I am back, inspired by this post on Hearing Journey to share some of my suggestions on how to cope with being temporarily deaf. Not everyone who receives a Cochlear Implant will be deaf in between the surgery and activation, but those who are deaf in the non-implanted ear or who receive bilateral implants at the same time will be. Here are some thoughts on how to deal with that:
These have all been helpful to me - I hope they may help you as well. If you have your own suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!
5 more days to activation!
- Carry a pencil and pad of paper or other tool (like a Boogie Board, which I have) to help you communicate. Even if you're good at reading lips, it's good to have a backup.
- Where possible, try not to schedule big/stressful events during your "deaf period"
- Talk to your family ahead of time and explain to them that they will need to be extra patient with you. If you can read lips, tell them to face you, talk a bit slower, and to talk in more simple sentences
- Find ways to give yourself some downtime to decompress. Your stress levels will be higher than normal, and you need that time to relax without trying to lipread/communicate. Learn to recognize when it's getting to be "too much" and let yourself have some downtime. It can be hard with children, but look for help when you need it.
- Ensure you can have some simple, fun time with your family. Find things you can do that don't require lots of talking/listening.
- Use the closed captions/subtitles on your television! This can be a way to sit and relax.
- Tell people right up front, "I'm deaf" and let them know how they can communicate effectively with you. I tell people, "I'm deaf, but I can read your lips as long as you are looking directly at me." Don't try to muddle through - if you don't understand, just say so and offer an alternative (such as your pad of paper).
- If you have a smartphone, many of them have voice-to-text features. On my Android phone, for example, I can use a "voice typing" keyboard. It does remarkably well in transcribing what people are saying.
These have all been helpful to me - I hope they may help you as well. If you have your own suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!
5 more days to activation!