Quote for the day

Regular readers will know how much I love my iPhone and iPad so when I saw this quote I had to share it as it's exactly how I feel: “iOS devices are a lifeline. They’re a bionic enhancement — a pocket full of superpowers. They’re tools of independence, and of participation.”
Matt Gemmell (developer, technology speaker and writer)

Awww, this is a nice story

http://www.3news.co.nz/Christchurch-school-raises-40000-for-deaf-teacher/tabid/423/articleID/287321/Default.aspx

Mapping - otherwise known as a cochlear tune-up

This week I had my 12 month mapping. That means that I spent a few hours with my audi doing a number of hearing tests and getting a final tune-up. This was important as I was able to see what I was hearing without the cochlear (see audiogram in post below), and the progress I'd made from when I first had the cochlear turned on to now, 12 months later. Take a look.

First mapping, shows a limited range of sound

12 month mapping shows a wider range of sounds, the further apart the red and green, the better!

Now I only go back to my audi every 12 months to get a tune-up and that's about it. It's now just me and my cochlear to face the world alone. I think we'll do OK :)

Fame and fortune again!

Ok, maybe not so much fame, or fortune, but I can only dream. I wrote a letter to the Editor of the Western Australian newspaper last week in response to an article about mothers wishing for a bit of silence. They published it this week! Woo Hoo!

My audiogram

This is my most recent audiogram. It shows what I hear from my left ear (remember the right ear hears nothing at all) down the bottom in blue, and what I hear with the cochlear in the middle in red. A huge difference! A person with normal hearing would usually test between 0 and 20 right up the top. As you can see without the cochlear I have severe hearing loss in my left ear, with the cochlear I'm way ahead :)

Feeling Deaf

I'm feeling very deaf this week. The new academic teaching year has started and it's full on at work. I'm either in class, meetings, or setting up the online learning environment. The kids are back to school as well so I have to make time for homework help and organising all the sporting activities that my kids go to. Then there is my study as well. Oh, and I have a cold virus ........ and renovating the front yard.............. The tinnitus is going crazy and I'm suffering deaf fatigue!

That's the problem with the cochlear, a bit like a prosthetic leg I suppose, it lets you join the world of the walking, but you have to work twice as hard to do what everyone else does naturally. I imagine most people with a disability experience this fatigue at some stage, and the frustration that comes with it.

Whaleshark Dive

I had to share this with you all as I just got given the photos that were taken on our last camping holiday when we had a chance to swim with a whaleshark. They are just amazing creatures and it was an unreal experience. Everyone is deaf underwater!