds, it sounded very quiet, i couldn't hear my voice. While i was under CI assesment they did CT scan, my surgeon said that i am missing basilar membrane in the highs... hence thats why i couldn't hear and would never hear the highs at all with HA's. Only CI could solve this.

R ear Unaided
250 - 90
500 - 95
1000 - 110
2000 - NR
4000 - NR
8000 - NR

L ear Unaided
250 - 110
500 - 110
1000 - 115
2000 - 120
4000 - 120
8000 - NR

This is my Aided with Widex pre CI and CI results at 1 month post activation. It's now in the 30's.
My Cuny is now 86% and being to pick words out of sentences without visual. And Finally can hear birds easily!!! and I have NEVER heard it before! I am less tired with conterating on listening since i can easily pick sound and Identify them, with HA i had to think harder and sometimes it sounds garbled to me so i couldn't identify the sound.
View attachment 13682

 

[faire_jour]

My daughter's audiogram pre-CI:

250hz- 60 db
500hz- 75 db 85 db
1000hz-80 db
2000hz-100 db 85 db
4000hz-90db 85 db


She was aided to about 40-45 across the board. Now with her CI she hears:

250hz- 25 db
500hz- 15 db
1000hz-15 db
2000hz-25 db
4000hz-15 db
8000hz-25 db

And the clarity is like night and day. She can overhear speech, she hears me in a resturant, she UNDERSTANDS speech. None of this was possible with hearing aids. Someone asked in another thread
"How bad would you hearing have to be to get a CI?" My answer would be (both for my child and myself) "I would get it as soon as they would let me!"

 

[Hear Again]

faire_jour,

Do you still use ASL with Miss Kat?

 

[faire_jour]

faire_jour,

Do you still use ASL with Miss Kat?

Of course. Even if her school placement changes to emphasis spoken language, we will continue to use ASL at home for our communication and she will still be included in the Deaf community. (She was at a Deaf church today!)

 

[Hear Again]

Of course. Even if her school placement changes to emphasis spoken language, we will continue to use ASL at home for our communication and she will still be included in the Deaf community. (She was at a Deaf church today!)

I'm glad to know that you're continuing to use ASL with her. Do you communicate in ASL when Miss Kat is wearing her CI or only use it when she's not?

I hope you don't think I'm trying to interrogate you. I haven't read all of your posts to know how you communicate with her.

 

[faire_jour]

We use it all the time unless we are working on listening/speech.

 

[deafdude1]

What's wrong with being able to hear at 70 dB aided? If I had to pick between hearing at 70 dB with hearing aids vs. hearing zilch without them, I'd pick the former.

60db aided is better than 90db unaided, but im sure most of us here would agree it's still not enough. Maybe it worked for you and perhaps you were happy with it, but surely that's a minority?

Cheap, open fit and CIC aids would not have given me any benefit. If they would have given me 30 dB gain like you claim, why during the 20+ years I've worn hearing aids haven't any of my audis recommended them for me? Open fit aids are designed for people with mild to moderate loss who have residual hearing in all frequencies.

I checked the specs for CIC and they *do* give 30db gain, however the max SPL is only around 107db and that's the problem. Open fit would be a few db better in gain and SPL. They are for mild to moderate loss mostly due to the SPL ceiling/limit. The SPL needs to exceed a person's HL or they will be NR. If I were to wear a CIC or open fit, I probably won't hear a thing above 500Hz because the SPL is less than my HL. The gain of 30db isn't enough for me anyway, it may be enough for you and a minority of people.

Furthermore, I was using the strongest hearing aids available on the market and had them programmed for maximum gain as well as having them turned up to the highest volume.

What type of hearing aids were yours? I can look up the specs including the max gain. Ive mentioned the specs of my HAs and im not getting the max gain according to the specs, especially in the mid frequencies. In a week, im going to a local audiologist(not the same one who dispensed my HAs) and she will test my ears as well as my HAs to see if they are giving the gain the Phonak company claims they are.

I wish SteveAuD were still a member here. I'm sure he could explain why increasing gain doesn't always help someone with severe-profound or profound hearing loss understand speech.

I need to hear environmental sounds better before I can even think about understanding speech. My aided score(per my testing at home) is below the speech banana. Once I get it within the speech banana, I will see if this helps me understand speech. I need an aided score of at least 50-60db for this and im not getting this yet. Yes I know I have 110-120db loss but my math tells me that 120db loss plus 70db gain equals 50db aided result.

