As you may have heard, it's Better Hearing and Speech Month, and in honor of BHSM Cochlear is asking you to take the Million Ear Challenge, and they in turn will donate products and accessories to customers who otherwise couldn't afford them.
In celebration and to spread awareness, there is going to be an event here in Dallas at the Grapevine Mills Mall. Here is the information:
On Saturday, May 14th from 2-3 PM, we will be meeting in front of the Food Court Entrance of the Grapevine Mall. Yellow T-shirts will be passed out free of charge. To help raise awareness, ear plugs will be handed out, and a full minute of noise-making and hand-clapping will occur so people in the mall know what this event is for. This is also a great opportunity for CI recipients and candidates to socialize, so try and stop by!
If you have any questions/ suggestions please feel free to contact me! And also, please spread the word!
Showing posts with label hearing loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hearing loss. Show all posts
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
It has its perks
After getting 3 hours of sleep the night before...
I went to bed especially early
and slept especially soundly.
So imagine my surprise when I found out that
these fell
and these lit up the sky
as these blasted.
All while I got to catch up on my beauty sleep.
Jealous?
I know my family was!
Monday, December 20, 2010
School's Out...
(for 2 weeks)
Hallelujah!
Soo glad to be out (and even more excited that I only have 6 months until I am DONE with this school forever. My district divides the high schools up 9th-10th graders and another school for 11th-12th graders). I did well on all of my exams; even better than I expected. I'm leaving in a couple of days to fly up north (all by myself!) to visit a very dear convention friend. Super excited!
After kicking off the break with an ugly-Christmas-sweater/White-Elephant/gingerbread-house-decorating/Christmakuh party on Friday night, I went to the Dallas Hearing Foundation's Sounds of the Season Gala/fundraiser. This was the first year I have attended; I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was absolutely wonderful!
A while back they asked me for my cochlear implant story for the gala and had me get my picture taken. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to be used..
Well, I had "my" own table! It was named after me, and each place setting had my picture with the story on the back. Pretty cool!
My picture/story was also turned into a poster board that greeted all the people as they walked in.
I really wish I had gotten pictures of my favorite part, which was the presentation by 5 kids who had been helped by DHF. All of of them had cochlear implants, enjoyed the benefits of speaking and hearing, and were absolutely adorable! I was too busy enjoying it to snap any pictures. By the end there wasn't a dry eye in the house. If I had brought any money with me, I would have dumped it all right into one of the donation envelopes right then ;)
There was Meghana, the junior emcee, who hosted the event along with her sister. She's in second grade, and was implanted when her family moved from India to Texas when she was four. She had a precious performer personality, and did a great job. Some of the other kids included:
Happy Holidays!
Hallelujah!
Soo glad to be out (and even more excited that I only have 6 months until I am DONE with this school forever. My district divides the high schools up 9th-10th graders and another school for 11th-12th graders). I did well on all of my exams; even better than I expected. I'm leaving in a couple of days to fly up north (all by myself!) to visit a very dear convention friend. Super excited!
After kicking off the break with an ugly-Christmas-sweater/White-Elephant/gingerbread-house-decorating/Christmakuh party on Friday night, I went to the Dallas Hearing Foundation's Sounds of the Season Gala/fundraiser. This was the first year I have attended; I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was absolutely wonderful!
 |
| My older sister and I |
 |
| Please excuse the fuzziness- this was taken from my sister's phone. |
There was Meghana, the junior emcee, who hosted the event along with her sister. She's in second grade, and was implanted when her family moved from India to Texas when she was four. She had a precious performer personality, and did a great job. Some of the other kids included:
- A little girl, whose entire family (including herself, her parents and brother) were born deaf and wear cochlear implants. She spoke beautifully about the miracles of Hanukkah and described the miracle of her cochlear implants.
- A 12 year old boy implanted when he was 5. He got up and sang a pretty awesome rendition of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer". He even got everyone to sing along!
- An eight year old bilaterally implanted when he was one. He wowed the crows with his breakdancing skills!
- A boy who has bilateral implants, as do all of his siblings. He thanked his mom, describing how she checks 6 processors and 18 (!!!) batteries every morning to ensure each of her kids can hear. He told of his struggle to learn to hear and speak for the first time when he was implanted, at age 8. It was clear he had worked hard and had made tremendous progress, and hearing him exclaim "Just look at me now!" brought on a flood of tears.
Happy Holidays!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Dallas Hearing Foundation Fundraiser
Tickets are $25 off today and tomorrow only!
There's also a special deal on raffle tickets with lots of cool prizes. You can still win even if you're unable to attend.
Also be sure to check out the DHF Facebook page to read lots of great patients stories (and maybe even see some familiar faces!)
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Getting Creative
As long-time readers probably know, getting captioning on school videos has been a struggle for me, (and I'm sure many other D/HoH students as well). All of my teacher have dealt with the situation differently, and sometimes I can understand the video pretty well without captions, so long as I don't have to take notes and can just concentrate on the listening part. Other times, it's some animated video narrated by an Irish guy, and I'm completely lost. In one of my classes we're watching a video that takes 3 class days to watch. It's in a two year class for freshmen and sophomores, so I had these teachers (there are 2 teachers- I have 60 kids in my class) last year. They've always been really accommodating and helpful, so they made sure to get a video with subtitles.
Well, once they went to play it, they discovered these subtitles were only available in Spanish or French. So, I got a summary of the movie, plugged my FM into the speakers, and used French subtitles. I could understand a large amount between my hearing and French skills. It actually wasn't too confusing reading in French while listening in English, and it wasn't certainly much better than having nothing. I always thought learning French would come in handy, but being able to read French subtitles never really entered my mind!
Well, once they went to play it, they discovered these subtitles were only available in Spanish or French. So, I got a summary of the movie, plugged my FM into the speakers, and used French subtitles. I could understand a large amount between my hearing and French skills. It actually wasn't too confusing reading in French while listening in English, and it wasn't certainly much better than having nothing. I always thought learning French would come in handy, but being able to read French subtitles never really entered my mind!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Search for teenage and adults deaf actors for upcoming TV show
No, this is not turning into a news blog :) I will post an update about myself soon, there just hasn't been much of anything to report. I saw this page on Facebook after a few of my friends "liked" it, and thought some reader might be interested. The plot sounds interesting, and it would be pretty cool if a "typical" speaking, hearing deaf kid was plucked from everyday life into TV fame. Note that they are looking for people who can both sign and speak, and the deadline is October 15th.
From the page:
** REMEMBER: YOU MUST FILL OUT AND SUBMIT A "WAIVER" FORM ALONG WITH YOUR VIDEO SUBMISSION. **
WHERE TO GET A COPY OF THE AUDITION SCENES AND WAIVER
You can find a copy of the waiver, together with the audition scenes here:
DAPHNE: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/daphne.pdf
** Note: The character of Daphne will be speaking, signing (ASL) and using sim-com during the show. The producers would like to see you do all three at some point during your audition. So, pick some lines from the audition scene where you will speak only, others where you will sim-com and others where you will use ASL only. **
EMMETT: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/emmett.pdf
PENN: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/penn.pdf
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
You’ll need some sort of digital video recording device. It can be your iPhone, cell phone, Flip camera, small digital video camera, etc, etc, etc.
BUT KEEP THIS IN MIND:
-- The accepted formats for uploaded files are: Quicktime (.mov), Flash (.flv) and MPEG4 (.mp4) ONLY!
-- You may be able to "convert" your file into one of these formats. But make sure you can and know how to do so, or find someone who does.
-- YOUR FILE CANNOT BE OVER 20MB!
-- Alternatively, you can supply us with a You Tube Video link, which must be set for public viewing.
-- Do not name your video files with punctuations (for example: * " ' / \ @ &)
FILMING YOUR AUDITION VIDEO
It doesn’t have to be a “big production.” But, we need to be able to see you – and hear you – clearly on screen. So make sure you have plenty of light when you record yourself, and make sure the camera is not too far away from you.
Put your camera or phone on a stable surface, like a tripod or table. Again, make sure there’s plenty of light so we can see you. And then … perform like the character you want to play!
Remember, be easy and just be yourself. You have nothing to lose! Ultimately, what we want to see, is the true essence of who you are.
When you're done, you must do two things
1. Fill out and return the "waiver form" you found attached to the audition pages.
- You can fax it to: 323-874-2268
- Scan and email it to: switchedpilot@yahoo.com
- Or include it with your "hard copy" DVD submission in the mail.
2. Upload your video. Here's how:
HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR VIDEO
Click on this link to go to the Now Casting website. You will upload your videos there:
https://www.nowcasting.com/uploadauditions
- When asked for the role code, use 1133bf53
- Click "submit."
- Fill out the required fields and enter only the role you are auditioning for in the "Description" field. Do not put /&"!'@ in the description or the name of the file.
- Click "choose file" [next to where it says "Audition File" -- underneath where it says "Description"] and pick the file you will be uploading from your computer.
- Click "submit." The audition will be delivered directly to us.
That's it! You're done!
SUBMITTING A HARD COPY THROUGH THE MAIL
Please note that the preferred method of sending us your audition videos is THROUGH THE LINK ABOVE.
If you submit your video this way, there is no postage to worry about, we are guaranteed to receive your video and we will see it much faster.
As a last resort, you can also submit a "hard copy" of your audition video, along with the waiver and personal information, IN DVD FORMAT ONLY to:
Deedee Bradley
6767 Forest Lawn Drive, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Actors should write a short paragraph about themselves and include:
1. Their name
2. Their AGE ( Very important)
3. Where they are currently living.
4. Best way for us to contact them.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS
The deadline for submissions is October 15th, 2010.
