Music

The Lord definitely works in goofy and ironic ways, sometimes! :O) ... I talked with Pattie on Tues. about my love for music, and my hope that it eventually will sound more natural to me, again. She took me down to her basement, where she has an electronic organ, and we played around with listening to different notes and note combinations. She told me I can come over whenever I want and play around with it! ... Then we went back upstairs, and she opened a drawer in a big chest and brought out six recorders (flutes) – two big ones and four smaller ones! They were her mother’s, she said, and she and her children had all played them when they were kids. We sat on the couch and she showed me how to hold them and place my fingers to play them, and we tried out different notes. Then she gave me two of the smaller soprano ones (a wooden one and a plastic one), and told me I could take them home with me and practice with them! ... I didn’t get the chance to try them at home, though, until Thurs. morning before going back over to Pattie’s. I sat down on the floor with Jenda and started playing some notes – and she just loved it! She kept rubbing up against it and turning around and rubbing up against it some more! ... I told her I wished I knew how to really play it so I could play her some songs – but I’ve never learned to play any instruments (beyond the very beginning steps of the harmonica and piano), and know very little about reading music! :O( ... When I told Pattie how much Jenda enjoyed the recorder, she went back into the drawer and brought out some lesson books for learning to play them – one of which she sent home with me! And we’re going to incorporate them into my hearing practice sessions with her! ... So, I’m amazed! Not only have I been blessed with a wonderful retired teacher to help me practice my hearing – but I’m going to get to learn more about music and how to play a recorder! :O) ... Jenda will need to be my gauge, though, on whether it sounds good – for now, anyway. I can hear the notes, but have a LITTLE challenge determining whether some are higher or lower pitched than others – and whether they sound the way they’re supposed to. The soprano recorders sound more like tenor or alto to me!

My mapping with Jennifer1 on Wed. went really well! ... My hearing test was slightly worse on a couple of the tones than last time, but it was most likely because I was really tired from not getting much sleep the night before and the long drive and wait before the session. Not to worry. :O) ... She tested me with the letter sounds and the individual words, and adjusted my programs on my processor. With Pattie’s help, I’d determined which of the three programs I liked best for understanding speech, and Jennifer1 gave me THAT program (with a few tweaks) as Program #1. ... For Program #2, she gave me a background-noise reduction program – which gets 70% sound from the accessory mic and 30% from the headpiece mic. I can experiment with that vs. the 50:50 ratio I still get with the accessory mic plugged into Program #1. ... Program #3 is a slightly louder version of Program #1 – I may not need to use it at all, but it’s there in case Program #1 gets too soft for me during the three months before my next mapping!

Yesterday’s rehab with Jennifer2 went really well, too! ... I did a little better with the s/sh sounds, only needing her to repeat "sh" once! ... On the common sentences, I got 9/10 – and I did REALLY well with the paragraph, understanding all of the questions and almost all of the words the first time around! (She made a note to give me a tougher paragraph next time!) ... I’m still struggling with the vowels, especially, on the individual words – but I got 12/25 correct this time with no repetition, and an additional 9 with just one repetition! ... Then, after a bit of shifting the telephone handset around on my headpiece to find the best place to hold it, I was able to get 100% of the practice words/phrases Jennifer2 spoke to me! :O)

I expressed to both Jennifers my frustration that I do SO WELL when I’m there in the little rooms at the hospital with THEM – but immediately when I step out the door and into the outside world, my abilities seem to plunge – everything is more distorted and SO much more difficult to understand! :O( ... They both told me that’s normal, and assured me it will get better with time and practice. I do better with them because they’re both professionally trained and communicate with deaf/hoh people on a daily basis – and the rooms are small and have no background noise. When I leave, I’m in more widely-open spaces with background noise, different people’s speech patterns/accents/tones/speeds, and etc. ... so, it WILL be more difficult for me – as it is for ANYONE, with or without hearing challenges! ... And I KNOW all of this ... but it’s still frustrating ... so I felt better after having it confirmed by them ... THEY tell me I’m doing really well! :O)

Next week I’ll be visiting my parents, so I won’t see Jennifer2 until Aug. 11th. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of practice opportunities with my parents, so I’ll write for sure on Thurs. while I’m there.

Voices

I didn’t have my auditory rehab session with Jennifer2 last week, because she wasn’t there. I also postponed my mapping with Jennifer1 until this Wed. I DID have another couple of practice sessions – with my parents on Wed. And with Pattie and Chris on Thurs.

