There is a new auditory rehab software that can be downloaded to your computer called Angel Sound. It is the new Sound and Way Beyond, with a bilateral training module, more advanced training modules and more. And it seems like it's a free download as well, so that's a bonus! I haven't tried it out yet, since I'm not at home at the moment. But I will be downloading it to my laptop this evening and giving it a try, of course. Just thought I'd share this for any folks with cochlear implants who are wanting more tools for their auditory rehab.
http://angelsound.tigerspeech.com/ is the link. You can also email them and request a CD-rom of the software as well.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Snuggies! and more
I finally broke down and ordered a set of Snuggies from Advanced Bionics (on Wednesday). I was able to place the order through email with AB's Customer Service. She emailed back a receipt that I had to sign and send back. Of course, I don't have access to a scanner at work so I got the fax number from her to fax the receipt back. First attempt failed, but the second attempt went through. She said she would get them shipped ASAP for Friday arrival. Thursday, I got up and took my dog out only to trip over a Fed-Ex box under my welcome mat. Talk about quick shipping! Wow!
I opened up one of the Snuggies (there's 3 in the set), and looked at it. Too big! Then I realized there was this little piece of plastic holding the ends of the plastic tube together to make the ring. Oohh. I popped one end off, put it around my ear to "fit" it and cut off the excess. There we go, now it fits! Slipped one of the ring over the Harmony processor (which was tricky, as I had nail decor stickers on the side of it and the ring tried to move/knock some of them off). Slipped smallest ring over the earhook (I had the Direct Connect earhook on the Harmony), attached a PowerCel battery to the Harmony and slipped the last ring over it and tried it on. Yay! I shouldn't have to worry about the Harmony falling off my ear now.
It works quite nicely. Just taking me a bit of time to get used to putting the Harmony on and wrapping the Snuggie around the ear as well. But it feels comfortable and that's all that matters. Didn't want to have to resort to using an earmold to keep the processor on, as I didn't want to deal with an itchy/sore ear just from the mold.
And also, it seems like the PowerCel Plus battery lasts me maybe about 2 days. I wore it most of the day yesterday, took the battery off last night without putting it on the charger, and put it back on today. So far it's still going. Just thought I'd find out how long a single PowerCel lasts me just so I know.
Also, Thursday evening was the Hands & Voices Pizza Party at the deaf school building. I only just found out about it the previous night when a parent posted a notice to our local deaf community's deaf social facebook page. So I RSVP'd. Why not? It'd be fun. A few families were there. A mom with 2 kids who have bilateral AB implants, a mom with a daughter who has a Cochlear device, and another mom whose son has a Cochlear device as well. There was also a mom with a little baby, who is due to get some hearing aids next week. Another family arrived after a while with a 3 month old baby girl who has hearing aids. It was fun socializing with everyone, and watching the kids play. Some of them asked about my implant progress and what was this and that like, etc. The moms with the babies were asking about the implant too, wondering what it was like.
I opened up one of the Snuggies (there's 3 in the set), and looked at it. Too big! Then I realized there was this little piece of plastic holding the ends of the plastic tube together to make the ring. Oohh. I popped one end off, put it around my ear to "fit" it and cut off the excess. There we go, now it fits! Slipped one of the ring over the Harmony processor (which was tricky, as I had nail decor stickers on the side of it and the ring tried to move/knock some of them off). Slipped smallest ring over the earhook (I had the Direct Connect earhook on the Harmony), attached a PowerCel battery to the Harmony and slipped the last ring over it and tried it on. Yay! I shouldn't have to worry about the Harmony falling off my ear now.
 | ||
| this is how the Snuggie looks on the Harmony. |
 |
| on my ear |
And also, it seems like the PowerCel Plus battery lasts me maybe about 2 days. I wore it most of the day yesterday, took the battery off last night without putting it on the charger, and put it back on today. So far it's still going. Just thought I'd find out how long a single PowerCel lasts me just so I know.
Also, Thursday evening was the Hands & Voices Pizza Party at the deaf school building. I only just found out about it the previous night when a parent posted a notice to our local deaf community's deaf social facebook page. So I RSVP'd. Why not? It'd be fun. A few families were there. A mom with 2 kids who have bilateral AB implants, a mom with a daughter who has a Cochlear device, and another mom whose son has a Cochlear device as well. There was also a mom with a little baby, who is due to get some hearing aids next week. Another family arrived after a while with a 3 month old baby girl who has hearing aids. It was fun socializing with everyone, and watching the kids play. Some of them asked about my implant progress and what was this and that like, etc. The moms with the babies were asking about the implant too, wondering what it was like.
Cochlear Implant Online contest for Ear Gears!
Want a chance to win some free Ear Gears for your cochlear implant or hearing aid? Go check out Cochlear Implant Online's page about the contest! Deadline to enter is August 25 at 5 p.m. EST, and is open to international readers.
To to the Gear for Ears website to see what selections they have available.
To to the Gear for Ears website to see what selections they have available.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Progress
On Monday, as I was leaving the post office down town, I heard a sound. I thought it sounded like a helicopter, so I looked up towards the sky. At first I didn't see anything, so I kept searching. I then spotted a helicopter not too far off. Amazing! Hearing the helicopter, and figuring it was the helicopter making the sound before locating the actual source, that's pretty awesome I thought. I didn't have my hearing aid turned on then either.
I think it was Sunday night when I decided to give the Amelia Bedelia audiobook another try on my laptop. Had the hearing aid turned off, and I was using headphones plugged into the laptop. At first I couldn't figure out what was going on (turns out the person was doing a brief introduction at first). But then she started narrating the Amelia Bedelia story. This audiobook CD has background music, so it's tricky. But I was able to pick up on the 2nd page and keep up with the story. I couldn't do that at all when I first tried back in April. There are 3 more Amelia Bedelia stories on the CD, so I'll tackle those at some point.
Also, I did download a few free children's books from iTunes onto my iPod Touch. A couple do not have audio with them, but the rest do. I think I must have downloaded maybe five books. I did listen to one so far, but haven't tried the others yet. I'll have to remember to look for "contains audio" when looking for more books to download to my iPod, as not all books will have audio.
I think it was Sunday night when I decided to give the Amelia Bedelia audiobook another try on my laptop. Had the hearing aid turned off, and I was using headphones plugged into the laptop. At first I couldn't figure out what was going on (turns out the person was doing a brief introduction at first). But then she started narrating the Amelia Bedelia story. This audiobook CD has background music, so it's tricky. But I was able to pick up on the 2nd page and keep up with the story. I couldn't do that at all when I first tried back in April. There are 3 more Amelia Bedelia stories on the CD, so I'll tackle those at some point.
Also, I did download a few free children's books from iTunes onto my iPod Touch. A couple do not have audio with them, but the rest do. I think I must have downloaded maybe five books. I did listen to one so far, but haven't tried the others yet. I'll have to remember to look for "contains audio" when looking for more books to download to my iPod, as not all books will have audio.
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