Interesting....

I was almost at work.... I had just turned onto the street in front of the newspaper when I saw an ambulance in the distance.  I pulled over to the curb (I was already out of the ambulance's way), and waited until the ambulance went by.  I wanted to see if I could hear the sirens with my implant.  Nope, not really.  When it was right behind me, I heard the sirens, but it was really quiet and low pitched.  Interesting!  Anything that has a high pitched sound (like female voices and such), they just sound low to me.  Perhaps my audiologist can try to fix that when I see her again in April.  Even listening to certain music, music that was made when the artists were kids, they sound like they have low voices even though they actually had high voices at the time.  I get amused listening to such music, knowing the voices were originally high but they sound low with the implant on.


As for the FM use with my Neptune processor... Well, I have discovered that the set up doesn't always work.  If the Neptune doesn't recognize the MLx receiver, I have to fiddle with it, taking the Neptune apart and everything.  Sometimes it takes a few rounds of disassembling, then reassembling, the Neptune and FM receiver before it finally works.  Not something I want to do during English class, I have no time to be messing around!  I haven't used the Neptune with the FM the last couple of weeks or so.  I use the FM with my hearing aid, then the implant is just the implant with no FM input, and it works out I think.  The set up just has been finicky.  Don't know if it's the Neptune processor, or if it's the FM receiver, but it gets kind of annoying when it doesn't work when I want it to.

ASL class visit

On Friday, I went to a local high school in the morning as the ASL teacher at that school had asked me to come by and talk to her class.  I arrived a bit earlier than expected, but that was ok. She was thrilled to see me, and had to send out a student to retrieve the 2 students she sent out earlier to get me. Anyway, it was a fun visit! The class asked me questions about my being deaf, how did I become deaf, what sort of education I had growing up, etc. They were also curious about my CI experiences as well. It was just fun, and I'm glad I went. I'm always more than happy to talk of my experiences.  The teacher likes to invite different d/Deaf individuals from the local deaf community to visit her classes, so the students can get to know more about them. The classes also have the choice to attend the few deaf socials that are held each month (typically all year round there is deaf bowling; then either deaf ice cream or coffee depending on time of year), so they can practice their ASL skills with the deaf community and improve them. I'd be more than happy to visit with the class again (or any other ASL classes in the community) when I have the time.

Oohh technology...

Been 2 weeks of school so far... for the most part it's going well enough, although I do get a bit frustrated here and there. Frustrated with some of the math, trying to make sense of it. Seriously, fractions are NOT my friend! Also, the captioning set up for English is weird. Seems like I encounter some sort of issue with the set up during each English class. Last Monday, it was working fine for a few minutes, then boom nada.  Turns out I didn't have the microphone charged. Ok.  Last Wednesday and Friday, everything seemed to run smoothly enough, with hiccup here and there (the transcriber would disconnect the call on Skype, call me back and then it's running smoothly again).  This past Wednesday, it seems like there was some trouble with the internet connection?  The disabilities coordinator at the college had the IT department put in a blue network cable into the classroom so I could use it to connect my laptop to the internet instead of relying on wireless (the wireless signals in the room is very weak).  Set up worked fine at first, then we ran into issues, but got everything working again.  But today, nada.  No luck right from the start. We tried everything, reconnecting, restarting the laptop, no such luck. I sent an email to the disabilities coordinator about the troubles, and told him if we keep encountering problems that I just may not want to keep using the captioning service.  It's just not worth my time or the trouble, to have an issue arise and then having to spend time troubleshooting and trying to figure out what's going on, distracting me from the discussions going on in the classroom.  I may be able to get by in that class with the FM only.  The transcriber isn't able to hear the other students in the class when they have something to say, so either way I still miss out on what the students are saying. If I continue to encounter problems next week in English class with the captioning, I'm calling it quits with the service.  It's a great service when it works well, but if I'm just going to be encountering issues every so often, forget it.