I’m not noticing much difference in my comprehension abilities – but another amazing thing happened! While listening to Mom and Dad talk back and forth, I realized I can hear a TINY HINT of what I remember their voices USED to sound like! It’s above the usual low-toned distorted voice – and so tiny that I can’t even be sure it’s not just my brain teasing me with a memory of their natural voices! I even thought maybe my right ear might be hearing them, so I turned off my CI and listened again – but, no, I couldn’t hear a thing, so it MUST be my CI! :O) ... I also noticed that Pattie’s and Chris’ voices sound different – I can tell when each is speaking because Chris’ voice has a more noticeably lower tone than Pattie’s (as with Mom’s and Dad’s). In fact, now – if I know whether the person talking is male or female – I can hear the lower tones of the male vs. the higher tones of the female! :O) ... Same with singing voices, although they’re still more difficult. ... Donald Duck’s voice has become extremely minimal when I’m listening to individuals, although he’s a bit more prominent, yet, when I’m listening to a recording or a group ... it seems the more complicated the voice(s), the more I still hear Donald’s on top of the low tones! :O)

I re-discovered Jenda’s meow quite by accident the other day! I had been turning the sensitivity level up while at home to hear her, reasoning that it would need to be up in order to pick up her quiet voice – but I was still having to put my head right down next to her in order to hear her! It was frustrating, because I could hear her better with my hearing aid! :O/ ... Well, at Mass I’ve been turning the sensitivity level way down, and that day I forgot to turn it up again when I got home. I was only home for a little while when I looked down and Jenda was standing on the floor below me (I’m also standing), looking up at me – and she opens her cute little mouth and I hear quite clearly a "M-YOW!" ... I was SO tickled! :O) ... So now I always keep the sensitivity turned DOWN while I’m home! :O)

This Wed. I will have my mapping session with Jennifer1, and Fri. will have my auditory rehab with Jennifer2 – so, I’ll most likely be writing something in here about them by Thurs. and Sat.

Practice

This morning I went to Mass, and they had fellowship afterwards ... Pattie asked if I'd like to start the auditory rehab. practice with her today -- of course, I said yes! ... I took Pattie home so I could see where they live, and then I went home to get my materials and change my clothes -- and then went back to Pattie and Chris'. ... I tried to make one of the rings like they use at Hopkins, but I can see through mine! I'll have to double up the material and see if it works better -- it was too easy to cheat and open my eyes so I could read her lips! ... We talked and practiced for about an hour or so ... I did worse with her ... she talks a little fast and the paragraph/story she read had long sentences and unusual words! She's a retired physics teacher, though, so I'm sure she's pronouncing everything correctly! :O) ... I'm going back again on Tues. and Thurs. mornings. :O)

Auditory Rehab Session #1

My first auditory rehab session was a little scary, but fun! Jennifer2 is really nice – I’m going to enjoy working with her! We talked about how I’ve been doing, and I briefed her a little bit about the things I’ve mentioned here – and also asked her about the accessory microphone. Sure enough, she said she’d spoken with Jennifer1, and Jennifer1 DOES have it set so when I’m using the accessory mic, I’m getting 50% input from it and 50% input from my headpiece mic! So, that’s good! :O)

All of the activities Jennifer2 did with me, she spoke from behind the ring so I could not see her face (unless it was to give me instructions or clues!). Our first activity was with the letter sounds: Mm, Ah, Oo, ee, sh, s. I was able to identify 4/6 – the s/sh are the most difficult, but I figured out that "sh" has a slightly lower tone than "s", so hopefully I’ll do better next time around! :O)

Next, she spoke some common, everyday, conversational sentences to me, and I was to repeat them to her (and give her my answer if it was a question!). I was able to identify 39/41 words without any repetition! Then she read me a paragraph (without telling me the topic, first), and I was to answer questions about it. Although I needed some repetition for the paragraph, I was able to accurately answer all of the questions! The most difficult activity came next: Jennifer2 pronounced random 1-syllable words, which I was to repeat. I was able to get 3/15 without any repetition, and 8/15 with just one repetition.

