Trainers, and Hearing Aids, and Implants, Oh My!

Toto,  I've a feeling we're not in the hearing world anymore....

All my life I had thought my hearing loss was due to nerve damage.  But according to my recent MRI, it was malformation in the cochlea area which is the cause of my hearing loss. I had never gotten an MRI or any kind of scan on my ear to configure the hearing loss in my life and this was a first.  I have had tons of hearing tests done and attempted all kinds of technology aside from the cochlear implant to help me hear throughout my life.

Growing up, I had a special machine to assist me in hearing called a auditory trainer that I wore during school hours.  It was also used at home as well. It was a brown box with two cords and ear molds attached to it. I wore one in each ear.  My teacher had a similar one with a microphone attached instead of the cords.  I was able to hear amplified voices of my teacher. It was necessary for those who were deaf or hearing impaired to wear when going to a deaf education school.  

This is an updated version of the trainer that kids today wear.  I wore similar ones but in brown and plain design.  Instead of hearing aids as shown here on the left, I wore ear molds which went inside my ears. 

I started out at Hillside Elementary School with the deaf program. I worked learned from teachers who knew sign language and worked with lip reading and speech therapy.  By the time I was in deaf education second grade, I tested high and it was decided I would start going to a mainstreamed school (regular education for hearing kids) nearby my home.

"There was this one time in band camp.... "oh no I'm sorry, not band camp.  I don't know why I mentioned that.  I've never been there!

My mom was a homemaker at the time I started going to school. She was a crafty woman.  She loved to make my outfits.  She also always made a bow for my hair to match my little dresses. On those dresses, she'd sew pockets for me to put my trainer in.  One of the dresses I had, had a pocket on the inside of it the dress.  I came into kindergarten and lifted up my dress to show everyone my trainer under my dress.... oh the lovely mind of a child.  I don't know what I was thinking then.

Matching outfit made by my mom

"Scarecrow: I haven't got any 'hearing'... only straw.

Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got any 'hearing'?

Scarecrow: I don't know... But some people without 'hearing' do an awful lot of talking... don't they?

Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right."

The Wizard Of OZ (1939)

MGM Studios Productions

My mom tried to teach me to talk when I was younger.... I wouldn't.  Once I got to talking, I couldn't shut up.  Still can't today....  Bummer.  (Another story coming up!)

Going to a mainstreamed school was a challenge for someone like myself.  It was difficult to get along with hearing kids when they didn't understand my disability.  I was often picked on and bullied.  I was able to keep my grades up and be able to get into the GT program (Gifted and Talented) otherwise known as the advanced classes. I remained in the mainstream program all throughout my education years through college.

When I was in fifth grade, I was tired of being made fun of with my machines and rebelled against wearing them.  That was the last I ever saw of the ugly brown machines.  I continued to wear an hearing aid in my left ear.  My right was completely deaf. It wouldn't have done anything for me if I wore a hearing aid in it. I called it the dead ear.

This is the hearing aid I wore in my ear all the way up until the implant. I wore the most powerful and loudest hearing aid on the market.  That's how bad of a hearing loss I had.

I still have the brown trainer.  It is amazing to look back at it and see how far technology has come.  They still use them today in school except this time, they are digital and kids can still wear their hearing aids and the trainers would connect with the hearing aids. No more tangled cords. No more biting or chewing or eating the cords (which was the worst habit of mine). I can't tell you how many times those cords were replaced. What was I? Part human, part goat?

I know you would like to see about the implant hook-up.  I am currently working and looking at the videos and pictures for my next blog.  There's too many of them!  Stay Tuned!