Friday 18th July 2008 - Open Day at The Ear Foundation

I went to the Ear Foundation in Nottingham for the first time. I went along to find out more about what it was about and to find out about more support for maximising the use of the cochlear implant and how to deal with difficult situations.

I was the only born signing Deaf person there who has a CI, but it was interesting to meet a few CI users who were born hearing and become deaf and now have CI as their experience is completely different to mine. It was also good to meet some of the staff and it was so good to be able to have sessions with them for advice on what to expect from the cochlear implant, how it all works, and how to deal with more difficult situations. I had a session in the morning to talk about how to deal with the implant in difficult situations like groups for example. In the afternoon then I met a the other staff and it was really good to have sessions with them too and we covered communication and listening practices and looked at what was available to help with listening practice online, technology (including what is the best way to listen to the ipod through the T-link which I hadnt tried before and the sound was quite good through that) and chatted about cochlear implants and hearing aid together and the use of FM systems with another member of staff. I had a very enjoyable day and felt so much better for gaining more support and felt more aware of what was happening with my development in using my cochlear implant.