Something interesting about me: I have a cochlear implant. So what is it? Do you know? It is a medical device that allows people with severe to profound hearing loss to hear again. They work wonderfully! They are still so poorly understood though. All over the internet are videos of what is called, "activations" showing people of all ages hearing for the first time. It is often a dramatic depiction that gives the impression that the cochlear implant (CI) is a "magic wand" and instantly restores hearing. This is not true. At least it was not for me!
Stories of activation vary widely because of the type of hearing loss one has. For example, for someone like myself who experience hearing loss over many years, it meant I had to undergo months of auditory rehabilitation in order to improve speech recognition and music perception. It makes sense when you think about it. Supposing you cannot hear a wide spectrum of frequencies and then suddenly they are available to you? Your brain would not know how to interpret these sounds.
Some of the rehab, though challenging, was fun. I listened to books on tape while following along with the written book. I listened to NPR stories ("This I Believe" is a good one because they are short and have transcripts on the website). I went to a "Listening Gym" online and ESL websites to practice listening to all kinds of conversations and other sounds.
Music was altogether another story! I worked with a music teacher for months doing ear training exercises like they do in music conservatories to gain perfect pitch. I was not trying to learn perfect pitch but to improve pitch recognition. Here is an article I wrote about my music rehab that was published in The Hearing Journal and ALDA News.
The article was originally from in a book published by the Association of Adult Musicians with Hearing Loss (AAMHL) titled, "Making Music with a Hearing Loss: Stories and Strategies".
I recently completed a soundtrack for a video by Rachel Chaikof for Cochlearimplantsonline
The video is to create awareness about cochlear implants. I had a great time coming up with the sounds and music for it. You can see this video here!
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