Re: Person age be reason?

July 16, 2006

Hi Dolly. I received my implant 3 days before my 70th birthday, At activation, I

could hear speech clearly(a little high pitched though) and could hear on the

speakerphone 3 days later. I have always supposed it was my audio memory, not my

age, which accounted for the quick results. It had only been about 5 years since

my hearing had started to fail. I think the many factors peculiar to each

individual (mentioned many times on this list) are what goes into how fast

success comes. That's just my opinion from a satisfied customer.

Gayle Tiana Northcott <dolphing@...> wrote:

Hi Silly and others,

I am wondering if a person age can be one reason for some CI person to hear the

speech right away, while others as you said take a while?

After all when one get to certain age our body loves to slow down on you. I

myself noticed it take me longer to thinks thing out or do things fast (hmm,

come to think of it, I have not done anything " fast " for years). I seem to do

everything slowly now. Hey, even our brain loves to go on a vacation away from

us.

To those of you who had the CI after the age of 60 (I am 63), did some of you

able to get back as fast as Silly ? Or did it taken you longer to

understand the speeches, use the phone again, etc.?

Dolly Dolphin

July 16, 2006

Dolly,

Being DeafBlind slows things down too.

July 16, 2006

Thank you Irwin for replying to my question. I am glad the CI turn out great

for you.

I have been reading everyone emails up to now. Some I understand, some I do

not. I just tried to remember the three " P "

PRACTICE

PATIENT

PERSEVERANCE

Lol, as I am still trying to pronounce the last one - Perseverance. Both my

brain and tongue is going " Huh!!!??? "

I know - PRACTICE and PATIENT!!! But first I have to figure out HOW! The

dictionary did not help me to pronunce it right. Some day...

Dolly Dolphin

July 16, 2006

Dolly:

I think it has more to do with auditory memory than your age. If you once

heard and have a good memory of sound, it is easier to hear with a CI. How

long you waited since going deaf to get the CI might also be a factor.

One strange and wonderful thing when I began to hear with my CI is that

voices of people I heard before I lost my hearing sounded exactly the way I

remember them sounding years ago.

Implanted with N22 in 12/88, activated 1/89

Legally blind most of my life

Totally deaf for part of my life

Nan Rosen

_www.rosetwig.com_ (http://www.rosetwig.com/)

July 16, 2006

Dolly,

I believe that a lot has to do with our auditory memories..How much

we remember what things sounded like during our good hearing years

(for post lingual deaf at least) In my case, I still had a minute

amount of hearing left.. like 5% overall.. 2% in one ear and 3% in

the other so I had a fairly recent memory of what things sounded

like. Also, I had excellent hearing in my younger years, and had no

noticeable hearing loss until I reached my 20's. My oldest sister

lost her hearing at a much earlier age and it took her about 3

months to really start understanding speech, although she could hear

and understand some things right away..just took her time to

unscramble everything that was being thrown at her.

I'm no expert, so I couldn't begin to tell you if age is a real

factor as to how fast people begin to hear(understand) speech..

could be it's just one of many reasons.

Hey.. My brain even goes on vacation without me and I'm not one of

the " senior members " yet.. I just have the moments LOL

Fact is, there is no guarantee as to what, how much or even if a

person will be successful with the implant, but, wanting to hear

again so badly.. I am glad I took the chance and had such great

success. I'm still amazed by how many folks have come so far in the

world of hearing since the invention of the CI..I remember years

back saying.. I'd give anything to be able to hear well again and

here I am today hearing better than I ever remember... didn't have

to give a whole lot to achieve it either!

Hugs,

Silly MI

In , " Gayle Tiana Northcott " <dolphing@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi Silly and others,

>

> I am wondering if a person age can be one reason for some CI

person to hear the speech right away, while others as you said take

a while?

>

> After all when one get to certain age our body loves to slow down

on you. I myself noticed it take me longer to thinks thing out or

do things fast (hmm, come to think of it, I have not done

anything " fast " for years). I seem to do everything slowly now.

Hey, even our brain loves to go on a vacation away from us.

>

> To those of you who had the CI after the age of 60 (I am 63), did

some of you able to get back as fast as Silly ? Or did it

taken you longer to understand the speeches, use the phone again,

etc.?

>

> Dolly Dolphin

>

July 16, 2006

Hi ,

Thank you for answering my question.

It is like some kids goes through school like a breeze with doing little

homework while others have to work so hard to succeed. I guess it is the same

with CI. For some it come right away while others will have to work harder to

hear the words. Hence the two of the motto - Practice and Patient. I hope I

have figured this out right?

I am learning so much from all of you, good or bad, pro or con.

Last Friday my friend said " Gayle, I remember a time when you said no way to CI

and now you can't wait to get it " .

Also I was against children having CI, but from reading what great help CI have

given the children, I have changed my mind.

EDUCATION is the key word. Thanks to you all, I am learning so much about all

the brands that no matter which brand I choose, all the brands help Deaf-Blind,

Hard of Hearing and Deaf people to hear more then they did before CI.

Keep up the good works everyone.

Dolly Dolphin

July 16, 2006

I was 61 when I was implanted in April, Gayle. I'm 62 now.

I could hear speech well, right from the activation session.

I'll let you know about the phone tomorrow, Its my sons birthday and

I plan to ring him.

Ted F.

>

> Hi Silly and others,

>

> I am wondering if a person age can be one reason for some CI person

to hear the speech right away, while others as you said take a while?

>

> After all when one get to certain age our body loves to slow down

on you. I myself noticed it take me longer to thinks thing out or do

things fast (hmm, come to think of it, I have not done

anything " fast " for years). I seem to do everything slowly now.

Hey, even our brain loves to go on a vacation away from us.

>

> To those of you who had the CI after the age of 60 (I am 63), did

some of you able to get back as fast as Silly ? Or did it taken

you longer to understand the speeches, use the phone again, etc.?

>

> Dolly Dolphin

>

July 17, 2006

Hi Ted,

Thanks for letting me know what age you were when you had your CI.

Good luck tomorrow on the phone to your son. Let us know how it went.

Dolly Dolphin crossing her fins that Ted will hear his son on the phone

July 17, 2006

Thanks. It wont be for a few hours yet. I will hear him OK, its just a

matter of how much I hear. I could hear them with hearing aids, but my

comprehension was very poor, so I got out of the habit of answering or

using the phone. I am also flying down to see them for a few days in a

couple of weeks time, so I will be going through a couple of airports,

that should be fun :-). I will also be able to see how much I can

understand of my daughter-in-law and the grandchildren. I always had

problems with womens and childrens voices. Hopefully the C.I. will have

addressed some of those problems.

Ted F.

>

> Good luck tomorrow on the phone to your son. Let us know how it went.

>

> Dolly Dolphin crossing her fins that Ted will hear his son on the

> phone

July 18, 2006

Well, the phone call went very well. I have a cordless home phone

with the speakerphone function. I started off using the speakerphone

and holding it by my implant, but after a few minutes, I decided to

turn the speakerphone function off and see if I could use it as an

ordinary phone and I could hear what my son said OK. We chatted for

20 minutes, so thats a C.I. moment for me :-). I couldnt even use the

speakerphone with my two hearing aids.

Ted F.

> >

> > Good luck tomorrow on the phone to your son. Let us know how it

> > went.

> >

> > Dolly Dolphin crossing her fins that Ted will hear his son on

> > the hone

>

July 18, 2006

Ted,

That is awesome! I'm sure you'll be experiencing many more great CI moments, as