Hard to believe we’re into December, this year has been my quickest yet. It’s true what they say, everything gets a bit faster the more seasons you’re lucky enough to get under your belt.
I’m Single Sided Deaf (SSD) in my right ear and have moderate hearing loss in my left. Just want to share my final impressions and experience with some adaptive technology that has changed my life:
The Phonak BiCros hearing aid.
I am BionicMan: It has Bluetooth, and the remote is worn around my neck, I hear the phone ring and the caller’s voice from the devices inside my ears. I can also play Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” through my iPhone and hear the music through the hearing aids. Thanks to the smart people at Apple, I can use the on-board accessibility features of the iPhone to switch the signal from stereo to mono. This also means I can also use regular headphones without my hearing aids in and still hear the full signal. But that’s a different post.
I set up a music program with the audiologist I use when I'm playing drums at rehearsal and at shows. The music setting boosts the bass and treble and reduces the mid-range, so I can better hear instruments on the right side of my body, something I have had a problem with since I went deaf on that side. Being Single Sided Deaf didn't take away from my ability to rip it up on the drums, but the BiCros has given me bigger ears, as musicians like to say.
I hear the cashier at the grocery store, I hear the kid try to sell me cables I don’t need when I buy a new TV. I hear the woman at Starbucks ask me if I’d like a bite to eat once I've ordered a Triple-Venti-Non Fat-Half Sweet Mocha. I don’t have to rely on my eyes as much to lip read. Shazam!
It no longer matters where I sit in restaurants, or meetings. I can hear my beautiful wife Tess when I'm driving with her in the passenger seat. Although I now have a mute button I can use when she is telling me something I don’t want to hear, like “John, you don’t really need another vintage drumkit”, or “John, you already have two surfboards”.
This device is amazing and I'm grateful to have it in my life. It’s thanks to my blind and partially sighted colleagues at CNIB that I had another look at this adaptive technology and decided to take the plunge. Thanks to Debbie Gillespie and Martin Courcelles.
