Deaf riders - Anyone have a Cochlear Implant?

[SandraD]

“Anybody actually know someone with CI only hearing? Can they understand speech without lip-reading?”

My son was implanted at age 3 & is now 19. I don’t have his audiogram handy, but he was profound to the point he was wearing body aids. He has never had “hearing”. He was educated orally & has been mainstreamed since 2nd grade. His speach is so good most people don’t realize he is deaf. He uses the phone (both land & cell) without plugging his CI into it. He does lipread in noisy situations & to be honest since he doesn’t use it often, he’s not very good at it. He is currently away at college & needs very little in accomadations. Preferential seating & written lectures from a couple of foreign professors.

[chism]

[QUOTE=rivenoak;4670642]
Oh man! :eek::mad:

My son had his 2nd hockey lesson on Sat & it became clear that he couldn’t hear the coach, even when they were circled up. So, I guess this week he’ll wear the HAs. He’s got some EarGear, so we’ll put those on for hockey; he normally just has the little cord & clip setup.

Does your daughter get any feedback from the helmet being near/touching her HAs?

I’ve got a million other questions for you![/QUOTE]

PM me…maybe I have answers?

[chism]

To keep this on the horse related front…she currently has a Charles OWen skull cap which is close fitting. It has foam padding which kind of molds to your head, so I"m thinking if it’s too tight with the implant…maybe I’ll just have to go up a size.

[DressageFancy]

I have an “Bionics” implant. As explained to me—there is little to no difference in quality, ect. in the implants offered. The external aid is what you need to examine for your individual needs. I went with the Bionics because it fit the nicest behind my ear allowing my helmet to sit correctly on my head. (You mightest well not wear a helment if it does not fit correctly!) I did have to go to the more oval shaped helmet after surgery (the one I had before was more round in head shape). Getting a correctly fitting helmet will not be a problem—she just won’t wear the one she is currently wearing. The other thing—one month off to heal is way too short. Externally the wound will heal in that amount of time but I found 3 to 6 months healing more necessary. Your daughters balance will be slightly changed. Doing normal walking, barn chores, ect. I really did not notice the balance change. But, I noticed it the first time I got back on a horse. I also noticed it if I hurried up and down stairs. I started back riding doing a lot of walk on my really broke lesson horse and progressed from there. I did not feel up to riding my younger horses until almost a year had passed. Now at 4 year post surgery I ride /train as I always did.
One other thing, your daughter will spend the first 4-6 months relearning sound. It is a WOW experience! Not only for her but for the whole family! The simple things like hearing your horse chew hay and the chattering of the barn sparrows really blew me away. I can now even identify bird songs!
God bless!

[DressageFancy]

[QUOTE=DressageFancy;4676010]
I have an “Bionics” implant. As explained to me—there is little to no difference in quality, ect. in the implants offered. The external aid is what you need to examine for your individual needs. I went with the Bionics because it fit the nicest behind my ear allowing my helmet to sit correctly on my head. (You mightest well not wear a helment if it does not fit correctly!) I did have to go to the more oval shaped helmet after surgery (the one I had before was more round in head shape). Getting a correctly fitting helmet will not be a problem—she just won’t wear the one she is currently wearing. The other thing—one month off to heal is way too short. Externally the wound will heal in that amount of time but I found 3 to 6 months healing more necessary. Your daughters balance will be slightly changed. Doing normal walking, barn chores, ect. I really did not notice the balance change. But, I noticed it the first time I got back on a horse. I also noticed it if I hurried up and down stairs. I started back riding doing a lot of walk on my really broke lesson horse and progressed from there. I did not feel up to riding my younger horses until almost a year had passed. Now at 4 year post surgery I ride /train as I always did.
One other thing, your daughter will spend the first 4-6 months relearning sound. It is a WOW experience! Not only for her but for the whole family! The simple things like hearing your horse chew hay and the chattering of the barn sparrows really blew me away. I can now even identify bird songs!
God bless![/QUOTE]

I forgot to add: My speech hearing improved from less than 40% to 90% in normal conversation. In noisy environments I still depend somewhat on lip reading.