JDA Magazine Paperturn Sept 2024 - Flipbook - Page 29
Update On My
Cochlear Implant Journey
Andrew Goodwin is the Manager
of JDA’s Engage hearing support
services for care providers. He had a
cochlear implant 昀椀tted in November
2023. Here we follow his journey.
Andrew Goodwin writes:
It is eight months since the processor on the side
of my head was switched on and a new milestone
in my deaf journey began.
Since my last update, the most noticeable
di昀昀erences have not been about how clear things
are, but what exactly I’m hearing.
In the 昀椀rst four or 昀椀ve months, I was learning all
about sounds, what they are, where they come
from. What does water running from a tap sound
like and what is the di昀昀erence between that and
water from a shower?
Now I’m learning more about the subtle
di昀昀erences in background noises. Why is this so
cool? Before, with my hearing aids, background
sound was just that: a wall of indecipherable noise
that interfered with my ability to hear speech.
Now I can pick out all the individual sounds that
make it up, such as road tra昀케c, wind in the trees,
birds tweeting. Oh, the birds! Always tweeting.
I had always thought they only make a sound at
dawn and dusk. But no, they never stop!
I’m now picking up much more of what people
say. I don’t need to lipread as much as I did before
and am making much more eye contact. I’m still
learning how long it’s appropriate to look someone
in the eyes for!
▲ Andrew teaching care sta昀昀 at Hammerson
Nightingale how to maintain their
residents’ hearing aids
My wife and I recently moved home and we were
invited to a garden party to meet all our new
neighbours. I went to the party, knowing only one
person.
There were about 50 people, in clusters of two or
three. I went up to each group, introduced myself,
chatted for a few minutes then moved on to the
next group. I heard each conversation clearly, we
made jokes and I heard the punchlines… so no
fake laughs for me.
Me. I did this. In all my wildest dreams, I’d never
imagined being the kind of person who would
“mingle”.
My cochlear implant journey is turning out to be
transformative. People keep asking me how I’m
doing. What can I hear? Now my response is, I can
hear the world and I’m learning how to be me.
As I catch more of what is being said and am
able to sort out speech from background noise,
the biggest impact so far has been increased
con昀椀dence when meeting new people.
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