Looking into the crystal ball of implant futures..

At the implant camp that we attended, we learned what was currently in the works for implants in the future. There is some good stuff coming!! We parents sat on the edge of our seats taking in what most likely will be available for our children. It was quite exciting.

One thing the implants will be able to do is hone in on peoples voices. So if you are heading to a restaurant with your wife, you would switch your implant to a seek option and the implant would hone in on the voice of your wife while you were in the car. Once in the restaurant, the implant would then hone in on your wife's voice and seek it above all the other noises around. How great would that be in such a noisy environment?!

Chance's dad and I have eaten with deaf adults several times in restaurants and though they have all heard really well, it has been a trial for them to hear sometimes over the clanging of dishes, the conversations coming from tables all around you and hearing across a long table.

Also in the works is technology that will allow implant wearers to hear quiet conversations from long distances. Like across a football field. Some of the dads started fantasizing about being able to hear the conversations of your opponents huddles during sporting events. At least your implanted child could hear the huddles.

As a mother, I envision this technology as being used a little differently. For instance, Chance suddenly realizing that he is "hearing voices" and then he recognizes that it is his mother's voice. She is calling him home for dinner as he plays in a field on the next street over. This could also work well at the zoo, amusement parks and at the library where whispering to your deaf child down the aisle can end up not being so quiet.

Of course, the presenter then brought up the point that discussing Christmas gifts would take on a whole new meaning if your child could hear from such a distance. Hmmmmm.

We all joked that our kids may be able to hear better than we do in the future.

It is kind of comforting to think about what might be available to us too should we loose our hearing as we reach the more "autumn' years of life too. Imagine the correspondence that could occur if Chance, and his dad and I all could converse across a football field.........