Re: Post CI learning resources for visually impaired

[Guest guest]

Just a thought because I know of some adults who do this at our center, is there

a rehab therapist at her CI center. Sometimes this is really helpful to at

least start the process and for ideas on what has worked for adults at your

center.

My daughter has implants and we have met many adults at the center through the

rehab area and some other activities we do as a CI group.

Post CI learning resources for visually impaired

Greetings -

My name is Rick Schroeder and my 83 year old mother, Sylvia, will

receive a cochlear implant on April 30. She will receive the implant

on her left side, which has almost no hearing, and she uses a hearing

aid on her right side. She scored a 28% on a recent sentence

recognition test. My mother also has fairly severe macular

degeneration, and although she can see well enough to perform daily

activities, she cannot read, not even large print.

I am trying to determine the best ways that she can " re-learn " to

hear after the implant is turned on. At this point, our ideas are:

- Listen to books on tape. Start with very simple stories, maybe

even children's rhymes and stories that she knows. Then move on to

more difficult stories.

- I saw this workbook advertised online - " Hear at Home: A Home

Training Program for Adults with Hearing Loss. " According to the web

site, the materials in " Hear at Home " were designed to be presented

by the family and/or friends of adventitiously hard-of-hearing and

deaf adults. Has anyone used this, and was it helpful?

What I would like to ask those of you on this list is for your

suggestions and ideas for rehabilitation after getting a CI,

particularly for someone who has visual impairment? Thanks.

Rick Schroeder

Fort , Colorado

[Guest guest]

Hello Rick,

I have a lot in common with your mother. I am 80, and received a CI

on my right side last November, and was activated on Dec 31.

I also have MD - though mine is much milder than your mothers. I am

being treated for wet MD in my left eye, with an " avastin " shot

every 6 wks. Not a pleasant experience, but vastly preferable to

letting the disease progress.

At first I had a tendency to think of the CI as another device such

as a hearing aid, or digital camera etc. If it didn't work as

expected, it must be defective, or broken. But of course, that's

probably not the case with a CI - its more likely that your brain in

not making the required adjustments. During the 1st two weeks after

activation, I had made negligible progress, and was forced to mull

things over. I finally realized that there were(at least) two

obstacles. My living conditions were such that there was not much

opportunity for hearing much human speech, and I realized that as my

hearing declined (I scored zero on the sentence recognition test) I

developed the habit on not listening, unless someone was speaking

directly to me at close range. (I live in a Sr. retirement community,

and spend most of my time alone in my apartment) I began spending a

lot of time listening to commentators on CNN - eventually I began to

understand a little of what they were saying. I also went shopping

for a cassette player in order to listen to audio books. I discovered

that most of the audio books are now on .cd's. Fortunately the

cassette player i bought also plays cds. I bought an audio book -

selected at random (a Sue Grafton novel) and began listening. By

listening to the same passages over and over, I would eventually be

able to understand most of it - but there were always words and

phrases that I never decifered, so in frustration I bougt the text

version, and would read a chapter, and then listen to the

corresponding part on the cd. This worked. Now, I hear the

commentators on CN, and the audio book voices pretty well - but I

still have problems with actual live human voices, particularly if

background noise is present. In general though, I have found that

progress is pretty much proportional to effort. Children's books are

a good idea. If you look for then on line, you can often listen to

excerpts on line, and even download them.

Jjenkins

Minneapolis

On Mar 17, 2008, at 9:05 AM, rmschroe wrote:

> Greetings -

>

> My name is Rick Schroeder and my 83 year old mother, Sylvia, will

> receive a cochlear implant on April 30. She will receive the implant

> on her left side, which has almost no hearing, and she uses a hearing

> aid on her right side. She scored a 28% on a recent sentence

> recognition test. My mother also has fairly severe macular

> degeneration, and although she can see well enough to perform daily

> activities, she cannot read, not even large print.

>

> I am trying to determine the best ways that she can " re-learn " to

> hear after the implant is turned on. At this point, our ideas are:

>

> - Listen to books on tape. Start with very simple stories, maybe

> even children's rhymes and stories that she knows. Then move on to

> more difficult stories.

> - I saw this workbook advertised online - " Hear at Home: A Home

> Training Program for Adults with Hearing Loss. " According to the web

> site, the materials in " Hear at Home " were designed to be presented

> by the family and/or friends of adventitiously hard-of-hearing and

> deaf adults. Has anyone used this, and was it helpful?

>

> What I would like to ask those of you on this list is for your

> suggestions and ideas for rehabilitation after getting a CI,

> particularly for someone who has visual impairment? Thanks.

>

> Rick Schroeder

> Fort , Colorado

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Good for you, Rick, advocating for your mother. I am in my 50s with CI and I

am blind. If your mother meets the legal definition of blindness, which I

suspect she does given she cannot read large print, she cann apply to the

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in her

state. Through them she can get a talking book player and talking books for

free. As others have suggested, start off with simple children's stories she

is acquainted with. I would stay away from children's rhymes with similarly

sounding words, such as The Cat in the Hat (hope I got this title right). I

find news anchors easier to understand than other programs. It would be

helpful if relatives or friends could assist with exposing her to and

identifying environmental sounds and providing listening exercises, such as

saying sentences for her to repeat. Perhaps there is someone in the CI

Center or in a university speech/audiology training program who can provide

additional listening experiences.