HEARING WITH THE
INERAID
ARTIFICIAL EAR
Patients involved in the program have related the
following advi
ce
and experiences. These comments
are shared here to
help you know what to expect as
you use your sound processor. The
INERAID
artifici
al
ear is still a new device and we are con-
tinuing to
learn about it.
You
r experiences could be
entirely different than those other patients have had.
You
r initial attempts at communicating with the
INERAID artificial ear may not be as promisi
ng
as
you had hoped. Be pat
ie
nt with yourself and do not
expect to recognize environmental sounds immediately.
You
have been in a world without sound for
quite some time and
It will take you a while to adjust.
Compare hearing again to being in a dark room f
or
several hours and walking out into blinding sunlight.
At first you need to squint and
your
eyes may feel
Irritated. After a short time
your
eyes adjust.
It
will take severa l days to a few weeks for you to
become accustomed to auditory
stimuli. Begin by
using the sound processor
daily for several short
periods in a
familiar environment. Practice adjusting
the controls
until you are comfortable with them.
Increase the amount of exposure time every day and
try using the sound processor
in
a new setting.
At
first the volume may seem very loud, as you con-
tinue to use the device this problem
will disappear.
Listening intently is
an
exercise and will make you
tired-you
may even experience a mild headache.
Periods of rest without the artificial ear
will eliminate
this problem.
You
may learn to recognize sounds more quickly
if.you have
family membe rs or friends dri
ll
you. Ask
them to
po
int out one sound at a time and learn
what it
is.
For instance, a companion can knock on
the door, turn on the water or drop a
ball on the
ground
until you are able to identify these sounds
without looking.
Gradually, you will
be able
to recognize more
sounds and become
accu.~tomed
to listening
to
things around you. Some stimuli, such as a garage
door opening
or
a clanging cash register, may
be
t
oo noisy at first. If a certain noise bothers you, turn
the sound processor off
while you are exposed to i
t.
Once you get used to hearing again you probably
won'
t need to do this.
After you
feel comfortable with environmental
sounds you may
en
joy
a word game. Pick a subject
and have a friend say
related words for you to
repeat. For example, you may choose the subject
"camping."
Your friend may say words such as
sleeping bag, campfire,
marshmallow, back pack,
tent,
or
mosquito. Stay with subjects both of you are
familiar with.
You
may
be
able to understand speech through
speech reading, context and the sound produced
by the artificial ear.
It is important to face the
speaker so you can continue using your speech
reading
skills. Some sounds are easier to hear
because they are a better frequency
an
d have more
in
tensity. For example,
band
d sounds are easier to
identify than s and v sounds. List
en
for key words
to
help you with the context.
You
are likely to feel
frust rated if you try
to
grasp eve
ry
word.
You
may
find that
It
is easier to understand peop le you have
been communicating with on a regul
ar
basis than
someone you do not see very often. Remember that
practice
is
essential. Your efforts will be rewarding
if
you concentrate on listening for 30 minutes or more
every day.
Background noise may interfere with your ability
to understand the person you are talking to. Adjust
the sensitiv
it
y contro l to reduce t
he
background
noise so you can hear more
clearly.
You
may need
to
ask the person to speak more distinctly and
slowly.
He
may be tempted
to
shout but encourage
him to
talk in a normal voice. With practice you will
learn to block out most common background noise
so
it does not distract you. Remember that in some
situations background noise (such as heavy traffic)
makes understandi ng speech
difficult even
for
people with normal hearing.
Your own voice may
no
t seem as natural to you
as other
people's voices. Even if you had normal
hearing, your voice would sound different to you
than it does to someone else. This is because
we
all
hear our own voices through bone conduction as
well as air conduction. If your voice seems softer or