22. Day one of the residential course ~ 17th July

The course started yesterday so I sadly missed the first day. I was hoping there would be someone close to my age, on the course but when I opened the door I must admit that I was disappointed. The person closest in age to me was 20 years my senior, but the majority of people were in their seventies.

We started the day discussing 'practical communication'. We talked about problems with some loop systems. My very basic description of a loop is: most modern hearing aids have a button which you can change to go on a 'loop' programme. In places such as some theatres, some banks (usually only at the desk), some post offices (usually just at the counter), some supermarkets (only at where you pay), some churches/cathedrals etc they have a machine called a loop which enables those with hearing aids to wirelessly connect to their machine and supposedly make it easier for the hearing aid user to hear. You may have noticed that I used the word "supposedly", which is because I've often found that it has made no or little difference. My audiologist explained that this is usually because of three things: either the 'building' have not turned their system on, they have not set-up the system correctly, or it is a very cheap system which they have bought! We were taught that if we make an appointment at somewhere such as a bank, we can request that they provide a note-taker which they should pay for.

I told them about my recent incident whilst visiting the dentist. I was told that in the future I should ask the nurse (who is always present during the appointment) to look at me and repeat everything the dentist has said during the appointment. What an obvious thing to do but I had never thought of doing it. It was great to get tips off other people who had 'been there, done that, got the T-shirt'.

The session over ran so we weren't able to do the last bit of the morning. It was a shame as I am frequently told I am talking too quietly which is because my Dad has shouted since he started to lose his hearing and I have been so determined to not do the same that I have ended up doing the opposite. When you lose your hearing, you have no idea of what volume you are talking at.

After lunch we had an introduction to sign language and also finger spelling which was fun. I found that when lipreading it can be really helpful when someone finger spells the first letter of a difficult word.

Copied with kind permission by BSL Communication (www.bslcommunication.com)

This wasn't discussed on the course but do you know how many versions of finger spelling there are? According to the website 'Ethnologue' (http://www.ethnologue.com/subgroups/deaf-sign-language) there are a total of 130 types of finger spelling alphabets eg British Sign Language, American Sign Language, Australian Sign Language, Kenyan Sign Language etc. I have also read  that there are several thousand versions throughout the world. Whatever the exact figure, you can see that there are a lot. Unfortunately it is not a universal language which makes communication even harder for a deaf person whilst they are travelling.

Having had afternoon tea (which was always yummy!) we had a 'relaxation technique' session which if I'm honest I didn't enjoy. I love relaxation (who doesn't?), however in the past I have been taught far more effective and more advanced techniques. Rather than relaxing, I kept thinking about all the other things I would like to do or should be doing instead (like a nice swim in the hotel pool, writing to you on my blog, catching up on e.mails etc). I also found it hard not to laugh as I heard a few snores from fellow pupils! However it seemed a very successful event for most people and had the desired effect intended which was good.  

After all that learning I had a good nights sleep!

17. Lipreading at the dentist ~ 9th June

Today I went to the dentist, a place which I am sure many of you dread like me. Due to getting myself apprehensive about the pneumatic digger they put in your mouth (it sounds like that anyway if I remember rightly!), I hadn't thought of anything else. When I was called into the room, I lay on the couch. I gazed up at the big, bright light above me which shone on my face. The dentist sat on his stool behind my head and started talking to me as he usually does. As you know, I am finding that learning to lip read is a big enough challenge, however trying to lipread someone who's face is above mine and looking at me the wrong way around, is virtually impossible. If that weren't hard enough, he then covered his mouth with his mask! He put a big thing in my mouth and then he and the nurse left the room. I suddenly realised that I was right in the middle of them taking an x-ray of my teeth, but thanks to my dud ears and my poor lipreading I had never heard them ask me . 

I lay in silence for the rest of the appointment, goodness knows what he was telling me through his green mask; it could have been about a new dental device or even him bungee jumping off the moon for all I know!

Thankfully I managed to avoid all forms of pneumatic drills and diggers!