Now, good luck! We hope that you are who we’re looking for!"
Here is the plot outline for the show, Switched at Birth which will be on ABC Family and the roles they need to fill:
The show revolves around Daphne, a smart, confident and well-adjusted deaf teenager who has her world turned upside down when she discovers that she was switched at birth with another girl.
DAPHNE - ACTRESS MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING AND MUST SPEAK WELL, AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE PREFERRED. Age range from 16 to early 20’s to play high school. Actress is to be light-haired or willing to dye hair blond for the role, and if the show moves to series, actress must be willing to relocate to Los Angeles in February.
Smart, confident, and well-adjusted Daphne is stunned to learn that she and Bay Kennish were accidentally switched at birth 15 years ago. Having grown up in a working-class household as the only child of a single mom, she is excited to meet her new parents, and especially thrilled at the idea of having brothers and a dad. But balancing two families is trickier than she expected, particularly because her biological parents have never been around anyone deaf, and are eager for her to enter a mainstream school and a less deaf-centric world.
EMMETT - 16, ACTOR MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, MUST BE FLUENT IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE. Emmett is Daphne's best friend. Raised by deaf parents and educated in a deaf school, Emmett doesn't talk orally, and is more comfortable in a deaf world. Rugged, reserved, a young deaf James Dean.
PENN - late 30’s or 40’s. male, ACTOR MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, MUST SPEAK WELL. Penn is Emmett's father and Daphne's mother's best friend. Penn is the one who educated Daphne's mother about the importance of learning sign, schooling Daphne in a deaf world, etc.
I will admit it does sound a bit "stereotypical deaf", with the importance of sign, Deaf culture etc.. However, its still in its infancy and I highly encourage you to audition ASAP if you're interested! There's no telling how things will turn out! Here is the Facebook Fan page that includes all of the information I have posted:
http://www.facebook.com/SwitchedSearch
From the page:
** REMEMBER: YOU MUST FILL OUT AND SUBMIT A "WAIVER" FORM ALONG WITH YOUR VIDEO SUBMISSION. **
WHERE TO GET A COPY OF THE AUDITION SCENES AND WAIVER
You can find a copy of the waiver, together with the audition scenes here:
DAPHNE: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/daphne.pdf
** Note: The character of Daphne will be speaking, signing (ASL) and using sim-com during the show. The producers would like to see you do all three at some point during your audition. So, pick some lines from the audition scene where you will speak only, others where you will sim-com and others where you will use ASL only. **
EMMETT: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/emmett.pdf
PENN: http://www.nowcasting.com/switched/penn.pdf
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
You’ll need some sort of digital video recording device. It can be your iPhone, cell phone, Flip camera, small digital video camera, etc, etc, etc.
BUT KEEP THIS IN MIND:
-- The accepted formats for uploaded files are: Quicktime (.mov), Flash (.flv) and MPEG4 (.mp4) ONLY!
-- You may be able to "convert" your file into one of these formats. But make sure you can and know how to do so, or find someone who does.
-- YOUR FILE CANNOT BE OVER 20MB!
-- Alternatively, you can supply us with a You Tube Video link, which must be set for public viewing.
-- Do not name your video files with punctuations (for example: * " ' / \ @ &)
FILMING YOUR AUDITION VIDEO
It doesn’t have to be a “big production.” But, we need to be able to see you – and hear you – clearly on screen. So make sure you have plenty of light when you record yourself, and make sure the camera is not too far away from you.
Put your camera or phone on a stable surface, like a tripod or table. Again, make sure there’s plenty of light so we can see you. And then … perform like the character you want to play!
Remember, be easy and just be yourself. You have nothing to lose! Ultimately, what we want to see, is the true essence of who you are.
When you're done, you must do two things
1. Fill out and return the "waiver form" you found attached to the audition pages.
- You can fax it to: 323-874-2268
- Scan and email it to: switchedpilot@yahoo.com
- Or include it with your "hard copy" DVD submission in the mail.
2. Upload your video. Here's how:
HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR VIDEO
Click on this link to go to the Now Casting website. You will upload your videos there:
https://www.nowcasting.com/uploadauditions
- When asked for the role code, use 1133bf53
- Click "submit."
- Fill out the required fields and enter only the role you are auditioning for in the "Description" field. Do not put /&"!'@ in the description or the name of the file.
- Click "choose file" [next to where it says "Audition File" -- underneath where it says "Description"] and pick the file you will be uploading from your computer.
- Click "submit." The audition will be delivered directly to us.
That's it! You're done!
SUBMITTING A HARD COPY THROUGH THE MAIL
Please note that the preferred method of sending us your audition videos is THROUGH THE LINK ABOVE.
If you submit your video this way, there is no postage to worry about, we are guaranteed to receive your video and we will see it much faster.
As a last resort, you can also submit a "hard copy" of your audition video, along with the waiver and personal information, IN DVD FORMAT ONLY to:
Deedee Bradley
6767 Forest Lawn Drive, Suite 100
Los Angeles, CA 90068
Actors should write a short paragraph about themselves and include:
1. Their name
2. Their AGE ( Very important)
3. Where they are currently living.
4. Best way for us to contact them.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS
The deadline for submissions is October 15th, 2010.
Now, good luck! We hope that you are who we’re looking for!"
Here is the plot outline for the show, Switched at Birth which will be on ABC Family and the roles they need to fill:
The show revolves around Daphne, a smart, confident and well-adjusted deaf teenager who has her world turned upside down when she discovers that she was switched at birth with another girl.
DAPHNE - ACTRESS MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING AND MUST SPEAK WELL, AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE PREFERRED. Age range from 16 to early 20’s to play high school. Actress is to be light-haired or willing to dye hair blond for the role, and if the show moves to series, actress must be willing to relocate to Los Angeles in February.
Smart, confident, and well-adjusted Daphne is stunned to learn that she and Bay Kennish were accidentally switched at birth 15 years ago. Having grown up in a working-class household as the only child of a single mom, she is excited to meet her new parents, and especially thrilled at the idea of having brothers and a dad. But balancing two families is trickier than she expected, particularly because her biological parents have never been around anyone deaf, and are eager for her to enter a mainstream school and a less deaf-centric world.
EMMETT - 16, ACTOR MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, MUST BE FLUENT IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE. Emmett is Daphne's best friend. Raised by deaf parents and educated in a deaf school, Emmett doesn't talk orally, and is more comfortable in a deaf world. Rugged, reserved, a young deaf James Dean.
PENN - late 30’s or 40’s. male, ACTOR MUST BE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING, MUST SPEAK WELL. Penn is Emmett's father and Daphne's mother's best friend. Penn is the one who educated Daphne's mother about the importance of learning sign, schooling Daphne in a deaf world, etc.
I will admit it does sound a bit "stereotypical deaf", with the importance of sign, Deaf culture etc.. However, its still in its infancy and I highly encourage you to audition ASAP if you're interested! There's no telling how things will turn out! Here is the Facebook Fan page that includes all of the information I have posted:
http://www.facebook.com/SwitchedSearch
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sweet Sixteen
I turned 16 on Monday, then got my license on Thursday. As great as it was having the day off of school (since my birthday also happened to fall on Labor Day), being sick put a bit of a damper on things. I went to the DPS on Thursday, since it was a Jewish holiday and I didn't want to have to miss school twice. Stood in line for 2 hours (starting at 7 AM..way too early!), and then made an appointment to take my driving test at noon. While in line, we chatted with a guy who was a year or two older than me (he was getting his license renewed) who also had hearing aids. I don't know know of his hearing background, but as far as I know he is completely oral, and if his hearing aids hadn't been visible I probably would have had no idea he had a hearing loss. We discussed whether or not to get hearing-related restrictions on my license, and he said that he didn't put anything about his hearing loss on the form when he went to get his. In the end, we told the person who was creating my license (which only flustered the poor lady further-it was her first time giving a license and it took her forever to figure out how to work everything on the computer!)
When I came back later to take the driving test, I was terrified. All of the people who were taking the driving test had to line up in their cars in a certain spot, and the person testing would come out to you. There were about 6 of us in line, and I was 2nd. The first instructor/testing person came out, a jolly large old man who seemed quite friendly, and walked over two the first car. I thought to myself, "Maybe it's not that bad!" Then, another person walked out and began making her way out towards my car. An audible gasp could be heard from my mother's mouth- this woman looked miserable, and I'm pretty sure if I'd been in a movie, they would have played that haunting music they play when the villain reveals herself! It didn't help that she insisted in speaking in her one-step-above-a-whisper voice. The test itself didn't last longer than 15 minutes, and I ensured that I didn't fail for "Not following directions" by repeating every single direction she gave me to verify I heard her right. I wouldn't say it was a joyride, and I wasn't quite flawless, but I passed and did well and I now have a license, so I have no complaints!
On Friday I had my birthday part. It was a "sweets" party (get it? "Sweet Sixteen" Clever, right? ;)) and we spent 2 of the 3 hours in 2 teams "competing" by having a cake decorating competition. I was actually surprised at how artistic some of my friends are! There was no winner or prize, but it was a lot of fun. Instead of gifts, I told my friends that I would love donations for the Dallas Hearing Foundation. We raised $300, and I know it was for a great cause! Here are some pictures:
Hearing is great! At the beginning of my party I began to regret having 16 already loud and hyper girls, who were also now on a sugar rush, all decorating and talking in one room, since it began to get so noisy that even my friends had to ask for more repeats than usual. I then gestured my mom for my remote, quickly put it on the Zoom setting, and was able to hear fine for the rest of the evening!
