[nfb-db] Frustrated with Screenreaders

[Catherine Miller]

I cannot determine, at this point, the difference between perpendicular and parallel traffice.  The reason is because I haven't reached that particular question on my list of priorities yet.  The last few years with my CIs have been so busy with all the new busy-ness of hearing people and audio books and podcasts and music and the whispers of my husband and the birds and voices of friends and the sermons of my minister that I have not actually taken the time to stand on the street corner.  That's what SSPs are for.  And no, I cannot tell where a sound is coming from unless there is only one sound in a quiet environment.  BUT, please, oh please, do not accept any brand of implant for which the surgeon or audi tells you there are limitations.  For example if you are told, before implantation, that you will not be able to enjoy music you haven't heard before, you do not want to settle for that implant.  The only implant you should accept is the one that will provide you with unlimited sound capability.  You should be limited only by your physical capabilities combined on your brain's level of adaptation to the signals carried by the auditory nerve.  Let me explain.  On the day my implant was first activated, my brain could withstand only a certain amount of sound because it hadn't received sound in a long time.  The very next day, the audi turned the volume a great deal louder and I was able to hear softer sounds.  That's because my brain had adjusted to hearing the new sounds in the 24 hours since the implant was activated.  Then for the next 30 days I used external controls to increase volume incrementally until I saw the audi again.  Each time I turned up the volume, I gained mor esounds and heard more of the conversations around me.  My brain would not have been able to tolerate all this volume in the first few days.  

My insurance also paid for a speech therapist during this adjustment period.  The therapist tracked my progress in a manner that revealed which particular sounds I needed more exposure to in order to train my brain to hear them well.  

You say magical?  I say miraculous.  There are no limits, provided you are medically, physically, a candidate for implantation.

Cathy Miller


Sent from my iPad