As we learned last month in, “What Is Hearing Therapy And Why Is It Important?”, all newly implanted recipients can benefit in participating in practicing strategies and skills to help bring the process of hearing and better communication back under control. While cochlear implant technology can provide greater access to sound than recipients had before, even down the road you may still find you need assistance in learning to recognize environmental sounds and comprehend varieties of speech.
Below are some questions you should consider in identifying whether you may benefit from additional participation in hearing therapy and which type might be best for you.
Questions to consider
- Do you understand most speakers easily and completely?
- Are you able to understand a speaker without seeing his/her face? What if the speaker is at some distance?
- Does your comprehension in noise remain largely the same as in quiet?
- Can you follow, and participate in, a group discussion?
- Are you able to use the telephone easily and with full comprehension of most speakers?
- Are you free of anxiety (related to communication) in new environments (i.e., phoning someone you don’t know, communicating in an unknown setting)?
- If you have recently received a second (bilateral) implant, is your speech understanding via the second implant as good as the first?
If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” you should consider additional hearing therapy. It is never too late to focus on a specific ability and get started on a new path of hearing success.
Hearing with confidence
We want to help ensure that you are confident in your hearing capabilities and are getting the support you need and where you need it. We encourage you to connect with one of our Cochlear mentors, a recipient that understands your hearing journey, to discuss their approaches to addressing specific hearing challenges. Find a mentor that is right for you.
We welcome you to visit Communication Corner to access activities to help improve your listening, encourage conversations, better appreciate music and help instill confidence so that you can achieve your best.