When I came back later to take the driving test, I was terrified. All of the people who were taking the driving test had to line up in their cars in a certain spot, and the person testing would come out to you. There were about 6 of us in line, and I was 2nd. The first instructor/testing person came out, a jolly large old man who seemed quite friendly, and walked over two the first car. I thought to myself, "Maybe it's not that bad!" Then, another person walked out and began making her way out towards my car. An audible gasp could be heard from my mother's mouth- this woman looked miserable, and I'm pretty sure if I'd been in a movie, they would have played that haunting music they play when the villain reveals herself! It didn't help that she insisted in speaking in her one-step-above-a-whisper voice. The test itself didn't last longer than 15 minutes, and I ensured that I didn't fail for "Not following directions" by repeating every single direction she gave me to verify I heard her right. I wouldn't say it was a joyride, and I wasn't quite flawless, but I passed and did well and I now have a license, so I have no complaints!
On Friday I had my birthday part. It was a "sweets" party (get it? "Sweet Sixteen" Clever, right? ;)) and we spent 2 of the 3 hours in 2 teams "competing" by having a cake decorating competition. I was actually surprised at how artistic some of my friends are! There was no winner or prize, but it was a lot of fun. Instead of gifts, I told my friends that I would love donations for the Dallas Hearing Foundation. We raised $300, and I know it was for a great cause! Here are some pictures:
 |
| This was a cake we ordered, we're not quite that talented at decorating. Isn't it beautiful?! |
 |
| This was the table of sweets. Not all of the food was out yet, but I still think it's so pretty! |
 |
| Cake decorating supplies |
 |
| Team 1's cake |
 |
| Team 2's Cake |
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Hearing Loss, Confidence, and my Second Week of School
Week 2 was also successful! The homework load has increased, and there has been an annoying amount of "busy-work" but it has certainly been bearable. It was pretty uneventful (except for a bunch of other sophomores unofficially declared on Tuesday "Scrub Day" which I find to be terrifying and cruel. If you don't know what it is, I'll leave it up to your imagination. Hint: It has absolutely nothing to do with wearing scrubs or cleaning). Since there's not much to say about that, I thought I would talk about confidence and how it has impacted me.
Over the summer I volunteered at a nearby pediatric hospital. While I had done it the summer before, this year they placed me at the front desk as opposed to being in the back filing papers. I was really excited about this, as it's obviously more a lot more interesting to get some interaction with patients and parents. I was in charge of giving directions and walking people to their destinations in the hard-to-navigate hospital. I certainly feel like it taught me quite a bit about speaking up for myself, as you can't exactly bluff when you mishear the location you're supposed to be bringing someone! As time went on, I also built up the confidence to go up and ask people who seemed to be wandering and lost if they needed help. People view you completely differently when you act like you know what you're talking about.
This brings me to the school year. The (semi-)confidence to talk to complete strangers has proved essential for yearbook, since we have to ask people permission before taking their pictures. This also means getting shot down over and over (and over!) again, but I guess that's just another life lesson! It has also transferred over to my other classes, such as when I asked my teacher to change my seat since I was facing the wall instead of the front of the room. She was more than happy to move me, but I don't think the girl I traded with was too crazy about having to strain her neck for 50 minutes every day. Not sure why they position the desks like that anyway...
I also built up the confidence to run for an officer position of my school's French Honor Society. To back up a bit, I had never been in the officer position of a club before until I decided to run for my school's Red Cross Club. My friends and I were pretty much the only freshmen in it last year, so this year all 5 of us are officers since there wasn't really anyone to run against. We're hoping to get more students involved! Anyway, running for FHS officer was the first thing where I'd actually have to compete against other people for the position. Luckily for me, the winner is chosen by having an interview with my French teacher instead of having to give a speech and have members vote (baby steps!) To be completely honest, I wavered back and forth about whether I wanted to interview, and wasn't going to do it until the tutorial session I was going to attend before school was canceled, and I was already at the school so I had nothing better to do but to go and interview for the position. I hadn't prepared at all, but I managed to win the position I wanted, so that was pretty exciting!
Over the summer I volunteered at a nearby pediatric hospital. While I had done it the summer before, this year they placed me at the front desk as opposed to being in the back filing papers. I was really excited about this, as it's obviously more a lot more interesting to get some interaction with patients and parents. I was in charge of giving directions and walking people to their destinations in the hard-to-navigate hospital. I certainly feel like it taught me quite a bit about speaking up for myself, as you can't exactly bluff when you mishear the location you're supposed to be bringing someone! As time went on, I also built up the confidence to go up and ask people who seemed to be wandering and lost if they needed help. People view you completely differently when you act like you know what you're talking about.
This brings me to the school year. The (semi-)confidence to talk to complete strangers has proved essential for yearbook, since we have to ask people permission before taking their pictures. This also means getting shot down over and over (and over!) again, but I guess that's just another life lesson! It has also transferred over to my other classes, such as when I asked my teacher to change my seat since I was facing the wall instead of the front of the room. She was more than happy to move me, but I don't think the girl I traded with was too crazy about having to strain her neck for 50 minutes every day. Not sure why they position the desks like that anyway...
I also built up the confidence to run for an officer position of my school's French Honor Society. To back up a bit, I had never been in the officer position of a club before until I decided to run for my school's Red Cross Club. My friends and I were pretty much the only freshmen in it last year, so this year all 5 of us are officers since there wasn't really anyone to run against. We're hoping to get more students involved! Anyway, running for FHS officer was the first thing where I'd actually have to compete against other people for the position. Luckily for me, the winner is chosen by having an interview with my French teacher instead of having to give a speech and have members vote (baby steps!) To be completely honest, I wavered back and forth about whether I wanted to interview, and wasn't going to do it until the tutorial session I was going to attend before school was canceled, and I was already at the school so I had nothing better to do but to go and interview for the position. I hadn't prepared at all, but I managed to win the position I wanted, so that was pretty exciting!
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sophomore Year- Week 1
So far, everything has been pretty good and my teachers have been wonderful (knock on wood). We've watched a few movies, and every time they have either been captioned (knock on wood), or the teacher has told me in advance and worked out how I will get the information. My hearing has been great (knock on wood) and I actually went for a mapping before school started, but chose to stay on my old program. That's the first time I felt like I was hearing well enough that I didn't want to change to something new. The FM has also worked pretty well (knock on wood) and the teachers have been great about passing it around.
The workload hasn't been terrible (I'd say knock on wood, but your hand is probably getting tired), and I am so glad I chose the electives I did. While my friends are spending their time reading studying and reading for quiz after quiz for their AP elective class, I get to go around taking pictures for the yearbook! Obviously, once we have more pictures there will be more work in designing the pages, staying after school, going to outside events, etc. but I would much rather be doing this. I can't remember if I said this before (I probably did) but I am also taking a medical science class, which will hopefully lead to me securing a spot in a program next year where students get to observe doctors of all kinds as well as surgeries. We haven't started doing any in-depth learning yet, but I can tell it will be something that I will enjoy. We're also going to be learning how to use stethoscopes properly in the coming weeks, so if anyone has experience/ advice on using a specific brand stethoscope with a cochlear implant, please share! There is another person taking the class with CIs, so the school is looking into purchasing one. We'll see where that goes!
I turn 16 on Labor Day and will hopefully be getting my license soon after, as I have to take yet another test due to the crazy laws that Texas passed and put in effect starting with the teens getting their licenses literally a week before me. I would be grumbling about having such a borderline birthday, but if I had born a week earlier I would be a Junior, so I guess I can't complain! Here's to another good week!
The workload hasn't been terrible (I'd say knock on wood, but your hand is probably getting tired), and I am so glad I chose the electives I did. While my friends are spending their time reading studying and reading for quiz after quiz for their AP elective class, I get to go around taking pictures for the yearbook! Obviously, once we have more pictures there will be more work in designing the pages, staying after school, going to outside events, etc. but I would much rather be doing this. I can't remember if I said this before (I probably did) but I am also taking a medical science class, which will hopefully lead to me securing a spot in a program next year where students get to observe doctors of all kinds as well as surgeries. We haven't started doing any in-depth learning yet, but I can tell it will be something that I will enjoy. We're also going to be learning how to use stethoscopes properly in the coming weeks, so if anyone has experience/ advice on using a specific brand stethoscope with a cochlear implant, please share! There is another person taking the class with CIs, so the school is looking into purchasing one. We'll see where that goes!
I turn 16 on Labor Day and will hopefully be getting my license soon after, as I have to take yet another test due to the crazy laws that Texas passed and put in effect starting with the teens getting their licenses literally a week before me. I would be grumbling about having such a borderline birthday, but if I had born a week earlier I would be a Junior, so I guess I can't complain! Here's to another good week!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Guest Post by Joey of BTaC
The following is a guest post by Joey from BigTeethAndClouds.com. If you would like to write a guest post, please contact me with your idea. At this time, I am not interested in guest posts for advertising or those that are specifically about a technology that I do not/have not used. Thank you!
Our house has a nifty feature that wasn’t advertised by any real estate listing. Twice a summer, there are fireworks we can see from the street right outside our house. In July, we made our 5-year-old daughter, Julia, take a nap so she could stay up to watch the display.
The neighborhood kids are a nice bunch. There are four other little girls under age 12 that play with my girl regularly. They understand about her hearing aids and though they’re not perfect at compensating for her communication needs, they get along really well. There is one boy, age 6, in the neighborhood.