"If MEI's won't benefit me more than HAs or they will be worse than a CI, then MEI's aren't for me."

The same can be said for hearing aids. Not everyone benefits from them.

HAs are risk free and you can get a free trial. I do benefit from them, now I want to optimize the gains, my audie said he programmed them at 90% but im only getting 60%, I see others getting more gain than 40db!

I'll throw that question right back at you. Why aren't you wearing cheap, open fit or CIC aids when you have aided scores of 20-30 dB?

They will never aid me to 30db and the SPL would make me unable to hear above 500Hz. I could probably be aided to 50db which wouldn't be enough for me nor most people, although even 60db was enough for you. That's your choice if you want to hear aided at 60db. My choice is to get down to 20db(which I already get in low frequencies) and I don't mind the distortions, they aren't bad really.

 

[deafdude1]

I have been profoundly deaf all my life, I went through so many HA's in the last 2 years to get better results, EVERY top of the range powerful HA's were no good to me, I had widex senso p38 (or is it SP?) It was brilliant, I was able to hear my own voice for the first time (yr 2000) It was little too distorted but i was able to tune down my voice. I could hear the environmental sounds a bit better. I still weren't able to understand speech at all without vision. The Audi told me at the time it may not benefit for me since it's digital HA and it's not suitable for Profoundly deaf.

I had the widex senso p18+ and it was great back in 1998 when I got it. Before that I had analog HAs and I noticed an improvement with the digital. I kept those till 2008 when I got my Phonak Naidas. I did try a different HA in 2005 but the audie(not the same one who fitted me with the Naidias) could not program it to be any better than my old widex, he still insisted on selling it to me which made him mad when I refused to try it more than 10 minutes. Um I know my ears and if he can't program it to improve in 10 min, it won't change in 30 days.

Since the widex got old, in need for repairs etc, I was refered to new Audi as i had moved. They couldn't replace the Widex since it was private also they have stopped making those brands for NHS so therefore i had to try others at the time they also refered me to ENT.
The ENT said... "I am not sure if i could find a better HA for you... would you consider CI? Your speech is very good". At that time I had already thought about getting and researched CI for years. I tried with another hospital in different county 2 years beforehand who refused point blank and said there is no way CI would work for me so i didn't ask my current ENT, He asked me.

Ive had the same, some audiologists thought a CI might work better for me, others said I have too much residual hearing. One audie initially suggested I get a CI but later retracted his suggestion and said todays CI technology wouldn't be worth it over what I get with my best HAs which he fitted me with. He's an expert and ive emailed him a bunch of questions, including concerns why my gains are so poor above 500Hz. Hopefully ill get a response Monday afternoon, will keep you guys tuned.

So tried my widex. My lows was good. But the highs were hopeless. The Audi got me an appt to try another ha. Next Ha was Otcion another powerful digital. I got poorer audiogram with this than my Widex. The audi said there isn't anything more powerful than this and told me to take it home and try it. [/QUOTE]

How can a Widex from 2000 be stronger than the Oticon from 2008? Actually I was in the same boat when I tried a HA back in 2005 and it was the same as my Widex from 1998. My audie who sold me those Phonak Naidas told me that the audie I went to in 2005 didn't know how to program them correctly.

Was the aided scores you provided with two widex HAs? It says right HA, you also wore the left HA? I assume so otherwise youd have a NR above 1000Hz aided with just the right HA. 30, 45, 60, 80, 105 were your aided results. Did you have the Widex at max gain? If yes, did anyone explain why you scored so poorly above 500Hz like I am? I still have my old aided audiogram from 1998 and I scored around 30db at 250, 500Hz and around 50db at 1000Hz to 4000Hz. My hearing back then was 70db at 250Hz, 90db at 500Hz, 100 to 105db at 1000Hz to 6000Hz(flat audiogram from 1000Hz to 6000Hz) so I was getting the max possible gain. With my new HAs im getting less and when I try the old HAs, they are even worse now at all frequencies. Does an additional 10db hearing loss really correspond to an aided score of 30db worse? It makes no sense!

