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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Just stand by the speaker if you can't hear...

Chance came up with a way to ensure that he does not miss any sounds while in the hearing booth.

Whenever Chance's hearing is tested in the sound proof booth, there is a little sticker or mark on the ceiling indicating where the chair should be placed when one is having their hearing tested. In front of the chair is the big glass window through which you can see the audiologist administering the test. On either side of the chair in the corners are speakers. If one should crouch up and move from under the mark on the ceiling, the audiologist will politely remind you to sit under the mark.

While Chance sits in the chair, different tones of sound are played through the speakers and Chance pushes a button, or throws a car into a bucket each time he hears a sound. Some sounds are very soft, and others are quite loud. Sometimes Chance is tested with both implants on, sometimes with one implant on and then with out any implant on at all.

While Chance was having his latest hearing test this last week, he realized at one point that there may be sounds coming out of the speakers that he was not fully hearing. He seemed to think there were sounds, but he was not sure. To solve this problem, Chance got out of the chair and went and stood with his ear plastered up against the speaker in the right corner. Obviously this is not the traditional way of testing someone's hearing, but Chance apparently decided to take matters into his own hands when he could not hear the sounds well. He gets an A for innovation for sure. I was glad to see that he would take the initiative and was proactive when he was not hearing well. But alas, he had to move back to his seat and test just as he has done every other time which meant that sometimes he would not fully hear the beeps or miss them all together.

The test went well though and Chance actually ended up hearing phenomenally well even if he could not put his ear up against the speaker to make sure he didn't miss anything.

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