Cochlear implant rehabilitation is a key factor to get the most benefit from your cochlear implant. If your cochlear implant was just turned on, you will have lots of thought going through your head.
Hearing with a cochlear implant isn’t natural hearing, and you might experience sounds that seem tinny, robotic, or mechanical. We’ve heard ‘first day reports’ that on the first day, voices might sound like “Donald Duck” or “Mickey Mouse.”
If this is you; here are some tips that will give you support and get you started on the right foot.
Believe in Your Brain
Your brain has amazing abilities. When presented with something new, like the electric stimulation from a cochlear implant, it has the cognitive capacity to adapt. The more time you spend hearing and listening with your cochlear implant, the more your brain will learn about how sounds sound with a CI — and the better you’ll understand them.
Stay Positive
It can take anywhere from a few months, to years, for you and your brain to adapt to the sounds of a cochlear implant. It’s different for everyone and varies depending on lots of factors. Remember to stay positive.
Keep a journal
for those not so positive days at journal can be a good tool. Write a paper journal or search journal in iStore or GooglePlay … or simply use your mobile calendar. The main thing is that you take notes – just for you. But notes you can revisit on days where you feel like there is no progress. Then it’s nice to go back and recall all the good days you’ve had along the way
More is better
The more rehabilitation you do—the more you talk with your audiologist or other rehabilitation professionals—the more opportunities you’ll give your brain to understand your cochlear implant’s sounds the better.
Participate
If you want to improve your hearing, it starts with you. Understanding a cochlear implant relies a great deal on how much time you spend actively listening to voices and other sounds. Just get out there! Try. You can’t have difficulties—or successes—if you don’t have the conversation in the first place.
The most important person in your life and your hearing journey is you. Other people can’t force you to engage in conversations, listen to music, talking on the phone, or being generally social. Avoiding situations like these are all common behaviors for someone with hearing loss, and even recent cochlear implant recipients.