Your yellow brick road… all day all day.

A few years ago I got new Hearing Aids (HAs). Phonak, Naida, UP – where UP stands for Ultra Power processing to compensate for my hearing loss. Born deaf, I’ve been wearing HAs since I was a wee tyke of oh, three.

I remember that set – a hard plastic set in your ears that connected to wires to a small rectangular device that you wore on a halter around your chest. That didn’t last long before I got BTE (behind the ears) HAs. BTE design is basic; you wear ear moulds, through which tubing is inserted, and connected to a small processing unit that sits on your earlobe. The microphone is located at the top of the unit, facing forward, picking up sound, which it then amplifies and feeds through the tube going through the ear mould into your ear. You need an ear mould so that there is no external interference with the processed sound from your hearing aid.

Typically a BTE lasts around 4-5 years before wearing out, and a new set are needed. Progress in HA technology has been such that each time I am fitted with a new set, the processing power of the aids has increased. Analogue processing gave way to digital early 90s, and in turn, digital technology gets better. Each time I am fitted with new HAs I hear ‘better’ I suppose, given the fact that processing power has increased, but I don’t know. All I know is that generally I have to allow three days for me to get used to the new HAs. A new HA alters sounds in tiny ways, enough that I have to re-learn the sounds for the concepts I hold in my brain. For instance, the sound of a bird, or a phone call, or a loved person’s voice will be slightly different with new HAs, so my brain has to associate that sound with the concept in my brain. It’s quite tiring.

A few years ago I was invited to be part of a trial. Phonak, who make HAs, set up a research centre in Auckland (since dis-established). They were testing new HAs. I’m very happy to partake in any research related to deafness, as I know that the results, however small, will benefit me in the long run. I was given a series of prototype HAs to use for a week, reporting back performance at the end. Each was slightly different.

One set I was encouraged to wear in a ‘watery’ situation. That is, expose it to water while wearing it. I was horrified, and refused, even when the researcher (who was deaf herself) said that she had worn hers in the shower! A strict rule that is NEVER broken is that you NEVER get HAs wet. They have electrics, so water will fizzle everything and you’ll suffer the annoyance of not having any HAs until you get a new set. She gently encouraged me over several visits.

One day I was lining up on the road to pay my respects to Sir Edmund Hillary as his coffin passed by on the way to the cemetery. Thousands of people were lined up with me, on a road, waiting. It was a lovely hot summers day, and I saw a black thundercloud drift over the city, towards us. It drifted slowly, and a few drops began to fall. My first instinct was to take my HAs off and put them in my pocket out of harms way, but I remembered that I could wear these in a ‘watery’ situation. So I left them on. The drops were heavy with heat and moisture, and gradually over minute or two turned into a full downpour. It was warm, and felt nice. Virtually everyone around me ran away to seek shelter, under trees or in the portico of nearby buildings.

I just stayed where I was. And listened. To the sounds of raindrops hitting pavement. Amazing. I had never heard it before. The gentle sound of rain falling and hitting pavement. Astonishing. That soft but insistent splat that was lined with a remarkably intense sound. And the HAs kept working. I was so amazed. For someone who *never* heard raindrops before, it was a revelation. The next time I went out to the research centre I told them what had happened. I was simply amazed by it.

The trial finished and I went back to my normal HAs, which after the ‘watery’ ones, were ‘dull’, but I became accustomed to them again. Within two years I needed new HAs. Normally, there’s a process you have to go through; forms to fill in, your audiologists runs tests, and it gets sent to Ministry of Health, who pay for HAs.

This time, I was offered Phonak Naida Ultra Power HAs at half price, in recognition of my work testing HAs for the research centre. I jumped at the chance, even though it cost a lot of money. They are purple, and come with 6 different programs for different listening situations; general, front (microphone) only/speech in sound, music, telecoil, telecoil with microphone, and something else.

As I left the fitting session, taking my bike up to the road to ride home, I was astounded by the birds. Chirping and singing. I had not really heard them before, but this time, with these new HAs, I heard them. The next morning I lit the gas stove to heat water for coffee. Did you know that gas has slight hiss and a squeak as you light it? I heard it.

That Sunday, I went into town, and as I passed by Kitchener Square, I heard music. I stopped. It was a guitarist with his amplified speaker. I went into the square and sat down, turning on the music program on my HAs. I love music, but I hadn’t heard this sound – rich, resonant depths, and very beautiful. I cried beneath my sunglasses.

Christmas time, a few short weeks later. I was astonished to find myself in a conversation at a party with three others, and being able to clearly talk to the person opposite me, while the other two were talking. I heard the other person, using the speech in sound program. I was so pleased.

The effects of these new HAs didn’t stop there. After about 18 months or so, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself hearing the lyrics of a song I played often. I love music, but lyrics have me stumped. Most lyrics are locked off to me apart from very clear and obvious ones. I can never quite make out the words being sung. But one day, I was able to hear most of the lyrics in this song. I was so delighted.

Other songs revealed themselves to me. I found myself able to pick up a greater number of words in songs, which increased my enjoyment of the songs. But I wondered why now I was able hear a greater range of words in songs?

It’s the power of the processing in my HAs. The sound received by the mini-computer in my HAs is processed in what I feel is a more fine grained way, then delivered to my ear. This flow of processed sound, experienced daily, over months, has enabled me to cognitively discern to a greater degree sounds, enabling me to understand song lyrics better.

Because of that power, I hear a wider range of sounds, and a richer aural world is revealed to me. And I am very grateful.