Last but not least – and scariest of all – Jennifer2 went to another room and called me on the telephone! I carefully put the receiver up over my headpiece mic ... afraid all the while that I would get the high-pitched feedback like with my HA’s – but it never happened! She randomly pronounced the numbers 1-10, which I was to say back to her. I got them all – only needing to have her repeat two of them – plus "hello" and "goodbye" (she said a few other things I DIDN’T catch, though)! :O)

She gave me a list of the activities we did and the words she used – and my results for today. I can use these when I practice with my friend from church and whoever else I can talk into helping me! :O) ... I won’t see Jennifer2 next Fri, as she won’t be there – but I’m set for my next session with her the following Fri. This weekend I’ll listen to my books on tape/cd from the library and try out the phonics CD-ROMs and the Beethoven piano cd. ... Speaking of which, I’ve discovered that if I know whether it’s a man or a woman singing, I can distinguish the slightly higher pitch of the female’s voice vs. the slightly lower pitch of the male’s voice, now! And songs that are familiar to me sound a little smoother and I can distinguish more fluctuations in tone than songs which I’m not familiar with ... slower music is a bit easier to distinguish than faster music.

So, I’m pretty happy with how the rehab session went. I think it gave a little bit better representation of how I do in the real world – although it was still in a small room with no background noise or other distractions. I’m sure that will come later! :O)

Homework

I guess Sundays aren’t working out so well for me to update this! :O/ ... I think I’ll try for Mondays, instead. On Fridays at noon, I’ve been set up for my auditory rehab sessions, so I’ll try and write something about that when I get home from JH. ... It may not be both days each week – so, if I don’t have an update on Mon., check again on Fri. – and vis-a-versa.

Fri., I was sick and didn’t make it to Mass, so on Sun. I went to Mass and a friend there has offered to help me with my listening for an hour once or twice a week :O) ... I went to the library Sat. and checked out two CD-ROMs to try: "Curious George: Reading and Phonics" and Reader Rabbit: I Can Read With Phonics"; three books on cd/cassette + matching book to read along with: "A Treasury of Mother Goose", "In a Dark, Dark Room and Other Scary Stories" (one of my favorites when I was a kid!), and "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" (which I’ve read so many times to my sister when she was little that I’ve practically got it memorized!). With the Mother Goose and the Dr. Seuss books, I’ll try listening without reading along, since I’m very familiar with them! I also checked out a CD of Beethoven piano music to listen to and see if I can do better with just one instrument playing. ... I haven’t tried any of them, yet ... I’d better get going, though – the library just let me know they have two more books on cd/cassette in that they’d ordered for me from another library! :O)

I’ve noticed this week that Jenda’s purr SOUNDS like a purr – and I heard the "W" at the end of her "meow" – so, now she says, "M-yow" instead of "Oooooo" or "Mooooo" :O) ... A friend sent me an e-card with a "mystery" song playing – and after I listened to it for a little while, I figured out it was "Don’t Worry, Be Happy"! I was so tickled I kept playing it over and over – I distinguished the sounds even better once I knew what it was! :O) ... And the chimes at Mass definitely SOUND like chimes! All of the sounds are still at a lower pitch/tone than what I’m used to, however. But that’s okay – they’re getting better tiny bit by tiny bit! :O)

This Friday will be my first auditory rehabilitation session – my therapist’s name is Jennifer, too! I’ll have to call my audiologist who does my CI mapping "Jennifer1" and my rehab therapist "Jennifer2"! :O) ... I’ll write about my experience with Jennifer2 on Friday! :O)

CI Rehab Eval

Yesterday’s rehab eval was fun! We talked about how it’s been going for me so far, and I gave the therapist a copy of all that I’ve written here, for her to read later. She was pleased that I’ve been using my accessory microphone, and that I’d at least TRIED using my telephone adapter once – even though it was a disaster! I’d THOUGHT that when I attached the accessory mic, I was receiving sound from both it AND the mic on my headpiece – but she told me that, no, the headpiece mic turns off when I connect the other one! Since I like it so well already, she’s going to have Jennifer change it so that when I connect the accessory mic, I get either 50% sound from it and 50% sound from the headpiece mic or 60% accessory/40% headpiece. She also gave me some hints about how to use it and where/when – and some hints about how to use the telephone with my implant. I’m the most afraid of using the telephone, but she assured me that THAT’s true for most of her clients. She’s given me a handout with some activities I can try ... I will definitely have to find someone who would be willing to help me do the practice exercises – both on the phone and in person! She also gave me a handout with activities and practice exercises to do with someone face to face (without me reading their lips). Maybe I will ask at church tomorrow.