Few months later the widex died. I used the otcion... my life just went! I became isolated because i couldn't hear very much. They turned it up to max but everything sounded so distorted. Gladly i only had to put up with it for few months until my CI was approved. When i told the Audi that i wanted Analouge HA for my other ear. She did say that might be better but warned me that i wouldn't hear much and gave me one, I was only able to hear environmental sounds, it sounded very quiet, i couldn't hear my voice. While i was under CI assesment they did CT scan, my surgeon said that i am missing basilar membrane in the highs... hence thats why i couldn't hear and would never hear the highs at all with HA's. Only CI could solve this.

So it was not maxed out when you got your aided audiogram? Also the speakers can really give 105db? Was your ear a few inches from speakers? My audie told me he maxed it 90%. I believe him because when I tried my old widex, I heard worse at every frequency. Can you explain distorted sound? My HAs list a distortion of only 1% to 2% on the technicial specs so I generally don't notice it. Thanks for your long post and your answers.

My daughter's audiogram pre-CI:

250hz- 60 db
500hz- 75 db 85 db
1000hz-80 db
2000hz-100 db 85 db
4000hz-90db 85 db

She was aided to about 40-45 across the board.

Why weren't the gains programmed higher for the low frequencies? I am aided to 15db at 250Hz and my hearing is much worse than hers by 15-25db across the audiogram! My aided high frequencies is worse than your daughters. Was she able to be aided better than 40db at the high frequencies?

Now with her CI she hears:

250hz- 25 db
500hz- 15 db
1000hz-15 db
2000hz-25 db
4000hz-15 db
8000hz-25 db

That is an impressive score, is it the best possible aided score? I did notice id hear worse with CI at 250Hz. Ill have to read your other posts, ive read a few and you said your daughter's speech comphrension was only 50% before CI and is it above 80% yet? How much of the cost was the insurance willing to pay, if any? How did she qualify for a CI with only 60db HL and above 40% speech comphrension? I see people with 80db to 90db hearing loss get refused/turned down! They were told that CI would not improve over their HA.

And the clarity is like night and day. She can overhear speech, she hears me in a resturant, she UNDERSTANDS speech. None of this was possible with hearing aids.

My audiologist still thinks ill hear speech fine if I train myself everyday, he once recommended a CI but changed his mind. I am willing to make the effort with the HAs he prescribed me, I just need more gain above 500Hz. Right now many words sound the same. I can't hear letters such as "S" either. I am happy for her, but may I ask was she maxed out on the gains using the most powerful HAs? Did she get the gains/aided score according to manufactor's listed specs?

Another thing, my audiologist did say he can't touch a 120db loss and that if my loss was 15db less, id hear perfectly. Your daughter has 15db to 25db better hearing than me, howcome she didn't hear perfectly like my audiologist said would be possible? That's another thing im wondering and have been researching.

"How bad would you hearing have to be to get a CI?" My answer would be (both for my child and myself) "I would get it as soon as they would let me!"

Id get CI if the odds were better. Id need to lose at least 10db more hearing for the odds to be reasonably good. CI is supposed to be an option when you *can't* hear with HA, not for people looking to "upgrade" or have the "latest" I am extremely impressed at your daughter's 15-25db aided results with CI but from reading all the CI stories, most people get around 40db aided results. What if she got only 40db aided with CI and was no better than HA?Did she lose her residual hearing after CI? Your daughter was hearing 40db aided with HAs and if that wasn't enough, I wouldn't be happy with 40db with CI. I already get 15db aided at 250Hz, even my dad is impressed how well I hear low frequency sounds.

Anyway I want to thank everyone for their time and replies. Some of my questions may seem blunt, frank and even a little harsh but it's how I learn.

 

[deafdude1]

The image explains everything. Read my above posts for a long, detailed description to the nature of my problem.

 

[Hear Again]

60db aided is better than 90db unaided, but im sure most of us here would agree it's still not enough. Maybe it worked for you and perhaps you were happy with it, but surely that's a minority?

I don't think it is. Take a look at a number of ADers who are happy with their hearing aids. Shel has a congenital bilateral profound loss of 120 dB yet she is satisfied with her hearing aids and does not wish to persue a CI.

