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Monday, May 10

Dining with Drew

We celebrated Mother's Day with a dinner out at one of our favorite local restaurants. We had a rather large party of 10 to celebrate the day, at a very busy, loud restaurant.

When we took our seats we didn't give much thought to the seating arrangements, other than the fact that Drew and his sister were required to sit by either me or their Daddy. Sometimes restaurant behavior can rapidly deteriorate without a parental unit nearby.

Anyway, Drew sat with his back facing the center of the restaurant. And he would not stop talking. The entire night. Didn't matter if someone else was talking at the table, his mouth was moving. And he was talking. Loud. To the point where he was wearing on my last nerve.

Then it dawned on me - he couldn't hear. I leaned down and asked him if he could hear, and he said "No, it's too loud," and popped both of his ears off.

Lesson learned. Drew needs to sit as far away from the center of a noisy restaurant as possible. And I need to talk with his audiologist about getting some additional mapping programs for noisy situations added to his processors. Now that he is able to tell us with more accuracy how he is hearing, I think we can give these additional programs a try.

This is the first time in quite awhile I have really noticed his hearing compromised by noise. I think it's time to see his audiologist.

9 comments:

Bill and Shelly said...

Allison has one of those programs on her CI's, but she doesn't like it, she said it sounds funny. I think is amazing that my deaf daughter tells me that her hearing sounds funny.
Hope it works well for Drew.

leah said...

We have hearing aids and not cochlear implants, but we turned on a noise reduction program for Nolan's hearing aids and it helped a lot. He used to be oblivious to us talking in a restaurant at all, and now he hears a bit better (though background noise has always been a challenge).

I hope your audiologist comes up with a good solution!!

Christian and Lily's Mommy said...

Such a good point and reminder for all of us. We have a good map that we use for restaurants and things like that, but even then conversations get lost and behavior gets a bit tricky.

Anonymous said...

I have CI, and I have to tell you this is one of the big problem we have. You can set up a program for it, but after dealing with churches and family gatherings, It is still hard. It's frustrating when you want to listen to something, your processor keep filtering it out because it thinks it is a background noise. My regular mapping do better, all I have to do is stand next to the person who is talking.
Another bad thing about background noises filtering is that you are still cut off from the world. I can't pick up surrounding noises as easily.
And you can only handle one-in-one conversations. I used to wear a bodyworn FM system in my public school back in the 80's and whenever the teacher's microphone is on, the background noise get CUT OFF. I could NOT hear other students answers and responses. Yet at the same time, if the teacher turn off the microphone, I would not be able to understand her because of the noise.

That's life for a deaf person. One-in-one conversation is also the life of deaf person. That is, he can only follow conversation with one person at a time in a quiet place. It can be a challenge if a third person talking back and forth with the first person.

Danielle said...

I find myself always having problems when im out to dinner. I learned recently that BOOTHS helps alot. I sit on the opposite side so my Left ear is by the waiter.

Laurie said...

I, too, have trouble in restaurants. And have tried many different programs, sensitivity & volume settings, new maps, etc. and still have a hard time. The way the restaurants are set up these days are the problem....hardwood floors, lots of windows, hardwood ceilings, etc. makes it hard for ANYONE to hear whether they have a hearing loss or not! WSJ just had an article about this very issue recently and I posted it as a link in FB. Smaller restaurants with carpeting, fewer windows, linens on the table are the ones I like the most. Or I sit outside!

Like Drew, I cannot "hear" when the noise is deafening and resort back to my lip reading skills. And it is even worse when they dim the lights!

Hugs to Drew and all of you!

Anonymous said...

Just a side note to the comment about FM systems. They have changed quite a bit since the 80s :) Now students can hear background noise at a reduced level and the teacher's voice is still the focus. So, they have some chance at hearing their peers talk or other environmental noises.

Billy Koch said...

I agree - I am a CI user and the mapping does not really work effectively. Unfortunately but over time you learn to adjust. I use just one program all the time - because it becomes too irritating when you keep adjusting it and turns out it cancels out another area that could help. So - it is just a growing process.

Alex said...

It's very interesting and cool article!