[nfb-db] Deaf In One Ear

[Scott Davert]

Hi Mike.
I'm assuming that your friend has some residual hearing on the other side? 
You're right, everything will sound as though it's coming from one side. 
Sort of like listening to a mono FM system.

Scott
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Sivill" <mike.sivill at viewplus.com>
To: "'NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List'" <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 3:14 PM
Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Deaf In One Ear


>I have a friend who had this system, I believe David is on this list. He
> ended up not wearing it because it gave him more trouble locating sources 
> of
> sound since no matter what side something was on it still sounded like
> everything was on the one side.
> Mike
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Scott Davert
> Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 12:10 PM
> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Deaf In One Ear
>
> Hi Keri.
> I understand what it's like to have nondirectional hearing: it is no
> picnic at all. Your communication struggles are things I can
> appreciate given what I've gone through with my hearing loss. Having
> everything sounding like it is coming from one side is not a fun
> experience, and can be very disorienting. When I get ear infections or
> have alergies, the hearing in one or the other ear tends to go down to
> near 0. When this happens. Not only is it disorienting, it's also
> something that causes me to be dizzy.
> I had a student awhile back who had the hearing aid you're describing,
> but this person also had some vision. This person was able to function
> much better with the other hearing aid sending information to the good
> ear. The complaint about the system was that the sound sometimes
> became overwhelming because you have the sounds from 2 ears going in
> to one. This seems logical to me, but I have never had experience with
> this type of hearing aid myself.
> At the end of the day, as with all hearing or vision adaptations, you
> need to give the system a try to see if it will work for you. What may
> work miracles for one personn can cause another more grief. Most
> hearing aid manufacturers offer a 30 day trial period. My advice would
> be to take advantage of that 30 day period and see how it goes.
>
> Wishing you the best of luck,
> Scott
>
> On 9/13/11, Catherine Miller <guillcat at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Kerri:
>>
>> My heart goes out to you--I know how frustrating it is to hear someone
>> talking, not know where they are, not beng able to find them with your
> blind
>> eyes, and being expected to communicate back to them.  I had this
> situation
>> during the thirty-day period after my first cochlear implant surgery,
> before
>> the implant was activated.  I had the situation again a year later, 
>> before
>> my second implant was activated.  You are not alone, and you don't know
> how
>> stressful it really is until you have some relief.  Give yourself as much
>> slack as you can.
>>
>> No, I'm sorry but I haven't heard of the device you ask about.  But I do
>> want to emphasize how much success you might be able to have with a
> cochlear
>> implant.  I wore hearing aids in both ears for over twenty years.  During
>> this time my hearing continually worsened. My audiologist
>> eventually informed me that she could no longer program the aids to
>> compensate for my level of hearing loss.  Even the digital aids have 
>> their
>> limitations.
>>
>> The audiologist had no suggestions.  Unable to accept my situation, I did
> my
>> own investigation.  I'd heard that cochlear implant surgery was risky and
>> that insurance would rarely agree to pay for it.  What I learned was that
>> this information was no longer valid.  Depending on your surgeon, 
>> cochlear
>> implant surgery has an extremely high success rate.  Depending on the
>> implant center's evaluation, you very well might qualify.  Your vision
> loss
>> will multiply your chances of becoming a candidate.  Based on surgeon's
>> recommendation, your insurance company might very well approve.
>>
>> I understand not being able to hear what people say because of background
>> noise.  And sometimes, no matter how many times you explain, people still
>> forget.  For me it could be maddening.  I still experience it to a 
>> degree,
>> depending on the "mapping" of the sound processors that deliver the
> signals
>> to my implants.  With a good mapping, the background noise actually gets
>> quieter while someone's talking to me.  Don't ask how, I don't understand
> it
>> either.
>>
>> I've visited LCB, but I haven't attended as a client.  The folks there 
>> are
>> good people.  Pam Allen, the Executive Director, is open to the unique
>> experience and perception of people with hearing loss.  It's my belief
> that
>> some of the skills of blindness were intended for people with normal
>> hearing.  I don't try to cross the street, since I can't tell where the
> cars
>> are.  If I'm walking with someone, I do still take their elbow so I don't
>> wander off.  But it's great to have my cane so I don't bounce off things
> on
>> the opposite side of me.  If your O&M instructor didn't teach you to use
>> your cane with both hands, teach yourself.  I find it helpful to be able
> to
>> switch between my right and left hands depending on my environment.
>>
>> Thank you for sharing your situation here.  Stay in touch, keep us 
>> posted.
>> We want to learn from your experience.  We want to know what solutions 
>> you
>> find for yourself.  We are a small community, and we need to pool our
>> knowledge and experience.
>>
>> Cathy Miller
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 12, 2011 at 12:00 PM, <nfb-db-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
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>>> Today's Topics:
>>>
>>>   1. Some Questions (Kerri Kosten)
>>>   2. Re: Some Questions (Janice Toothman)
>>>
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> Message: 1
>>> Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:35:17 -0400
>>> From: Kerri Kosten <kerrik2006 at gmail.com>
>>> To: nfb-db at nfbnet.org
>>> Subject: [nfb-db] Some Questions
>>> Message-ID:
>>>
> <CAM6GWxxrmewLBRRe2Jiv0+7D2vYFnoneRE+rhcQYx2Po2hCwNQ at mail.gmail.com
>>> >
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>>>
>>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------
>>>
>>> Message: 2
>>> Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2011 18:51:55 -0400
>>> From: Janice Toothman <janice.toothman at verizon.net>
>>> To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Some Questions
>>> Message-ID: <4E6D3B8B.502 at verizon.net>
>>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>>
>>> Hi Kerri
>>> I haven't heard of that kind of hearing aid. But it sounds interesting.
>>> I have been having problems with my hearing aids. I don't think that
>>> your problems is that uncommon. I know a lawyer her is deaf in one ear
>>> and has partial hearing in the other. I think she uses the hearing aid
>>> that you described. She has been quite successful in court wearing it.
>>> But other than that I don't have any personal experience with it but
>>> would like to know more.
>>> Janice
>>>
>>> On 9/11/2011 3:35 PM, Kerri Kosten wrote:
>>> > 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
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > nfb-db mailing list
>>> > nfb-db at nfbnet.org
>>> > http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-db_nfbnet.org
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
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