 

[Hear Again]

I checked the specs for CIC and they *do* give 30db gain, however the max SPL is only around 107db and that's the problem. Open fit would be a few db better in gain and SPL. They are for mild to moderate loss mostly due to the SPL ceiling/limit. The SPL needs to exceed a person's HL or they will be NR. If I were to wear a CIC or open fit, I probably won't hear a thing above 500Hz because the SPL is less than my HL. The gain of 30db isn't enough for me anyway, it may be enough for you and a minority of people.

If CIs and open fit hearing aids wouldn't work for you, they obviously wouldn't work for me either. Besides, why should I wear a CIC or open fit hearing aid when I could receive considerably more amplification from a BTE?

 

[Hear Again]

HAs are risk free and you can get a free trial. I do benefit from them, now I want to optimize the gains, my audie said he programmed them at 90% but im only getting 60%, I see others getting more gain than 40db!

MEIs don't cause one to lose their residual hearing, so it's no different than a hearing aid. Besides, if insurance pays the cost for an MEI, that's one benefit over hearing aids which insurance doesn't cover.

As for your last sentence in your post, this depends upon a person's hearing loss. You can't judge what one person's aided score is based on your own results because everyone hears differently.

 

[Hear Again]

What type of hearing aids were yours? I can look up the specs including the max gain. Ive mentioned the specs of my HAs and im not getting the max gain according to the specs, especially in the mid frequencies. In a week, im going to a local audiologist(not the same one who dispensed my HAs) and she will test my ears as well as my HAs to see if they are giving the gain the Phonak company claims they are.

I was wearing Oticon DigiFocus II super power BTEs at the time.

 

[Hear Again]

That's your choice if you want to hear aided at 60db.

Hearing at 60 dB aided wasn't good enough for me -- especially since I had NR at 1000 Hz and above. That's why I was implanted.

My original comment was that I'd rather hear at 60 dB aided than 90 dB unaided.

 

[Hear Again]

deafdude,

The CI team who evaluated Charlotte, Lady, myself and others are experts and know what they're doing when it comes to determining candidacy. I don't mean any disrespect, but please leave it up to the individual and CI team to determine whether an implant is the correct choice. We don't need to be questioned about how much gain we had on our hearing aids or what our aided scores were. Our audis and CI surgeons saw this information and concluded that we all fit the criteria for being a CI candidate.

 

[faire_jour]

There is no "better or worse" residual hearing once the CI is in. A person with 120 db+ loss has the ability to get to where Miss Kat is, (hypothetically of course) it has nothing to do with the fact that she had residual hearing before CI.

Audiologist do NOT aim to get a CI user down to 0 db, that is foolish. They only have the ability to have a dynamic window so big, so if they program to hear every single soft sound, the "louds" would be missed. Plus, why do you need to hear things that soft? Our goal was for Miss Kat to get speech sounds and 25 db is plenty for that.

As for her hearing aids, they were as loud as she could get with still reasonable clarity. Cranking them up to an uncomfortable, distorted level would be ridiculous and counter productive. What good is 25 db if she can't understand or identify any sounds because of distortion?

Miss Kat had reasonable closed set scores with very different words. On the ESP (early speech perception) test she scored as high as 90%, but those were two syllable, very familiar, very different words. (hot dog vs airplane vs toothbrush). But if it was an open set, she would have scored 0 (unless you happened to say baby).

As for the one frequency not being "severe", we had no problem with it. They said it was a useless frequency for speech and she obviously wasn't benefiting enough from her aids. We had no problem with insurace either. She is on Medicaid so we paid exact;y $0 for her CI.

 

[deafdude1]

If CIs and open fit hearing aids wouldn't work for you, they obviously wouldn't work for me either. Besides, why should I wear a CIC or open fit hearing aid when I could receive considerably more amplification from a BTE?

Well, no arguments here I agree. The biggest problem is the lack of SPL for both of us and lack of gain for me.

MEIs don't cause one to lose their residual hearing, so it's no different than a hearing aid. Besides, if insurance pays the cost for an MEI, that's one benefit over hearing aids which insurance doesn't cover.

Well then insurance should be covering HAs as itll cost insurers much less.

As for your last sentence in your post, this depends upon a person's hearing loss. You can't judge what one person's aided score is based on your own results because everyone hears differently.

I will see what my audiologist(s) say about my poor aided results above 500Hz, that's why I made this thread. I have an appointment on the 24th and will be sure to ask her tons of questions and ill be getting an unaided test and an aided test(if she has an anechoic chamber)

I was wearing Oticon DigiFocus II super power BTEs at the time.

