I was in the van with Chance the other night and he was telling me what it was like to use implants to hear. "It is just like normal. Like you don't even have implants on." He explained to me. He had apparently given this process of hearing with an implant a lot of thought."At first they kept falling off, but now it is like they are not even on and I just hear without thinking about them."
Then he hit me with,"Mom, what does normal hearing sound like?"
"Well......" I began letting Chance's question sink in. How do you explain what it is like to hear when you have never even had to think about it....it has always just happened for you?
I have actually given much thought to what it is like to have normal hearing since I have a son who is deaf and does not hear things the same way I do. I have come to really appreciate the ability to hear and the amazing power of our brains and the whole process of hearing.
I have not however experienced being deaf and not able to hear so I was sorting out in my mind how to explain to Chance what hearing was like for me.
"I don't really have to think about hearing too much either." I told Chance."My ears just hear things."
Then I thought of various things that affect my hearing. "Sometimes your ears can become clogged when you have normal hearing. Like if you go swimming, or if you have a cold. It it really annoying when that happens and it makes it so you cannot hear as well."
"Really?" Chance asked enthralled.
"Yes. My ears will clog up sometimes and it drives me crazy." I told Chance. Even though I could not see Chance in the dark of the van, I was picking up on his tone of voice and he was really amazed by this discovery of what can happen when you have normal hearing.
"WOW! I am really lucky!" Chance expressed with awe in his voice."That NEVER happens to me with implants!"
This conversation got me to thinking about what it was like to wear implants. You never get water in your ear when you swim that clogs up your hearing?? I had never thought of that aspect before.
I imagine that colds may have some effect on hearing with implants but I don't know. Do colds have an affect on implant hearing? Or does the implant just bypass the congestion of a cold?
Now I have more questions to add to the question I have had for years now,"What is it like to hear with an implant?"
2 comments:
very interesting! That would be really hard to explain! it really makes you so thankful that you can hear without even thinking about it. :)
It's funny, but I think it's just as hard to explain what it's like to hear with an implant, as it is to explain what it's like to hear normally. I struggle to answer that question, as much as you struggled to answer your question. In answer to your question, no, colds don't affect hearing with an implant! :)
Post a Comment