Although my left ear hears better, there is still the challenge of understanding speech.

Training in Listening for Speech Comprehension

During the testing to fit me for my new Phonak hearing aid that will pair with my Advanced Bionics cochlear implant (CI)  my audiologist hid her lips as she asked me to repeat words back to her.  Amazingly enough,  I was able to discern the word “soap.”   The “s” and “p” sounds are soft, high-frequency sounds and difficult to hear.  I could NOT, however, figure out the word “merge.” That word has no high-frequency components and thus should not be a problem to hear.  So what’s up with that?

My audiologist explained that “soap” is a much more common word. My brain has “heard” that many times.  “Merge” however, is not a common word, thus the brain had difficulty in deciphering the sound.

The audiologist lovingly chastised me that if I don’t wear my CI all the time, and practice listening, I’m not going to be able to enjoy speech comprehension to the degree that is possible.

She recommended getting a book on tape, in plain English (no accents), and have a printed copy next to me.  While listening to the tape, if something is said I don’t understand, pause the recording and look to see what the word is.  That way, the brain gets trained on what the sounds are of specific words.

So, I’ve got the audiobook of Tai Pan, and am awaiting a hard copy of the book from my local library to begin the training.  The documented fact that the left ear is capable of understanding speech has inspired me to make the extra effort.

 

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