Ill look up the specs for those, but off the top of my head, aren't those almost as good as Phonak Naida V UP?

Hearing at 60 dB aided wasn't good enough for me -- especially since I had NR at 1000 Hz and above. That's why I was implanted.
My original comment was that I'd rather hear at 60 dB aided than 90 dB unaided.

You also said that when the gain was increased, you experienced distortion and it didn't help improve your speech perception? Did it still improve your ability to hear more environmental sounds? If you say 60db wasn't good enough, what stopped you from maxing out the gains? Regardless not hearing above 750Hz and with how little residual hearing you had, a CI was fine for you. In my case I feel I can and should be getting better than 80db at 2000Hz! I don't care if theres a bit of distortion!

deafdude,

The CI team who evaluated Charlotte, Lady, myself and others are experts and know what they're doing when it comes to determining candidacy. I don't mean any disrespect, but please leave it up to the individual and CI team to determine whether an implant is the correct choice. We don't need to be questioned about how much gain we had on our hearing aids or what our aided scores were. Our audis and CI surgeons saw this information and concluded that we all fit the criteria for being a CI candidate.

The questions are for my knowlege. I am not qualified to make decisions for others(just state my opinion and let them decide) and in fact this thread isn't even about CI, just my own hearing results. By asking others about their unaided and aided scores, I can determine if my own aided scores are normal or if they can be improved. What aided scores others have and are happy with is their choice but I am simply unhappy with an 80db aided score at 2000Hz. I know ive been told it's my ears and ive explained that my hearing aids are "supposed" to give me xxdb gain and my yydb aided score is way below xxdb gain. My audie who sold me those HAs says they were programmed based on my audiogram and are near their max. I made this post in hopes anyone had answers.

My audiologist answered a few of my questions:

My Q: Has transposition been programmed on my hearing aids, if yes what frequencies become transpositioned? So far I have not been able to notice any transposition, maybe it should be reprogrammed?
His A: It has been programmed. if you do not notice it, then it is working correctly.
My new Q: Could you explain more about this? Ive tried several different online sound tests and I can't hear 3000Hz and above, but my parents can. Should transposition be bringing 3000Hz and above down to a lower frequency? I simply hear silence or if I crank the volume on the speakers up, a low frequency hissing/rumbling/roaring/distortion. My dad also hears this distortion so it's the speakers, not my transposition. Maybe the transposition should be modified? What's the minimum frequency right now where transposition starts to kick in? Does it simply transport any frequency above xxxxHz to the same yyyyHz? For example, all frequencies above 1500Hz become transported to exactly 1500Hz?

My Q: Does programming change the SPL or just the gains? I notice that my HAs can give an SPL of up to 142db at 1000Hz. Wouldn't every audiologist need to program that SPL down to 120-130db or it could be uncomfortable or even damage your residual hearing?
His A: Programming allows the changing of all setting. Your hearing aids have been set up for your loss. they are programmed to never exceed a level which would cause you damage. you should notice that loud sounds are loud but they should not hurt.
My new Q: I asked him what gains and SPL was set for me and if they were maxed out above 500Hz.

My Q: From the puretone testing ive done at home(computer speakers, online hearing tests, tone generator), I got the following results: (I told him the results in a list)
His A: the testing you've done at home is not accurate in any way. If it were, then hearing specialists would not have to spend $5000.00 minimum to purchase an audiometer. Testing your way is wrong, inaccurate and can never be used to set up hearing aids.
you receive gain the only way you can hear them, once again computer hearing test is wrong.
My new Q: My home test was only an estimate of my hearing. It's very obvious I hear nowhere near what my dad hears and the disparity grows dramatically at mid and high frequencies. A 1500Hz sound that I can't hear from more than a few inches away from the speaker, my dad hears easily from outside my room. I know ill never get close to normal hearing above 500Hz, I was just wondering if there was any chance I could get even a slight improvement above 500Hz or have my HAs been maxed out above 500Hz?..........I wanted to ask you if it's normal I experience such a dramatic decrease in volume as the frequencies increase? There is a bigger decrease from 1000Hz to 2000Hz than from 125Hz to 250Hz to 500Hz despite my audiogram leveling off at 1000Hz and up. I have a piano at home and noticed this when playing it. My parents barely notice any volume decrease which is expected as their hearing is normal or near normal. I have only 5db worse hearing at 2000Hz than 1000Hz, yet why such a big decrease in volume? Is it just me or does everyone with a profound loss experience this phenomenon?