Now, as for the FM set up... I went back to the audiologist the 14th... The ML10i came in, and we got that attached to my hearing aid. Tested it with the Smartlink+, and it worked great!  We tried fussing with the old MLx receiver for my Neptune yet again, and got no results. So we were quite stumped. The audiologist even spent some time on the phone with Phonak for some help as well.  Oh well, I was sent on my way with the Smartlink+ and the new receiver attached to my hearing aid.  We were starting to think perhaps the old receiver just isn't compatible with the Smartlink+.  But during the week, I played around with the FM system some more at home, and boom I got it working! Excellent, now I didn't have to worry about needing to get a new receiver afterall!

Today, I'm usig the FM set up with my ipod, and it's fantastic.  I connected the ipod to the Smartlink+, and music is playing in my ears without my needing to wear wires. Oh how nice it is to be wire-free!  I love it!  I don't need a separate set up for each ear device anymore. Sweet!

 

 

 

 

Update: The College's IT person checked the connection in the classroom, and even moved the network cable to a different desk. It seems my laptop was sharing the connection with the teacher/classroom computer, but now I should have my own network connection separate from the classroom computer. Will try it out on Monday and see how that goes, and hope the set up works better.

No luck with the FM today

Well, this morning was a mess with the FM.  Phonak sent the wrong receiver for my hearing aid (they sent the ML11i instead of the ML10i), and they also sent the SmartLink transmitter instead of the Inspiro.  They said the Smartlink is more sophisicated, and the Inspiro is old and outdated. Whichever, I can accept the Smartlink. 

We also tried getting the FM to work with the Neptune processor. No-go at all there.  We kept trying different things, audie even called Phonak for some support. Nada.  After the appointment (she kept the Smartlink, and I'll see her again Monday afternoon so we can be sure everything works with the proper receiver for my hearing aid).  I went home, and got out the old HandyMic transmitter and played with it to see if I could get the FM working with the Neptune. Again, nada.  What?!  I had it working in very late Oct./early Nov. when I tried it out with the T-Comm for the Neptune; plugged the MLx receiver into the Neptune controller, plugged transmitter into my iPod and music was flowing to my ear!  But today, I got absolutely nothing. So I'm wondering if there's something going on with the Neptune, at least with the controller.  I've taken the control off, put it back on and saw the green light flash saying it was synced to the Neptune, but I still was getting nothing. So I'm stumped.

I did email Allison about this, as well as the Wyo/Colo AB clinic specialist, see what they have to say.  Just weird.  If I end up just using the FM with the hearing aid only, and using the CI for hearing what's going around on around me in the classroom (like students saying something during a discussion or whichever), that might work too. But it would be nice to have the FM working for both ears.  Hmm......

Preparing for college

College classes start on Monday! Ack!  I'll be taking Elementary Algebra, English: Basic Writing II, and Medical Terminology. I want to go for the radiography program, but of course I need to get some classes out of the way first. So I'll be taking classes for the next year before I can apply for the Radiography program if all goes well.

The disabilities counselor has the college has been a great help, helping me get registered for classes and such. On Monday I met with him in his office, and he got me set up with the ACS Captioning service, and checked out a RevoLabs Xtag microphone to me to use for English class.  I will use Skype on my laptop to "call" the person that will be doing the captioning for me, log in at the ACS Caption website so I can see the captioning, and the instructor will wear the microphone (this is how the captioner hears what's going on).  It's a pretty useful program and I am really happy the college offers this.  No interpreter needed!  And after class is over, the person who did the captioning will email me the transcript so I can refer back to it! Excellent! The counselor also requested a network cable be available in the English classroom so I can use it with my laptop for better internet connection instead of relying on the WiFi.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be going to my hearing aid audiologist's office to get my Phonak FM system. I'm sure there will be some programming going on, adding an FM setting onto my hearing aid and all. I'll be sure to wear my Neptune processor tomorrow so I can test the Phonak MLx receiver on it with the Inspiro transmitter to make sure it works, along with the hearing aid's ML10i receiver as well.

When I go to campus on Monday, I will definitely be loaded with techology.

