Listening with my eyes

Its blog time again!!!!! thought I would make a little blog about my new hearing aids the Unitron Moxi 6. I have been dispensed 2 hearing aids and I wont lie, when I was told that my left ear was also deteriorating I was gutted, that sick deep feeling in my stomach is hard to explain, I was so upset.
I then saw my hearing loss as an obstacle.......for about 2 seconds...... No way was I going to let this come between me and life.

The Moxi 6 is a great hearing aid, it has 6 programs, although I haven't had any set yet, its very discrete and very comfortable, so comfortable that sometimes I don't know I have it in, that might not always be a good thing I have a fear of jumping the shower or falling to sleep and breaking them. They come in many colours I was advised to pick the same colour as my hair ( I guess its to camouflage them) so I had the dark brown colour. I'm not bothered about hiding my hearing aids, that would be like trying to hide my hearing loss and I wont do that.
I hear pretty good when I have my aids in although I do find busy places difficult, but I know it will get easier, I'm still having to visit my Audiologist for fine tuning. My left hearing aid has not been programmed yet there was no rush as my hearing loss is mild in the left ear, hopefully that will be done on my next appointment on Thursday...she is also going to show me how to change the filters.

What is it like hearing for the first time through hearing aids...WOW.....the first thing I heard was my audiologist tapping on her keyboard I could hear every little key being tapped, she looked up at me and she knew I could hear, a little tear in my eye but we both smiled.
Birds singing
Traffic approaching
Voices from other rooms
And mens voices, I really struggled with mens voices
I could hear them all and now I find myself listening intensively to find new sounds :)

My biggest fear was my hearing loss interfering in my career. I'm a Forensic Artist and soon to be Personal Fitness Trainer and Figure Competitor....I need to be able to function, talk to people and communicate effectively...I may have lost my hearing but but I haven't lost my abilities and passion for life. I decided to start learning sign language both BSL and ASL, also lip reading.....Yes folks I'm ready for the world as a deaf person.... I will not forfeit my careers.... Sign language and lip reading is a big part of my life now and will be glad to offer these services later on.
As for Figure competing, I know of only one competitor Lori Hilary but that doesn't mean to say there are not others out there.
I can only say life is going to be interesting from this point on...sure I will be a victim of ignorance somewhere down the way but I choose to be happy so I wont let that bother me at all. I don't want to be treated differently, all I ask is you look at me when speaking to me and speak clearly...there wont be any need to shout.

I have learned a lot about the deaf culture... reading blogs,watching videos on YouTube, some made me laugh some made me cry...tears of happiness are the best watch these little guys hearing for the first time after cochlear implants

 

These kids are awesome!!!!

I am sure I will have many more blogs about my hearing loss, the people I meet and my adventures in a hearing world, to be honest its kinda exciting, Im learning a new language, meeting new people and showing the world being different is not a problem.

There is one thing that my hearing loss has forced me to do and that is maximise my own potential and I will keep doing that on a daily basis. :)

Peace Out People
Have a great day and remember deaf doesn't have to be ugly, it can be sexy...Jae