This boy never comes out to play. He doesn’t care for the girl dominated street or whatever. He made a rare appearance on this evening of the fireworks.
He wasn’t really paying attention to the show, so someone drew his attention to the fact that there was music being played. It was far distant music that I could hardly hear myself.
This boy walks up to my daughter, my sweet angel with her hot pink, purple, and white ear molds. He gets right up to her and asks, “can you HEAR that music? Can you? Can you hear it? It’s like doo, doo do do.”
The whole interaction took just a couple of seconds. Julia said that she could hear it, which may well have been a lie. The boy lost interest and went away from her.
I was left with tightness in my chest for the rest of the evening. I had a whole fantasy sequence where I held that little boy by the shirt and told him that he will never be permitted to speak to my child again. My palms felt sweaty and my heart was beating too fast. Where did he get off talking to her like that?
When we were inside and Julia was in bed for the night, my husband and I talked about the incident. We agreed that he was not being a nice kid. He probably isn’t a nice boy.
There are a lot of boys and girls in the world that aren’t nice. Julia will be meeting all sorts of kids this year in kindergarten. I will be not be there to assess their intentions. She will be alone.
Though I’m frightened for her, I’m glad too. I can’t take it. Julia clearly can. And really, it’s hers to handle. So until she comes to me with one of these stories, I really should stop worrying.
The neighborhood kids are a nice bunch. There are four other little girls under age 12 that play with my girl regularly. They understand about her hearing aids and though they’re not perfect at compensating for her communication needs, they get along really well. There is one boy, age 6, in the neighborhood.
This boy never comes out to play. He doesn’t care for the girl dominated street or whatever. He made a rare appearance on this evening of the fireworks.
He wasn’t really paying attention to the show, so someone drew his attention to the fact that there was music being played. It was far distant music that I could hardly hear myself.
This boy walks up to my daughter, my sweet angel with her hot pink, purple, and white ear molds. He gets right up to her and asks, “can you HEAR that music? Can you? Can you hear it? It’s like doo, doo do do.”
The whole interaction took just a couple of seconds. Julia said that she could hear it, which may well have been a lie. The boy lost interest and went away from her.
I was left with tightness in my chest for the rest of the evening. I had a whole fantasy sequence where I held that little boy by the shirt and told him that he will never be permitted to speak to my child again. My palms felt sweaty and my heart was beating too fast. Where did he get off talking to her like that?
When we were inside and Julia was in bed for the night, my husband and I talked about the incident. We agreed that he was not being a nice kid. He probably isn’t a nice boy.
There are a lot of boys and girls in the world that aren’t nice. Julia will be meeting all sorts of kids this year in kindergarten. I will be not be there to assess their intentions. She will be alone.
Though I’m frightened for her, I’m glad too. I can’t take it. Julia clearly can. And really, it’s hers to handle. So until she comes to me with one of these stories, I really should stop worrying.
If only that were my nature.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Alarming rate of teen hearing loss
I figure most of you have heard this by now, but being a teen I think it alarms me that much more to consider the number of friends that I have who will likely require hearing assistance when they are older. So, I'm posting this for those who already haven't already heard...
1 in 5 teens in the US has a slight hearing loss.*
1 in 20 US teens have mild or worsening hearing loss.
This is a 30% increase since the mid '90s.
Links:
Yahoo! Associated Press Article
USA Today Article
I think the problem is both a lack of education about noise exposure, as well as the all-too-common idea "it won't happen to me." The other day I got into my seventeen year old (hearing) sister's car, and as soon as she turned it on the car was shaking with the radio blasting at full volume. I could feel the beat in my chest, and could hear the low frequency sounds pumping without my implants (I can tell when I'm able to hear something with my residual hearing alone. It "comes through" differently.) I glared at my sister, and she turned off the radio. Lately she's been complaining about hearing a buzzing or ringing in her ear. I went on to tell her that this could damage her hearing, and that this tinnitus could actually be a sign of hair cells in her cochlea being killed off. She was actually surprised, and went on to ask me why *I* get to turn my iPod speakers up so loud. "Well, sis. I don't know if you've noticed yet...but I'm already deaf! I've got nothing left to lose!" (I suppose she doesn't think it's fair). I'm pretty sure as soon as I got out of the car she turned the radio right back on, but who knows. I'm sending her this article.
*"Slight" hearing loss in teens is consider to be a loss of 16-24 dB, and most of these are in only one ear. It is important to realize that many hearing aids (and even cochlear implants) don't always amplify/provide sound down to this level, it is very quiet. With my cochlear implants, the softest sounds I can hear range from 5-20 dB. With my hearing aids, it ranged from 40-80dB hearing loss (or so, this is based off of my memory). However, as these teens with hearing loss grow up and lose hearing from age-based hearing loss, they will need stronger hearing aids earlier, such as in their 40's rather than 50's, 60's, or 70's.
1 in 5 teens in the US has a slight hearing loss.*
1 in 20 US teens have mild or worsening hearing loss.
This is a 30% increase since the mid '90s.
Links:
Yahoo! Associated Press Article
USA Today Article
I think the problem is both a lack of education about noise exposure, as well as the all-too-common idea "it won't happen to me." The other day I got into my seventeen year old (hearing) sister's car, and as soon as she turned it on the car was shaking with the radio blasting at full volume. I could feel the beat in my chest, and could hear the low frequency sounds pumping without my implants (I can tell when I'm able to hear something with my residual hearing alone. It "comes through" differently.) I glared at my sister, and she turned off the radio. Lately she's been complaining about hearing a buzzing or ringing in her ear. I went on to tell her that this could damage her hearing, and that this tinnitus could actually be a sign of hair cells in her cochlea being killed off. She was actually surprised, and went on to ask me why *I* get to turn my iPod speakers up so loud. "Well, sis. I don't know if you've noticed yet...but I'm already deaf! I've got nothing left to lose!" (I suppose she doesn't think it's fair). I'm pretty sure as soon as I got out of the car she turned the radio right back on, but who knows. I'm sending her this article.
*"Slight" hearing loss in teens is consider to be a loss of 16-24 dB, and most of these are in only one ear. It is important to realize that many hearing aids (and even cochlear implants) don't always amplify/provide sound down to this level, it is very quiet. With my cochlear implants, the softest sounds I can hear range from 5-20 dB. With my hearing aids, it ranged from 40-80dB hearing loss (or so, this is based off of my memory). However, as these teens with hearing loss grow up and lose hearing from age-based hearing loss, they will need stronger hearing aids earlier, such as in their 40's rather than 50's, 60's, or 70's.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
A little bit of everything
Full disclosure: For the past couple of weeks, I've been feeling burnt out and tired of the hearing loss "world", and felt like I had nothing left to give or receive. I was all but ready to take a break, but just today had some exciting hearing related things occur that I will share once everything is final. It gave me another "kick" and a renewed fire for writing about hearing loss issues. Can't say how long it will last (you can partly blame the great hearing my CIs have been giving me-less substance to write about!), but I have no doubt I'll have plenty of material once school starts next week. Hopefully not as much as last year, but we'll see!
Today I went to the orthodontist for follow-up x-rays and pictures so they could have "before" and "after" images from my having braces. It was with a different lady than the couple of different assistants I typically dealt with, so she wasn't quite as aware about knocking off my processors (which seems to happen every couple of minutes, regardless). We started off by taking head x-rays, so I told her I was going to take off my "hearing aids", trying to imply I wouldn't hear. So much for that. She was talking the entire time instructing me, and half the time she would turn the other direction and I could only see her lips moving from the side. She seemed frustrated that I wasn't following her directions, and I probably should have just said something along the lines of "I can't hear you...at all." but didn't feel like it. Instead, she kept pointing to her lips and talk while gesturing. I'd nod- she wanted me to put my lips together, I got it! After about 5 X-ray attempts I discovered she was telling me *not* to put them together. Oops. She probably thought I was pretty stupid.
After this, they needed to do a series of molds of my mouth, which consisted of me biting on various colored pieces of wax. It was easy enough, until she stuck a piece of wax on this hard contraption, had me bite on it, used a screwdriver to screw some sort of pole into it, which connected to some sci-fi halo looking thing that went around my head. She then instructed me to put some pieces in my ear, and I was secretly grateful that I no longer wore hearing aids. Of course, I somehow managed to push off my processors. I still fail to see why this entire contraption was necessary just for me to bite on a little piece of wax, but what do I know?
A month or so ago, I got a car :D I must thank my wonderful parents, and I have been practicing in it with my parents to prepare for the big test, which is coming up very soon! Anyway, my mom was out of town for a few days this weekend so my dad let me park my car behind her garage spot. Before she came back this evening, I had to move my car and parallel park it back in front of my sister's car in front of our house. I can parallel park somewhat behind cars, but have never done it in front of them. My dad asked me to do it myself "because I fully trust you", he said. (Translation: my leg hurts, and I don't feel like walking outside to sit in your burning hot car). And no, he wouldn't dare look out the window to watch me either. So I spent some 10 minutes hopelessly moving the car forwards and backwards, until my dad wondered what was taking me so darn long and wandered outside. He laughed, and then attempted to instruct me on how to park my car. For the record, he wasn't good at it either- I basically went forwards and backward a million times, turning the wheel the way my dad said only for him to shout "oh, never mind! other way!" About 5 minutes into this ordeal, I saw my ENT (who also happens to be our neighbor) walking his dog across the street. I watched him as he squinted and stared for another 5 minutes, as we probably looked like crazed idiots as I attempted to do this parking thing. After a total of 20 minutes, the mission was accomplished: slightly crooked, and a little too close to the curb, but it was done!
