LISTENING IN THE REAL WORLD

"Anyone who takes the time to attentively listen is either an old soul or a romantic one."

Richelle E. Goodrich, Slaying Dragons 

I find stage performance by true actors to be much easier to understand than the cinema or tv.
Television in particular and cinema, even though it is so loud, has a lot of mumbling and incoherent phrases these days with distracting background mood music.


So off I went happily to our local theatre to hear a 'life reflective monologue' in a small studio. I was in the second row and had asked in advance if the hearing loop was switched on. The acting style was not the usual stand-up audience facing kind so some extra help seemed a good idea.

The loop was so weak the sound kept disappearing. It was better to just listen to the amplifier. Although voice into microphone, then out of speaker into another microphone (my processor) and then into my head is never the same as the real direct thing. I heard and understood a lot from about twenty feet. Enough to be satisfied as a deaf person.


Then something strange happened! 


Towards the end the actor's voice became much clearer, I could hear every word he said even though the performance was casual, inebriated and slurred (for effect) by that time.

After the applause had died down my wife turned to me and asked if I had noticed the microphone he was using had failed and the speakers had gone silent leaving only the actor's voice in the room.

The curtained walls and soft seats produced excellent acoustics and whilst those at the back may have struggled to hear, I was enjoying the technical failure unaware. What a pity it hadn't happened earlier.

On leaving the theatre apologies were offered for the breakdown.
I assured them I had enjoyed it so much more for it.

We had a good laugh, I think he was glad to have at least one happy customer.


If only all restaurants, public buildings and meeting places could be so plush and comfortable for us.
With the speakers turned off!


Perhaps my most memorable occasion was a celebration afternoon tea at a local and popular venue.
In those days I had no ability to use the telephone and asking my wife to do it would ruin the surprise, so I booked online. I mentioned on my booking form I was profoundly deaf and would like, if possible, a quiet corner table to make conversation easier.

On arrival at this very plush and rather special place my wife and I were ushered into a side room. All to ourselves and it was carpeted, had heavy curtains and sumptuous cushioned furniture. The acoustics were incredible with none of the usual echo or harsh sounds reflected off the walls and hard surfaces. I felt quite honoured to be treated in such a special way.         All because I had asked, a speculative whim perhaps, but a lesson just the same.

"If you don't ask you don't get."

Though unfortunately that often applies when you do as well!
I have, on some rare occasions, managed to get background 'muzak' turned off (as the only customer in the place!) but just getting it turned down often needs the equivalent effort of an Act of Parliament.

HOW CAN I UP-CYCLE MY REDUNDANT OLD EARS?

“Though love may be blind, it sees much;
though it may be deaf, it hears much;
though it may be mute, it says much;
and though it may be lame, it does much.”
~  Matshona Dhliwayo ~

What do I do with my ears now they no longer work?

I can’t flap them like an elephant to keep cool or shade my eyes from the sun like a pig. To do that I would need to have 32 specialist muscles like a cat to enable me to rotate them instead of the six that I do have.

I do like the idea of storing sweets in them like a chipmunk’s mouth pouches.

So what did I use them for when I did use them properly?

First, ear anatomy: 

The auricle or pinna (the heart version is because it is ear shaped).

As opposed to: Oracle (noun); an authoritative person who divines the future or an obscure prophecy revealed by someone believed to be infallible.

The outer ear is made up of cartilage and skin. There are three different parts, the tragus, helix and the lobe.

 This is to save you looking it up on Wikipedia. 
 (Though do if you wish, it is something we just take for granted when it works properly)
  

Development

The developing auricle is first noticeable around the sixth week of gestation in humans, developing from auricular hillocks which form the folds of the auricle.

Function

The auricle's functions are to collect sound and direct it. It does this like a funnel, amplifying it and directing it into the auditory canal. The filtering effect preferentially selects sounds in the same frequency range as human speech. 

Something that Cochlear Implant processors try to do.

Amplification

Amplification of sound by the pinna, tympanic membrane and middle ear causes an increase in level of about 10 to 15 dB which is an important factor when loud sounds cause inner ear trauma.

Notch of pinna

The pinna design eliminates a small part of the frequency range and works differently for low and high frequency sounds. For low frequencies it is similar to a reflector dish. For high frequencies it is more sophisticated. Some of the sounds that enter the ear travel directly to the canal while others reflect off the contours of the pinna first. These enter the ear canal after a slight delay. The delay is directionally dependent, affecting sounds coming from above more than those coming from straight ahead. This aids in vertical sound location in combination with the sideways directional function of having two ears, thereby providing a three dimentional signal that the brain can interpret.

I now, unfortunately, have no directional sound location of any sort as I have only one functioning inner ear. A similar effect to having only one eye and not being able to see perspective.

To make up for it deaf people use their increased awareness in other senses and look for clues visually. This often results in a delay to respond while they sort it out.  Hearing from behind is always a problem and explains why so many deaf people do not respond to questions from that direction.

They are not aloof or ignoring you, they simply don’t know it’s you or where you are. 

Be patient

Start with recognition and attention

Use face to face as much as possible 

Two implants would help but they are not routinely available for adults in the UK. Newer CI processors have a dedicated backward/forward microphone function. This needs to be selected when wanted but like other hearing channels programmed into the processor, with a remote control to help, it adds to the growing sophistication of micro electronics available to deaf people. Hearing aids for hard-of-hearing people who do not qualify for Cochlear Implants are now employing this advanced technology too.

In children bilateral implants are usual as it helps them with many aspects of mental development, giving as near normal an environment as possible for learning.

Hybrid solutions utilising implants paired with a hearing aid on the other side are available for those not completely deaf or with uneven severe hearing loss. Voices may not be understood with the hearing aid but traffic noise or general sound awareness can be very useful for telling where it is coming from.

 

For me, I am beyond all other help,

so the chipmunk solution is looking very appealing!