 

[deafdude1]

There is no "better or worse" residual hearing once the CI is in. A person with 120 db+ loss has the ability to get to where Miss Kat is, (hypothetically of course) it has nothing to do with the fact that she had residual hearing before CI.

Residual hearing won't alter the results of a CI, but can be useful for a person that alternates between HAs and CI or isn't happy with CI and can fall back on HA. It's also used for hybrid CI designs. How much residual hearing did Kat lose, if any after CI? Some of us consider keeping our residual hearing a big deal and im seeing CI designs and implementation change to increase the odds a person won't lose all their residual hearing.

Audiologist do NOT aim to get a CI user down to 0 db, that is foolish. They only have the ability to have a dynamic window so big, so if they program to hear every single soft sound, the "louds" would be missed. Plus, why do you need to hear things that soft? Our goal was for Miss Kat to get speech sounds and 25 db is plenty for that.

Perfect hearing is 0db. I know that todays CI is incapable of getting to 0db, in fact I read the average results was 40db. The fact she got between 15db and 25db is an excellent result. 25db is the minimum that is considered "normal" hearing and she reached that so she is getting speech sounds as expected. I did see that the speech banana extends as far up as 10db for 100% comphrension. 25db would get you pretty high up anyway and would be better than average for CI(or HAs in severe-profound hearing for the matter)

As for her hearing aids, they were as loud as she could get with still reasonable clarity. Cranking them up to an uncomfortable, distorted level would be ridiculous and counter productive. What good is 25 db if she can't understand or identify any sounds because of distortion?

Thanks for letting me know. In my case, more gain helps, especially with hearing more environmental sounds. Ive turned the volume down on my HAs and it only made it harder to hear everything, including speech. I am surprised she is getting so much distortion, do you know why? The sounds I hear sound normal to me and when I repeat what I hear, my parents say I repeat it correctly. I only need to get more gain above 500Hz then ill hear speech much better. My audiologist also said if my high frequency hearing loss was a few db less, id hear perfectly with HAs. I know everyone is different. They should design HAs that distort less and benefit everyone with residual hearing.

Miss Kat had reasonable closed set scores with very different words. On the ESP (early speech perception) test she scored as high as 90%, but those were two syllable, very familiar, very different words. (hot dog vs airplane vs toothbrush). But if it was an open set, she would have scored 0 (unless you happened to say baby).

Would an open set consist of monosyllable words, including rhyming words? What % is she up to with CI so far? Since everyone is different, howcome some people with hearing worse than hers scores better on speech perception? My audiologist who sold me those HAs says I have the best speech perception for my level of hearing loss he's ever seen and thinks with practice I could get it to a decent %. I know that with CI you still need lots of practice.

As for the one frequency not being "severe", we had no problem with it. They said it was a useless frequency for speech and she obviously wasn't benefiting enough from her aids. We had no problem with insurace either. She is on Medicaid so we paid exactly $0 for her CI.

This is news to me. The speech banana covers 125Hz to 8000Hz and some graphs show it extending even below and above that. Also theres lots of low frequency environmental sounds, may I ask if her ability to hear environmental sounds changed? When/if do you plan to go bilateral for Kat?

I am surprised it was so easy for you to get approval from insurance, especially with the amount of residual hearing she has. Ive read lots of stories of how profoundly deaf people struggle for months or years to get approval and some still never get approval and need to pay out of pocket for CI or stick with HAs. Ive always read that severe-profound loss was required and one of them had a graph showing minimum of 75db at 250Hz, 85db at 500Hz, 95db at 1000Hz and up. Have requirements recently become much more lax? Thanks for your answers, so much I can learn!

 

[Hear Again]

Ive always read that severe-profound loss was required and one of them had a graph showing minimum of 75db at 250Hz, 85db at 500Hz, 95db at 1000Hz and up.

Severe hearing loss starts at 70 dB, so this person DID have severe-profound hearing loss.

 

[Hear Again]

Unaided/aided audiogram
3000Hz-115db/NR
4000Hz-120db/NR

How come you're able to hear unaided at 3 and 4K, but you receive NR aided?