Today I went to the orthodontist for follow-up x-rays and pictures so they could have "before" and "after" images from my having braces. It was with a different lady than the couple of different assistants I typically dealt with, so she wasn't quite as aware about knocking off my processors (which seems to happen every couple of minutes, regardless). We started off by taking head x-rays, so I told her I was going to take off my "hearing aids", trying to imply I wouldn't hear. So much for that. She was talking the entire time instructing me, and half the time she would turn the other direction and I could only see her lips moving from the side. She seemed frustrated that I wasn't following her directions, and I probably should have just said something along the lines of "I can't hear you...at all." but didn't feel like it. Instead, she kept pointing to her lips and talk while gesturing. I'd nod- she wanted me to put my lips together, I got it! After about 5 X-ray attempts I discovered she was telling me *not* to put them together. Oops. She probably thought I was pretty stupid.
After this, they needed to do a series of molds of my mouth, which consisted of me biting on various colored pieces of wax. It was easy enough, until she stuck a piece of wax on this hard contraption, had me bite on it, used a screwdriver to screw some sort of pole into it, which connected to some sci-fi halo looking thing that went around my head. She then instructed me to put some pieces in my ear, and I was secretly grateful that I no longer wore hearing aids. Of course, I somehow managed to push off my processors. I still fail to see why this entire contraption was necessary just for me to bite on a little piece of wax, but what do I know?
A month or so ago, I got a car :D I must thank my wonderful parents, and I have been practicing in it with my parents to prepare for the big test, which is coming up very soon! Anyway, my mom was out of town for a few days this weekend so my dad let me park my car behind her garage spot. Before she came back this evening, I had to move my car and parallel park it back in front of my sister's car in front of our house. I can parallel park somewhat behind cars, but have never done it in front of them. My dad asked me to do it myself "because I fully trust you", he said. (Translation: my leg hurts, and I don't feel like walking outside to sit in your burning hot car). And no, he wouldn't dare look out the window to watch me either. So I spent some 10 minutes hopelessly moving the car forwards and backwards, until my dad wondered what was taking me so darn long and wandered outside. He laughed, and then attempted to instruct me on how to park my car. For the record, he wasn't good at it either- I basically went forwards and backward a million times, turning the wheel the way my dad said only for him to shout "oh, never mind! other way!" About 5 minutes into this ordeal, I saw my ENT (who also happens to be our neighbor) walking his dog across the street. I watched him as he squinted and stared for another 5 minutes, as we probably looked like crazed idiots as I attempted to do this parking thing. After a total of 20 minutes, the mission was accomplished: slightly crooked, and a little too close to the curb, but it was done!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Lipreading Fail: A Frightening "deaf moment"
After a long day of SAT classes and a night of getting engrossed in the latest novel I was reading, I finally fell into a deep sleep late that night. I slept soundly, dreaming of puppies and butterflies..
*shake, shake* I rubbed my eyes. Why was someone awaking my slumber at this unearthly hour of *glances at clock* 9 AM?! I rolled over and shut my eyes, only for me to see my mom pounding on my bed again, and then walking out. That was...odd. Besides the fact that this was my one day to sleep in (and for a teenager approaching the end of summer, 9 in the morning is not sleeping in), I usually get a friendlier wake-up call than that. I mean, my sister was set to have her wisdom teeth out this morning, it's not like we were planning to go out and party. I dragged myself out of bed and into the hallway, only to see my mom standing there talking on the phone.
"What was that about?!" I asked in my whining sleepy voice.
My mom began gesturing wildly, a frantic look in her eyes, all the while staying on the phone. She tried talking to me, but my lipreading skills are declining by the day, and I still wasn't fully awake. I stared at her and threw my arms up, trying to signal the fact that I was confused and had no idea watch she was trying to say. I paced back and forth as my mom stood in the doorway of my sister's room, still on the phone.
She signaled for me to put on my processors. I shook my head, unable to recall exactly where I put them as I dozed off the night before. Besides, it was too early! I was ready to jump back in the bed!
"What do you want?!" I asked, starting to get annoyed.
I was finally able to understand. Downstairs..door...me...Ah, I got it! I have to answer the door!" "Who's at the door?" I asked.
My mom slowly enunciated what I thought looked a lot like "Rebecca is coming."
"Hmm, that's weird." I thought to myself. Rebecca was my sister's friend. But, as far as I knew, my sister was still sound asleep from the surgery less than a couple of hours earlier. I shrugged, and went downstairs to open the door for Rebecca.
I stood at the door, looking out the window for Rebecca. As I waited impatiently, I saw an ambulance, flashing lights and all, pull up in front of our house. "Huh..I wonder what happened?" I thought to myself. They stopped at the stop sign in front of our house. I kept watching to see if they were going in the direction of any of my friends' houses. Instead, 4 paramedics came running out, up to our front door. That's when it hit me that maybe my mom hadn't said anything about Rebecca after all. I opened the door and pointed upstairs, to where my sister and mom were. The first man nodded and ran up, the others followed. Then another 2 paramedics came up, holding a stretcher.
I watched from downstairs as my sister's room quickly filled up. I tried my best to see what was going on. Most of them looked like they were just standing around. "That's good, right? I mean, when they have to do CPR there's normally people running around and screaming." I thought, trying to reassure myself. I sent my dad a text message, hoping he would pause his work to let me know if he knew what was going on. I sat on the couch. Not too long after, the paramedics casually walked downstairs and left, my mom and sister still up in the room.
I soon found out that my sister, with a completely numb mouth, tongue, and throat, had managed to get the gauze stuck in the back of her throat and began to panic. My mom panicked too, since it could block her airway, and called 911. By the time the paramedics got here, my sister apparently had managed to swallow the gauze, so all was well.
That night, I went to check on her. She called out my name. "Yes?" I asked.
"You know, those paramedics were pretty hot." she said with a smile.
Yes they were, sister. Yes they were.
*shake, shake* I rubbed my eyes. Why was someone awaking my slumber at this unearthly hour of *glances at clock* 9 AM?! I rolled over and shut my eyes, only for me to see my mom pounding on my bed again, and then walking out. That was...odd. Besides the fact that this was my one day to sleep in (and for a teenager approaching the end of summer, 9 in the morning is not sleeping in), I usually get a friendlier wake-up call than that. I mean, my sister was set to have her wisdom teeth out this morning, it's not like we were planning to go out and party. I dragged myself out of bed and into the hallway, only to see my mom standing there talking on the phone.
"What was that about?!" I asked in my whining sleepy voice.
My mom began gesturing wildly, a frantic look in her eyes, all the while staying on the phone. She tried talking to me, but my lipreading skills are declining by the day, and I still wasn't fully awake. I stared at her and threw my arms up, trying to signal the fact that I was confused and had no idea watch she was trying to say. I paced back and forth as my mom stood in the doorway of my sister's room, still on the phone.
She signaled for me to put on my processors. I shook my head, unable to recall exactly where I put them as I dozed off the night before. Besides, it was too early! I was ready to jump back in the bed!
"What do you want?!" I asked, starting to get annoyed.
I was finally able to understand. Downstairs..door...me...Ah, I got it! I have to answer the door!" "Who's at the door?" I asked.
My mom slowly enunciated what I thought looked a lot like "Rebecca is coming."
"Hmm, that's weird." I thought to myself. Rebecca was my sister's friend. But, as far as I knew, my sister was still sound asleep from the surgery less than a couple of hours earlier. I shrugged, and went downstairs to open the door for Rebecca.
I stood at the door, looking out the window for Rebecca. As I waited impatiently, I saw an ambulance, flashing lights and all, pull up in front of our house. "Huh..I wonder what happened?" I thought to myself. They stopped at the stop sign in front of our house. I kept watching to see if they were going in the direction of any of my friends' houses. Instead, 4 paramedics came running out, up to our front door. That's when it hit me that maybe my mom hadn't said anything about Rebecca after all. I opened the door and pointed upstairs, to where my sister and mom were. The first man nodded and ran up, the others followed. Then another 2 paramedics came up, holding a stretcher.
I watched from downstairs as my sister's room quickly filled up. I tried my best to see what was going on. Most of them looked like they were just standing around. "That's good, right? I mean, when they have to do CPR there's normally people running around and screaming." I thought, trying to reassure myself. I sent my dad a text message, hoping he would pause his work to let me know if he knew what was going on. I sat on the couch. Not too long after, the paramedics casually walked downstairs and left, my mom and sister still up in the room.
I soon found out that my sister, with a completely numb mouth, tongue, and throat, had managed to get the gauze stuck in the back of her throat and began to panic. My mom panicked too, since it could block her airway, and called 911. By the time the paramedics got here, my sister apparently had managed to swallow the gauze, so all was well.
That night, I went to check on her. She called out my name. "Yes?" I asked.
"You know, those paramedics were pretty hot." she said with a smile.
Yes they were, sister. Yes they were.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Comedy, Deafness, and Political Correctness
One thing that I've increasingly noticed on the internet is the argument of political correctness. Not only in terms of names used to describe people (hearing-impaired vs. deaf vs. hard-of-hearing), but also in terms of joking- what's okay, what isn't. I do think part of it is due to the fact that over the internet it's very hard to interpret tone of voice for tongue-in-cheek or sarcastic comments.
