We have had our ups and downs haven't we? Over the many years we have been together. There has been times where you have changed shape completely.
Some being good, some being so completely annoying that I have fallen out with you. I think finally me and you are finally coming to a good place. As I no longer have to wear you. Whhooop!
I do think that you are a marvellous piece of technology but after today it was the last straw.
Before Christmas I began to cut down on my sign support as I wanted to become more independent with my own learning. So this is where the radio aid comes in. The comfort audio.
It is a brilliant radio and one of the best that I have had during my time at school and 6th form (when it works). Outside school it works like a dream but once it steps inside the school it seems to want to shut down and decide to take a break. Many times it didn't get on with my Nucleus 5, even my hearing aids it seemed to have a problem! It turned out that the fault lies with the building as its a new built. So the guy from the company for Audio Comfort comes in and tries his best to solve the problem of interference and intermittent. The sound is dreadful, the best I can describe it as fingernails being scraped down a blackboard or chairs rubbing against the floor repeatedly. When its not that sound its a person voice being purposefully cut out in lessons. It was today that it became the last straw doing all of this and worse I couldn't cope in class.
During English, I handed over my radio aid to my teacher who has a beard. Its one of those lessons where I can't cope with my CI's solely as the lip pattern is covered. The first few minutes the radio aid was working fine. It puzzled me as it didn't do this before without something happening sound wise.
Then the teacher was getting into full flow of lecturing, the thing I was dreading kicked in. The voice was cutting out every few seconds, I couldn't hear my peers without switching my T-Loop system off which means a few more seconds delay. I was missing vital information. Which lead to me asking my note taker and teacher to repeat everything. It was getting to the point where it was every sentence I had to interrupt him to get it repeated. After what must have been the 20th time I become frustrated and it was becoming embarrassing!
It lead to me leaving my class upset, claiming that I was going to do independent revision.
My CSW came in shortly afterwards and I relayed everything which happened in class. She immediately rang some of the T's of D to ask what they recommended the best course of action was.
I was offered another piece of equipment called the sound field system which apparent helps not only deafies but hearies as well. Great eh?
Well unfortunately I didn't get that and ended up with something called a desk mate.
I trialed this the next day and oh boy I loved it. It was so much clearer than a radio aid. The best way to describe what it look like is this: it has a speaker and head mike set. The speaker would sit on my desk or in front of me (a volume setting that I could turn up or down when I wanted) and the head mike would be around the person head. It reminds me of a person teaching aerobics at the gym. It's a funny sight and for once its not the deafie being conscious of having the equipment and standing out. Its the teacher.
One teacher was freaked out by his voice, the fact that his beard has never helped me; this tech was a huge benefit! No longer the days of trying to make out what he was saying through the mumbles and the hair that covered his lip pattern.
Another teacher thought it reminded her of Madonna singing in the 90's or something like that. She kept wanting to burst out into song.
Whilst that sounds all well and good that the desk mate is actually benefitting me. I am still having problems working out what my fellow peers are saying. The desk mate gives me directly what the teacher is saying but it doesn't help when someone at the other end of the room is saying something. I am back to square one on that problem....
This I have relayed to one of my T of D's and she said that "I just need to work on my listening. However, I shouldn't have to do that as I now have 'normal' hearing."
This statement came about from one of the recent test I did with the T of D from Nottingham. The test involved me listening to the TOD read out a passage and I had to repeat what was said. I did this brilliantly according to her and was getting 100 words per minute, apparently this is was hearies should be getting. So I was please that I was achieving my best. I will point out that this test was done in a quiet environment with just me and her.
This is what the local TOD couldn't grasp no matter how many times I said it. I no longer felt I needed to do auditory training.
What I needed was somehow solve the problem of not hearing my peers from a distance. Having a CSW did this interpreting anything I missed, but this had been pulled as I was seen that I no longer needed this kind support.
Having CI's doesn't give me 100% hearing, I am always going to have off days where I don't want to wear my CI's due to listening fatigue or if it was being 'robotic' again like it is every time I go for a tunning.
Guess what the genius piece advice I was given by someone "maybe take the processors off" well slight problem there, no processors means no sound and I thought the whole point of me having the operation was to hear. Hmmmm...
So come monday is a another week of 6th form and hopefully some miracle come out of it, some how I can hear my peers or my note takers develop the speed of lightening to write down what my peers are saying during discussion.
That I will continue to like the deskmate. The only thing I am looking forward to is seeing my teachers expressions when I tell them that they have to wear the headmike.
Annnndddd rant over!
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