Then we did the evaluation. First she went through a list of sounds: Mmm, Shh, Rrr, Th, the sounds of a few more consonants and vowels – and I was able to differentiate ALL of them, although I could see her lips at the time! Then she hid her face behind this needlepoint ring that has the material they use on the front of stereo speakers instead of fabric, so the sound goes right through, but you can’t see through it (I’ll call it the ring, for short). She repeated the sounds, but they all sounded distorted and funny – like buzzes and knocks and taps and hisses – like she was doing crazy sound effects – I couldn’t tell WHICH letters she was saying! :O) ... She explained to me that different letters have different projectory effects. For example: the letters L,M,N,R,V,W, and Z have a vibrating effect; the letters B,C,D,G,K,P,Q, and T have a popping effect; and the letters C,Ch,F,H,S,Sh, and Th have a hissing effect. That’s what I was hearing – the projectory effects of the letters!

Next, the therapist gave me a worksheet to look at. The first test was distinguishing word lengths. There were several lines with 3 columns of words: 1st, 1-syllable words; 2nd, 2-syllable words, and 3rd, 3-syllable words. From behind the ring, she randomly read me one of the words from each line – and I was to tell her if it was the word in column 1, 2 or 3. I got them all right! :O) ... The next test was distinguishing sentence length. Each line had 2 sentences, one short and one longer – and I was to tell her which one she read. Again, I got them all right! :O) ... The 3rd test was listening for differences in words. There were a list of sentences with 2 words that sound similar separated by a slash (i.e.: "What a night/sight that was!") – either word making perfect sense in the sentence. From behind the ring, she read the sentence, randomly choosing one of the words on either side of the slash, and I was to tell her which word she said. I got THEM all right, too! :O)

Then she read me a short paragraph from behind the ring that I couldn’t read along with. I was to listen and then she asked me questions at the end (still hidden by the ring) – either about what the paragraph said or about myself. I understood maybe 90-95% of the words in the paragraph and answered all of her questions right! :O)

The final test was the most difficult one. The therapist spoke a list of one-syllable words, one at a time, from behind the ring – each end of the words had one or more of the different consonants/sound combinations from the very first test (that I’d had difficulty distinguishing), plus a vowel/vowel sound combination in the middle of the word (i.e.: meat, bit, roll, seem). I didn’t do as well this time – I got a few right, but most she had to repeat several times and even give me a hint as to a couple of letters it MIGHT be! She told me I did really good, though, in that the words/letters I guessed were always among the letters/sounds in the same projectory group as the word she was actually saying – I was guessing words that had very similar sounds to the one she was speaking! :O)

Other handouts I received were about clear speech communication tips for family members, tips for listening to music, and audio books recommended by adult CI recipients. The therapist feels I am doing really well for my first month since activation, and that I will also benefit a lot from an auditory training program. She’s going to get me set up with one of the auditory therapists there to come in for an hour each week, starting as soon as she can get me scheduled! :O) ... So, I’m excited about that ... and I’ll see if I can find someone from church or somewhere to help me practice on the days I don’t go there. :O)

Music

Well, it’s been almost a month since my CI was activated ... I’m still really overwhelmed and humbled by everything I’m hearing! ... A few days ago, I turned on the TV and was flipping through the channels – when I heard what sounded like an African or Native American tribe singing! It turned out to be a quartet of African-American women! Their songs were captioned (and even ASL-interpreted!), so I watched it for a while enjoying the various low tones, which fluctuated more smoothly than before and with minimal bubbles! ... A couple of days later, I turned on another music show – this time with various artists: Mariah Carey, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc. – and THEY all sounded like the African or Native American tribe singing, too! Same way at church yesterday – all vocal music sounds like that to me, now – with occasional bubbles and a soft Donald Duck on top! The tones are fluctuating and blending together a little more smoothly – and I even recognized two of the songs during Mass without looking (I’d attached the accessory mic to my right shoulder again)! And the chimes sounded very much like chimes! :O)

Peoples’ speaking voices are sounding a tiny bit more natural ... still very low-toned, but their colds aren’t as bad and D. Duck isn’t as loud! ... Jenda’s purr sounds more like a little rumble-motor – MUCH more natural – but she’s still a little train-whistle! :O)

On Wed., I’ll have my CI Rehab. eval. at Hopkins. I’ll write by Thurs. Night about that. :O)