What really struck me is how widely opinions vary. Is it ever okay to make fun of a disability? Does having the disability give you the excuse to joke about it? Are these jokes ever even funny? A month or so back I was reading about Joan Rivers's new documentary, "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work", and it briefly touched the subject. At one of her shows, Rivers made a Helen Keller joke (which, my deafness aside, I never really found them to be particularly funny. Can't say that I'm offended by them either), and a man in the audience was outraged, yelling at her that he has a deaf child and was offended by such a joke. "The comedian tears into him, informing him her mother was deaf and howling, 'Let me tell you what comedy is about — comedy is to make everybody laugh at everything and deal with it!’" - as quoted from this site.
Most of the time, I try to not take a defensive, sensitive standpoint. More often than not, people will say things that offend people out of pure lack off knowledge, not necessarily ignorance or out of intent to harm.I am not a big fan of stand up comedians. I do believe that it can be okay to laugh at our struggles, since they certainly aren't going to go away. Here is one joke I've heard a few times regarding hearing loss, and I do think it's funny in a cheesy humor sort of way.
A concerned husband went to the doctor to talk about his wife. He said to the doctor, “I think my wife is deaf because she never hears me the first time and always asks me to repeat things.”
“Well,” the doctor replied, “go home tonight, stand about 15 feet from her, and say something. If she doesn’t reply, move 5 feet closer and say it again. Keep doing this until we get an idea about the severity of her deafness.” The husband went home and did exactly as the doctor had instructed. He started off 15 feet from his wife in the kitchen as she was chopping some vegetables.
He said, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” He heard no response. He moved 5 feet closer and asked again. No reply. He moved 5 feet closer. Still no reply. He finally got fed up and moved right behind her, about an inch away, and asked again, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”
She replied, “For the fourth time, vegetable stew!” -Taken from Only Funny Jokes
As I've mentioned before, I'm Jewish. Living in Texas, people from time-to-time are shocked and as pretty strange questions. Sometimes people crack a little innocent joke, and I do sometimes find them funny. I think the key is knowing where the line between offensive and hilarious lies, and not overstepping it. (For those wondering, here is a little key of the difference between amusing and stupid. Jewish guilty mother jokes=funny. Big nose jokes= can go either way. Holocaust jokes= waaay overstepping the boundary.) When it comes to serious disabilities that I am not personally affected by, I would never dare make a joke about it. I don't think it's fair to joke when I haven't lived through the day-to-day struggles of a particular disease or disability.
I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks. Is there a time and place for these jokes? Do you think people can be too sensitive, or are others just being too ignorant?
What really struck me is how widely opinions vary. Is it ever okay to make fun of a disability? Does having the disability give you the excuse to joke about it? Are these jokes ever even funny? A month or so back I was reading about Joan Rivers's new documentary, "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work", and it briefly touched the subject. At one of her shows, Rivers made a Helen Keller joke (which, my deafness aside, I never really found them to be particularly funny. Can't say that I'm offended by them either), and a man in the audience was outraged, yelling at her that he has a deaf child and was offended by such a joke. "The comedian tears into him, informing him her mother was deaf and howling, 'Let me tell you what comedy is about — comedy is to make everybody laugh at everything and deal with it!’" - as quoted from this site.
Most of the time, I try to not take a defensive, sensitive standpoint. More often than not, people will say things that offend people out of pure lack off knowledge, not necessarily ignorance or out of intent to harm.I am not a big fan of stand up comedians. I do believe that it can be okay to laugh at our struggles, since they certainly aren't going to go away. Here is one joke I've heard a few times regarding hearing loss, and I do think it's funny in a cheesy humor sort of way.
A concerned husband went to the doctor to talk about his wife. He said to the doctor, “I think my wife is deaf because she never hears me the first time and always asks me to repeat things.”
“Well,” the doctor replied, “go home tonight, stand about 15 feet from her, and say something. If she doesn’t reply, move 5 feet closer and say it again. Keep doing this until we get an idea about the severity of her deafness.” The husband went home and did exactly as the doctor had instructed. He started off 15 feet from his wife in the kitchen as she was chopping some vegetables.
He said, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” He heard no response. He moved 5 feet closer and asked again. No reply. He moved 5 feet closer. Still no reply. He finally got fed up and moved right behind her, about an inch away, and asked again, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”
She replied, “For the fourth time, vegetable stew!” -Taken from Only Funny Jokes
As I've mentioned before, I'm Jewish. Living in Texas, people from time-to-time are shocked and as pretty strange questions. Sometimes people crack a little innocent joke, and I do sometimes find them funny. I think the key is knowing where the line between offensive and hilarious lies, and not overstepping it. (For those wondering, here is a little key of the difference between amusing and stupid. Jewish guilty mother jokes=funny. Big nose jokes= can go either way. Holocaust jokes= waaay overstepping the boundary.) When it comes to serious disabilities that I am not personally affected by, I would never dare make a joke about it. I don't think it's fair to joke when I haven't lived through the day-to-day struggles of a particular disease or disability.
I'd love to hear what everyone else thinks. Is there a time and place for these jokes? Do you think people can be too sensitive, or are others just being too ignorant?
Monday, March 29, 2010
Spreading Awareness- That's Just the Way We Hear
Many of you guys have probably heard about Mel Paticoff. She's the creator of HearingExchange Teens on Facebook and the author of Sophie's Tales, a cute little book about Sophie, a dog who has a cochlear implant. She has several family members with hearing loss and is currently studying deaf education. For last year's Better Hearing and Speech Month competition, she created a music video with her family called That's Just the Way We Hear. It was to the tune of the Jonas Brothers' That's Just the Way We Roll, and won first place in the contest! It even has captions, so that all of its viewers can fully enjoy it. Here is the video:
DoSomething.org is holding a Battle of the Bands competition to fight to keep music in schools. For this competition, Mel and the rest of her crew decided to remake the video. Here is some info about the video included on their Battle of the Bands site:
Why is music education important to you?
Music education is so important to us because it can make a HUGE difference in the lives of kids with hearing loss. If no one takes the time to introduce them to music, kids with hearing loss might not develop the same appreciation for music as hearing kids do, even with amazing cochlear implant and hearing aid technology. Yet, if they do learn to love music, it could improve their lives in a lot of ways! It will improve their auditory listening skills and social skills in big ways. We feel that this is definitely where music education money should be spent first...
Anything else we should know about your Battle of the Bands video project? We want you to know that our dream is to re-record the video with the Jonas Brothers. They have done a phenomenal job of raising awareness about different causes including diabetes, Down Syndrome, and "going green." We really hope they will consider adding hearing loss awareness to this list! It would be a dream come true to hear "That's Just the Way We Hear" played at one of their concerts, on JONAS, or on the Disney Channel. We also want to remind you to turn on the captioning! Unlike many videos found on YouTube, we took the time to make our video accessible to EVERYONE by adding captioning. Now everyone can understand our message loud and clear!
And here's the new video (also captioned)...
In order for the people in the video to achieve their goal, we need to vote for their video! It's very simple, just go to http://www.dosomething.org/bands/entry/sophies-tales and scroll to the bottom where it says "Login to rate this video." and click on it. If you don't already have an account, press "Create New Account" and come up with a user name and password. Once you do so, a confirmation email will be sent to you. After opening the link in the email, you will be able to rate the video at the bottom of the screen. Be sure to give it 10 guitars, and help Mel win the contest!
DoSomething.org is holding a Battle of the Bands competition to fight to keep music in schools. For this competition, Mel and the rest of her crew decided to remake the video. Here is some info about the video included on their Battle of the Bands site:
Why is music education important to you?
Music education is so important to us because it can make a HUGE difference in the lives of kids with hearing loss. If no one takes the time to introduce them to music, kids with hearing loss might not develop the same appreciation for music as hearing kids do, even with amazing cochlear implant and hearing aid technology. Yet, if they do learn to love music, it could improve their lives in a lot of ways! It will improve their auditory listening skills and social skills in big ways. We feel that this is definitely where music education money should be spent first...
Anything else we should know about your Battle of the Bands video project? We want you to know that our dream is to re-record the video with the Jonas Brothers. They have done a phenomenal job of raising awareness about different causes including diabetes, Down Syndrome, and "going green." We really hope they will consider adding hearing loss awareness to this list! It would be a dream come true to hear "That's Just the Way We Hear" played at one of their concerts, on JONAS, or on the Disney Channel. We also want to remind you to turn on the captioning! Unlike many videos found on YouTube, we took the time to make our video accessible to EVERYONE by adding captioning. Now everyone can understand our message loud and clear!
And here's the new video (also captioned)...
In order for the people in the video to achieve their goal, we need to vote for their video! It's very simple, just go to http://www.dosomething.org/bands/entry/sophies-tales and scroll to the bottom where it says "Login to rate this video." and click on it. If you don't already have an account, press "Create New Account" and come up with a user name and password. Once you do so, a confirmation email will be sent to you. After opening the link in the email, you will be able to rate the video at the bottom of the screen. Be sure to give it 10 guitars, and help Mel win the contest!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Perspectives
I can't help but occasionally wonder how big of a deal my hearing loss is for the people around me. Is it something that makes people act differently around me, or do most people not give it a second thought? This week I've gotten some insight on that, and thought I'd share.
