Harley

Ever since I've adopted Harley, my new dog, I've been fascinated with the daily noises of having a dog around in the apartment. Her howling is an interesting sound. She snores in her sleep. It's quite low, and I'm surprised that I can hear it. Her barking while asleep is so cute, it makes me wonder why she is barking. Is she meeting a new friend in her sleep? Is she remembering her parents? Her coughing sounded pretty bad, but I realized that wasn't a bad cough. That was her clearing her throat. It's just..astounding. Being able to hear her lick her water while she drinks it, makes me feel content because she's staying hydrated. Her walking around on the hard floor of the kitchen, the claws clicking on the floor. I haven't heard her cry while I've been gone outside the door yet. I think that would be too heartbreaking if I could hear it.

Goals

My goals so far -

Use my cochlear implant more now that the weather is cooling down.
Listen to more music and discover what's different about each song. Are any of them worse or better?
Go back to HEI and do a follow-up.. Meaning I need to make an appointment. I've been lagging because of school being in the way.
Try and figure out if I can understand my teachers this semester. I wonder how they sound.

That's it so far. :)

Sometimes I wonder...

Sometimes I wonder if some deaf people will change their perspectives on cochlear implants.

Today, I was sitting in class and it's obvious that my Deaf teacher is completely against cochlear implants. I have to explain something - there are two signs for "cochlear implant" - I would gloss that but I can't find the place where I can make the font smaller. Anyway, two signs, right? One is neutral where you make the "U" handshape and put it on the side of the head where the cochlear implant would be behind the ear. It's hard to explain HOW to sign but the idea is that it's the "U" handshape. However, there is also a negative sign for "cochlear implant" - same movement, same orientation, same location, but two parameters are different - the facial markers and the handshape. For the handshape, it's "V" bent. If you sign it that way, it means the Deaf say that the cochlear implant was forced onto the child or adult or whoever that got the implant. Needless to say, my teacher used the negative sign for "cochlear implant". He has no idea I have one. I'm too scared right now to mention that I have one because I know how strong his opinion is about the cochlear implant - plus it's still a new class. It's too early to talk about this issue. However, he made it clear that he doesn't like them, right? So he implied that cochlear implants are not a good idea for anyone, nor should anyone get one because it's good to be deaf. That it's a medical method to "fix" deafness. That the person who has a cochlear implant will never learn sign language. He had this discussion where at one school, either in the past or still on-going, they have one class where it's kids with cochlear implants, no signing, and across campus, there's another class where there's deaf kids who sign, all the time. I felt a little offended because it means that people who have cochlear implants *think* they're not deaf, they don't sign, they'll never be in the Deaf community nor are they interested in the Deaf community, and so on.

I realize that that's a common thought for an older Deaf person, but the world is changing. We all have to accept changes. People do change for a lot of reasons.

Not sure what my point was exactly, but all I know is, I'm proud to prove him wrong when the time is right....

It's been a while...

Hi everyone,



I realize it's been a long time since I've posted. While I'm still excited that the surgery was successful, it's unfortunate for me to announce that I still don't use my cochlear implant that often. It's hard when I find myself among the deaf community. I don't need to use it all the time. Especially since the valley is very hot right now, I can't bear the sweat behind my ear because of the thing having to hang from it.



However, I love my cochlear implant still. I love to be able to hear my boyfriend talk to me. I love to listen to music. I love being able to talk with my parents on the phone. I even was able to talk with my grandpa one time. It amazes me how I realize how much I missed out on hearing stuff. Since I moved in with my boyfriend, and I put on the cochlear implant, I was amazed that I was able to hear the clock ticking. It sounded so loud. And I realized that some fans are loud too. Gee, I wonder how hearing people got used to that noise because it sure bothers me!

Checking in

I don't know how many people are still reading this blog, but I wanted to let you all know that this blog will be quiet until the end of the month, when I go in for another appointment for mapping. Hope it goes well. For now, I'm focusing on finals for next week and moving into a place for the summer time.


Wish me luck!

A visit home

So I went home Monday night for a quick break from school before finals hit.

Things did sound different at home. Mom's voice was a little different. David's still the same. Evan, I have no idea because he didn't speak... haha. My mom's dog, Karma, annoys me with her bark. I didn't realize it sounded like a squeal mixed with a bark. It was ...unexpected.

Talking with Dad and Susie was the same deal - I understood Dad and most of what Susie said. Thought she said "burrito" but she said "hamburger". Weird. And Michael's voice was definitely different - he's my younger step-brother. His voice sounded like he babbles as he talks. I know that's just a kid's voice, but see, that's how hard it is to understand kids.

The waterproof processor is in progress. I really want it so my mom and I are trying to figure out how this will work out.

...That's all I can say for now. :-)

What to say?

So basically, I'm at a loss here. I have no idea what I could update about now. All I know is that I'm definitely picking up on words I hear from my teacher. I get annoyed when people chatter loud or when a girl talks about something she thinks is funny and her voice squeals while she says it... ummm. Haha. Sorry guys but I have no idea what else to post about.

All I know is I'm more focused on my upcoming few weeks because I have three weeks left of school and then finals week. I'm prepping for a test as well for my credential program application....

I know I'm really excited to have my implant back on because now it makes for easier conversation with classmates when needed. And makes for easier one on one conversations with my teachers... I still enjoy listening to music. I'm learning to ignore background noises, but I'm still so curious about them that my boyfriend tells me I just have to ignore them and not ask about what it is. Like one time, I was sitting on the couch and I could hear my boyfriend's roommate putting his hand in the bag of chips, which makes this crinkly noise.. I don't remember what I thought it sounded like, but it made me look and my boyfriend told me to ignore it. Hmph. :-)

I'm learning.... this is all a learning process with my implant, education... life.. Life is a learning process...