[nfb-db] Some Questions

[Kerri Kosten]

Hi Everyone:

I had a few questions.

I am totally blind with a rather strange hearing loss. I have almost
all of my hearing in my left ear and none whatsoever in my right.

In 2005, an audiologist gave me a digital hearing aid for my left ear.
About two years ago in 2009, I read about a hearing aid called the
Bicros which is where you have a hearing aid in your ear that has
hearing in it and in the deaf ear you wear a microphone. The sound the
microphone picks up is transferred to the good ear that has hearing in
it.

Does anybody on this list wear this type of hearing aid or does anyone
know anything about it? Is it something I should look into? It would
be very nice if I could somehow get even a sense of hearing in my deaf
ear.

The hearing aid I got in 2005 helps some but I still have a lot of
problems. Because I only have hearing in one ear I have a hard time
localizing/telling what direction sounds are coming from.

Another problem is that if there is a noise such as a tv on or
something like that and a person tries to talk to me I can tell that
they spoke but I can't tell what they said. It's like I can't hear
over the other noise.

If a person sits on my deaf side I can't tell what they are saying and
so have to turn my head in order to hear them.

This is all really getting annoying. Is this something a better/newer
hearing aid such as the Bicros aid can fix or is this just a result of
only having hearing in one ear?

Is there anyone else on this list with hearing in only one ear or a
similar situation?

I am planning to get my blindness skills training at the Louisiana
Center for The Blind. Has anyone else on this list who has hearing
loss attended there? How was the training?

As I mentioned earlier I only have hearing in one ear so it is hard
for me to tell which direction sounds are coming from. I find I really
enjoy using my cane to travel as opposed to always holding someone's
arm. What is the best way to follow someone with your cane if you have
trouble telling which direction they are coming from? Do you just ask
them to give you verbal directions such as straight, left, or right?

Thanks!
Kerri