A couple of days ago, we had (yet another) fire drill at school. The way they do fire drill at my school, is that regardless of what class the fire drill is in, you have to go and find your study hall class. Each class has a designated spot on the massive football field. However, I have absolutely no sense of direction, and when you're trying to find your way amongst 2,000 other teenagers, it can get pretty insane. So, with this last fire drill, I began wandering aimlessly around on the football field, hoping to see a familiar face. After doing this for a few minutes, I deemed the technique ineffective and decided to just stand in one spot, in hopes that I'd finally spot someone. No sooner had I stopped wandering than I saw one of my best friends (who is in my study hall) running up from behind me. "Hey, we're over there (points to area across the football field). I tried screaming your name, but then I realized that probably wasn't such a good idea..." (implying I probably wouldn't hear it)
While I don't want my hearing loss to be the first thing people think of, I'm glad it entered my friend's mind in that situation. Occasionally, when walking down the hall (which, between the blaring music and the obnoxious kids can create a deafening noise level) a friend will start talking to me as I'm concentrating on not dropping the 30 pounds of books I'm carrying. I don't always hear them speaking initially, and will occasionally be given annoyed looks when the end of their oh-so-important story is met with a blank, confused stare. They're pretty good about getting my attention first, but I guess it can sometimes be forgotten.
This year in my AP Human Geography class, I've befriended the girl who sits in front of me. It's the only class I've ever had with her, but we've grown close since we take a lot of the same classes and have some of the same interests. When she walked into the classroom today, she looks at the board and groaned. "Look at the second bullet on the board..." she said in an annoyed voice. I looked up to see that we were going to have a pop open-note quiz over the video we watched yesterday.
I began to laugh. She stared at me, confused, for a few seconds. Finally, it came to her and she screamed, "Ahh, no fair! I wish I had a hearing aid!" :P Someone else looked over, confused about why she would say such a thing.
"The video didn't have captions, so Mrs. B gave her a copy of her notes since she can't hear the video. She has all of the answers to the quiz!" Half the class then eyed me enviously, and I innocently shrugged. I was grateful that my teacher has finally gotten into the habit of giving me video notes.
Apparently no one took very good notes over the video. Our teacher loves giving quizzes over insanely specific (but pretty irrelevant) material. We got the quiz, and it only had ten questions, all of which were specific (some of the questions asked how much certain workers earned a day..what's the importance of that? The video was about China!) The sort of ironic thing was that a third of the answers weren't even in the teachers notes. (My teacher told me the answers to those.)
On a completely unrelated note, we had an orchestra competition today. All 3 levels of my school orchestra straight 1's (the best score) from all of the judges :)
A couple of days ago, we had (yet another) fire drill at school. The way they do fire drill at my school, is that regardless of what class the fire drill is in, you have to go and find your study hall class. Each class has a designated spot on the massive football field. However, I have absolutely no sense of direction, and when you're trying to find your way amongst 2,000 other teenagers, it can get pretty insane. So, with this last fire drill, I began wandering aimlessly around on the football field, hoping to see a familiar face. After doing this for a few minutes, I deemed the technique ineffective and decided to just stand in one spot, in hopes that I'd finally spot someone. No sooner had I stopped wandering than I saw one of my best friends (who is in my study hall) running up from behind me. "Hey, we're over there (points to area across the football field). I tried screaming your name, but then I realized that probably wasn't such a good idea..." (implying I probably wouldn't hear it)
While I don't want my hearing loss to be the first thing people think of, I'm glad it entered my friend's mind in that situation. Occasionally, when walking down the hall (which, between the blaring music and the obnoxious kids can create a deafening noise level) a friend will start talking to me as I'm concentrating on not dropping the 30 pounds of books I'm carrying. I don't always hear them speaking initially, and will occasionally be given annoyed looks when the end of their oh-so-important story is met with a blank, confused stare. They're pretty good about getting my attention first, but I guess it can sometimes be forgotten.
This year in my AP Human Geography class, I've befriended the girl who sits in front of me. It's the only class I've ever had with her, but we've grown close since we take a lot of the same classes and have some of the same interests. When she walked into the classroom today, she looks at the board and groaned. "Look at the second bullet on the board..." she said in an annoyed voice. I looked up to see that we were going to have a pop open-note quiz over the video we watched yesterday.
I began to laugh. She stared at me, confused, for a few seconds. Finally, it came to her and she screamed, "Ahh, no fair! I wish I had a hearing aid!" :P Someone else looked over, confused about why she would say such a thing.
"The video didn't have captions, so Mrs. B gave her a copy of her notes since she can't hear the video. She has all of the answers to the quiz!" Half the class then eyed me enviously, and I innocently shrugged. I was grateful that my teacher has finally gotten into the habit of giving me video notes.
Apparently no one took very good notes over the video. Our teacher loves giving quizzes over insanely specific (but pretty irrelevant) material. We got the quiz, and it only had ten questions, all of which were specific (some of the questions asked how much certain workers earned a day..what's the importance of that? The video was about China!) The sort of ironic thing was that a third of the answers weren't even in the teachers notes. (My teacher told me the answers to those.)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Shameless Promotion/Request
Okay, faithful readers, you always come through when I need you to. Don't fail me now!
As most of you know, I'm assisting with David's Project and I've been pretty involved with the blog and Facebook page (there's a link to it on the right hand side of this blog). I think it's a really great thing, and if you haven't already submitted your story, do it! We're hoping to have the final site up by April 1st. The blog is not the website that we're working on, I realize that's a bit confusing. We've got a site that is currently being worked on by a web designer, and we've also received some great tips and ideas from the wonderful Rachel Chaikof. Her input helped us decide how we (by we, I mean the 5 teens with hearing loss that are helping to build this site) want the website laid out. One thing we've decided that would be absolutely wonderful is to have pictures of people with hearing loss from a variety of backgrounds. We're thinking a slide show of sorts. However, to have that slide show, we need the pictures from somewhere. That's where you come in.
Have any pictures of you, your child, infant, or teenager with hearing loss, and would like them to be featured on this new website? Please send them in! Important details:
Thanks for your help! Don't let me down ;)
As most of you know, I'm assisting with David's Project and I've been pretty involved with the blog and Facebook page (there's a link to it on the right hand side of this blog). I think it's a really great thing, and if you haven't already submitted your story, do it! We're hoping to have the final site up by April 1st. The blog is not the website that we're working on, I realize that's a bit confusing. We've got a site that is currently being worked on by a web designer, and we've also received some great tips and ideas from the wonderful Rachel Chaikof. Her input helped us decide how we (by we, I mean the 5 teens with hearing loss that are helping to build this site) want the website laid out. One thing we've decided that would be absolutely wonderful is to have pictures of people with hearing loss from a variety of backgrounds. We're thinking a slide show of sorts. However, to have that slide show, we need the pictures from somewhere. That's where you come in.
Have any pictures of you, your child, infant, or teenager with hearing loss, and would like them to be featured on this new website? Please send them in! Important details:
- You don't have to have a story to send in pictures, and you don't have to have pictures to send in a story, but both are welcome, either alone or separately!
- If you choose to send in the pictures, you can send them to me at pinklam94@yahoo.com or directly to David at davidcluff2012@gmail.com,
- For any pictures you send, we request that you also type or write the following, just to prevent any issues should they come up,
I realize typing this seems pretty pointless, but we didn't want to make you sign some long liability/consent contract.I also want to make it clear that there are absolutely no profits being made off of this website, and any pictures you send will be used for the project site, and the project site only. We've got a lot of exciting tricks planned up our sleeve for this website, but it needs participation to be the best it can be! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact either of us at the emails written in the 2nd bullet point."I (your name) give permission for my picture to be featured on the website David's Eagle Project"
Thanks for your help! Don't let me down ;)
Friday, March 19, 2010
the tinnitus that wasn't
My spring break is almost over. The idea of going back to school makes me start hyperventilating (I'm only exaggerating slightly.) I think I speak for all the students and teachers of the world when I scream, "IS IT SUMMER YET?!"
Anyway, I was home alone on this lovely spring morning, since my mom and sister had some college meeting to attend, and my dad had work. I'd just finisheddraining the Pacific Ocean taking a shower, and my dog excitedly ran up to me, with that I've-really-gotta-pee look in his eyes. My hair was wet, so my CI's were off.
I ran to the back door, with a smile on my face, laughing at the fact that I'm basically my dog's slave. As I shut the door, I noticed a strange sensation in my left ear.
My ever-present tinnitus sounded...different. Rather than the lovely chirping I'm used to, it sounded like a faint, high-pitched whining/ringing noise.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Whoop-de-doo. Bring out the marching band and parade floats. But, you see, when you've heard the same chirping for a year (it's been exactly a year and 2 days since my 2nd CI surgery!), it's a pretty big deal when it suddenly sounds different.
I briefly worried if that meant something odd was going on with my ear. No change is good in my book. I rubbed my ear, to see if it made it sound different. It didn't. I shuffled away from the door, pondering this change.
That's when I noticed it getting louder. I realized the noise sounded oddly familiar...almost like the alarm for our home security system. No...it couldn't be! I went over to the alarm keypad to look at the screen. You know, just to be sure.
I looked at it, only to be greeted with the words "ALARM. BACK DOOR OPEN"
I silently cursed my mom's fear of getting the house broken into, and quickly punched the 4-digit code that was engraved in my memory, while freaking out. The last thing I needed was the police coming over, with me (nearly) stone-deaf, dripping wet hair, and in my raggedy bath robe. I mean, isn't that how people get tased?
At that very moment, as if on cue, my mother and sister walked in, to see the horrified look on my face. My sister simply said "Wow, nice going." and walked away. My mom soon called the security people, and everything was settled and that all too familiar chirping returned.
Zach the Lhasa-Poo. He's not as innocent as he looks!
Don't forget to vote in the latest polls, found to your right!
Anyway, I was home alone on this lovely spring morning, since my mom and sister had some college meeting to attend, and my dad had work. I'd just finished
I ran to the back door, with a smile on my face, laughing at the fact that I'm basically my dog's slave. As I shut the door, I noticed a strange sensation in my left ear.