• Laptop
• Phonak FM unit
• RevoLabs Xtag mic for captioning
• Hearing aid
• Cochlear implant

Better make sure I have spare batteries in my backpack for my ears!

English is only 3 days a week, so I won't be needing to bring my laptop on campus every day, which is good. My laptop is 17 inches, so it's big and heavy.  The math course is mostly done on the computer, and there are occasional video lectures but I've been assured the videos are captioned.

This is what my schedule looks like:

• Monday - Math, English
• Tuesday - Math
• Wednesday - Math, English
• Thursday - Math
• Friday - English

Medical terminology is an online course so I'll be checking in frequently.

ASL Silent Dinner

I went to an ASL Silent Dinner tonight, which one of the ASL instructor's put on at the On The Border restaurant. I've never been to this sort of thing before, so it was a first for me.  I've been wanting to socialize more, so thought this dinner would be fun.  At first I wasn't too sure what it was going to be like.. Knowing me, I prefer to speak. I use sign too, but I still usually end up using my voice while I'm also signing. But tonight, I managed to keep my voice turned off. This dinner was for ASL students' benefit, to use their ASL skills they've learned, without using their voice, and having the opportunity to interact with deaf individuals that were invited and showed up. Three of us that are deaf showed up. It was quite fun! At first, I felt a bit awkward being there. I've always been a pretty shy person, but I do want to come out of my shell. Only way to do that is to get out there, and socialize!  It was just a really fun experience, and I most definitely will like to attend future ASL Silent Dinners. I think there's another one in May so hopefully I'll be able to attend again. Just fun seeing the ASL students communicating in sign with one another and having a conversation. Even the waitress that waited on us was an ASL student at a local high school, so even she got plenty of practice tonight!




Off topic: I did pick up on a "new" sound with my implant after I left work.  Emergency vehicle sirens. I was pulling to a stop in the left turn lane at a red light, and up ahead an ambulance and a fire truck was approaching the intersection and making a right turn. I heard the sirens with just the implant on! I've heard sirens with the hearing aid in the past (but only when the emergency vehicles are really close by). I didn't hear them until they were right at the intersection making the turn. It wasn't very loud, kind of quiet really.  Not as high pitched either, but that's just how it is with my implant at this time.  I was at a wedding last night too, and they had bells for the guests to ring for the bride and groom.  The bell is high pitched with the hearing aid, but not as high with the implant. It's just fun to find different things that make sounds and compare them with the hearing aid and with the implant.

Registered!

I finally got registered for 2 our of 3 classes at the local college! I was supposed to go to the college on the afternoon of Nov. 30 to meet with an advisor and to get registered. Well, unfortunately, there was a murder-suicide that happened on campus in a classroom that morning, so all events and classes for the rest of the day were cancelled.  I was then scheduled to see the disabilities coordinator last Thursday afternoon... That got rescheduled as well. So finally I saw the disabilities coordinator today and got registered. I was planning to take an Elementary Algebra course redesign class, English Basic Skills 2, and Medicial Terminology.  Medical Terminology was all full, but I am on the wait list in case a spot opens up. So for now, it looks like it'll be two classes for the Spring 2013 semester. The disabilties coordinator and I also talked of using the captioning service for at least the English class, and got a plan wrote up and signed off on.  The math class is mostly done on the computer at my own pace, with some video lectures (which has captioning), so I really only need accommodations for the English class. No interpreter, I think the captioning will be enough.  I do better when I can read the text, the signing just doesn't stick with me.

The disabilities coordinator did type up a letter to send to the English instructor of why I needed the captioning accommodation, mentioning that I just recently got my cochlear implant and need the captioning for support.  He asked me a bit about my implant and how I was doing, how does it compare to the hearing aid, etc. 

Now I just need to meet with my Vocational Rehab. counselor next week and actually sign my plan, and hopefully get an FM unit ordered as well. And I see the disabilities coordinator at the college again the week before classes start so he can get me set up with the captioning device. Cool beans!