My ever-present tinnitus sounded...different. Rather than the lovely chirping I'm used to, it sounded like a faint, high-pitched whining/ringing noise.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Whoop-de-doo. Bring out the marching band and parade floats. But, you see, when you've heard the same chirping for a year (it's been exactly a year and 2 days since my 2nd CI surgery!), it's a pretty big deal when it suddenly sounds different.
I briefly worried if that meant something odd was going on with my ear. No change is good in my book. I rubbed my ear, to see if it made it sound different. It didn't. I shuffled away from the door, pondering this change.
That's when I noticed it getting louder. I realized the noise sounded oddly familiar...almost like the alarm for our home security system. No...it couldn't be! I went over to the alarm keypad to look at the screen. You know, just to be sure.
I looked at it, only to be greeted with the words "ALARM. BACK DOOR OPEN"
I silently cursed my mom's fear of getting the house broken into, and quickly punched the 4-digit code that was engraved in my memory, while freaking out. The last thing I needed was the police coming over, with me (nearly) stone-deaf, dripping wet hair, and in my raggedy bath robe. I mean, isn't that how people get tased?
At that very moment, as if on cue, my mother and sister walked in, to see the horrified look on my face. My sister simply said "Wow, nice going." and walked away. My mom soon called the security people, and everything was settled and that all too familiar chirping returned.
Zach the Lhasa-Poo. He's not as innocent as he looks!
Don't forget to vote in the latest polls, found to your right!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Is it best to know?
I don't know what caused my hearing loss. I've had some genetic tests, and therefore I do know that it's not from Connexin 26 or Pendred Syndrome, which leaves roughly another million possibilities.
Growing up, I always seemed to have one medical issue after another. Whenver things were calm and healthy, an eerie "what's next?" feeling lurked over. Like now.. .Things have been going relatively well for the past year, with the exception of the complications I had with my second CI.
And sometimes, I sit and wonder. "What if.." What if the problems I have now turn out to just be the start of something much worse when I'm older? What if I have some rare syndrome or something? What if it's genetic? Do I want to know? What if my hearing loss was just caused by some sort of random mutation or from a medicine I took when I was younger? Would it really calm my fears to know that?
Or, even worse, if it's serious, do I want that to affect he way I view myself and color the way I live my life? Is knowledge really power, or is it just a weight pressing down on our shoulders? Are some questions best left unanswered, at least until the answers reveal themselves?
Obviously, I can't find out anything more, since all the tests have come up negative. And that kind of, sort of bugs me. I'm one of those people who needs information, I have to know every last detail.
I'd love to hear the perspectives of others on this. Did you find out what caused your hearing loss through testing, or did you choose not to find out? Did you not do any testing, only to wish you had when other issues were uncovered later?
Growing up, I always seemed to have one medical issue after another. Whenver things were calm and healthy, an eerie "what's next?" feeling lurked over. Like now.. .Things have been going relatively well for the past year, with the exception of the complications I had with my second CI.
And sometimes, I sit and wonder. "What if.." What if the problems I have now turn out to just be the start of something much worse when I'm older? What if I have some rare syndrome or something? What if it's genetic? Do I want to know? What if my hearing loss was just caused by some sort of random mutation or from a medicine I took when I was younger? Would it really calm my fears to know that?
Or, even worse, if it's serious, do I want that to affect he way I view myself and color the way I live my life? Is knowledge really power, or is it just a weight pressing down on our shoulders? Are some questions best left unanswered, at least until the answers reveal themselves?
Obviously, I can't find out anything more, since all the tests have come up negative. And that kind of, sort of bugs me. I'm one of those people who needs information, I have to know every last detail.
I'd love to hear the perspectives of others on this. Did you find out what caused your hearing loss through testing, or did you choose not to find out? Did you not do any testing, only to wish you had when other issues were uncovered later?
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Nucleus System 5- My Experience
Well, I finally got my new processors on Tuesday. When they say it takes 6-8 weeks to arrive, they're not kidding! I did get pretty impatient, but the important thing is that they did come. Here are some pictures... *sorry for the blurry quality. These were taken from my phone, since my sister decided to steal my camera, even though she has her own....sisters!*
Brown N5 on my head- side view. Please excuse the messy hair, I just put it up to take the picture :)
AutoPhone- Would someone please enlighten me how the darn thing works? I know for a fact I have it, because my audiologist knew I wanted to try it out, and I saw her check off the little box for it. However, it's failed to come on every single time I've been on the phone (and I've used three phones- my cellphone, our landline, and my sister's cell). I can hear better without T-coil than when I manually enable T-coil, so I don't mind it now working.. I just want to know if there's a way for it to work! My audiologist said it's voice activated, so the person on the other end has to have spoken for a few seconds before it detects it. No luck!
FM- There is not yet a boot released for the N5 for FM, so I have to use a neckloop with T-coil called the MyLink. While it's nice to have less on my ear, it's not exactly a fashion statement to walk around with a neckloop all day. I put the bottom part under my shirt, but I don't normally wear T-shirts, so a good portion is visible. I had to go a few days without the FM, and it made me realize there were come classes I really needed it for (French, my AP classes) but I also realized there were some that I could hear just fine without it. I think I may just "play it by ear" (heh..no pun intended) and only use the FM depending on what I'm doing in each class each day. When it's not in use, I can just take the FM off, so it's not a big deal.
Hearing- I was MAPped the same day I received the N5s, so my hearing is better than it was on Monday, but I don't know which I can attribute it to. I'll have to try out my Freedom again and see if I notice a difference, but I was told that, if I did, it would be pretty minimal. We'll see.
On the left if my pink Freedom (the beige thing is the FM boot), on the right is my brown N5 with the pink cover.
Left---> Right Freedom, N5 with pink cover, N5 with blue cover.
Brown N5 on my head- side view. Please excuse the messy hair, I just put it up to take the picture :)
The remote... I definitely think that's more of a personal preference thing. As someone who always has a cellphone in her pocket, it's no big deal for me to carry it around. It's pretty user-friendly once you take the time to figure out how to adjust all the settings. The only thing I wish they would add (possibly with future remote software upgrades?) is the option to have certain settings as "favorites" in the remote (similar to in a cell phone) that you adjust the most, making them quicker and more accessible to get to. Another thing is, it look like an Mp3 player. Or a cellphone. Or some combination of the two... What's the problem?
We're not allowed to use them in school, so I'm always completely afraid I'm going to get yelled at for having my "iPod" out in class, or even worse, have a teacher not listen to me and take it up. I don't adjust the settings too much, but I try to do it pretty discretely when I do- so far, so good.
AutoPhone- Would someone please enlighten me how the darn thing works? I know for a fact I have it, because my audiologist knew I wanted to try it out, and I saw her check off the little box for it. However, it's failed to come on every single time I've been on the phone (and I've used three phones- my cellphone, our landline, and my sister's cell). I can hear better without T-coil than when I manually enable T-coil, so I don't mind it now working.. I just want to know if there's a way for it to work! My audiologist said it's voice activated, so the person on the other end has to have spoken for a few seconds before it detects it. No luck!The view from behind- It's much, much thinner than the Freedom. I really like how I can make it stand out with the covers, or I can make it blend in completely. From the front, you really can't see any of it (my hair covers the earhook), unlike the Freedom, which was pretty bulky and noticeable from the front.
Battery Life- With the Freedoms, I barely got a full day of battery life, so I was worried that I wouldn't get very much out of the N5 (which use 1 less battery). The computer estimated that my right ear, which has a very strong map, would last 16 hours. It predicted my left ear, which has an even stronger map, would last 13 hours. Not quite a full day, but close enough. Yesterday was the first day I actually got to wear them all day (Tuesday- I didn't get them until my 9AM appt. Wednesday- I had French Honor Society inductions in the evening, and changed the batteries before I went just in case, and Thursday I had a ton of reading to do and a very loud family, so the implants came off during my reading time). I put them on yesterday at about 8AM and I didn't get a single low-battery warning, even though I went to sleep at 12:30 AM. I'm pleasantly surprised that they actually appear to be lasting longer than my Freedoms did (weirdly enough, although partly due to my use of the FM boot on one Freedom). I know a lot of people really want the rechargables, but I never used them with my Freedoms, since they died during the school day, so I doubt I'll use the rechargeables for the N5 when they come out.
FM- There is not yet a boot released for the N5 for FM, so I have to use a neckloop with T-coil called the MyLink. While it's nice to have less on my ear, it's not exactly a fashion statement to walk around with a neckloop all day. I put the bottom part under my shirt, but I don't normally wear T-shirts, so a good portion is visible. I had to go a few days without the FM, and it made me realize there were come classes I really needed it for (French, my AP classes) but I also realized there were some that I could hear just fine without it. I think I may just "play it by ear" (heh..no pun intended) and only use the FM depending on what I'm doing in each class each day. When it's not in use, I can just take the FM off, so it's not a big deal. Hearing- I was MAPped the same day I received the N5s, so my hearing is better than it was on Monday, but I don't know which I can attribute it to. I'll have to try out my Freedom again and see if I notice a difference, but I was told that, if I did, it would be pretty minimal. We'll see.
Funny story... I had taken off my FM neckloop in one of my classes, since we were just doing bookwork. The girl who sits next to me asked about it, and I lamented how I found it kind of annoying, but mentioned it was because I got new, smaller processors. I figured she's noticed since I'd worn my hair up the day before, but I lifted my hair up and pointed it out to show her anyway. "Ohhhh!" she exclaimed, "I was wondering why you hadn't wearing anything on your ears... I see it now!"
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