Some Questions

Several of you have asked about the last post and booth results. Many of you don't know what all that means. I will try to help here....

First, let's talk about the speech banana. This is the range at which language is spoken. Each sound has it's own frequency. The lower frequencies are sounds like long vowels... 'a', 'e', 'oo'. The highest frequencies are sounds like 'sh' and 's'. So, if Mikaela can't hear the higher frequencies - even with her hearing aids - the word "sign" might sound like "ign" to her. Or even worse. She may not even have access to the 'n' sound.

Here is something I "borrowed" from a website that gives a great example: (http://www.teachnet.ie/mhickey/classification.html

" The primary energy of vowels occurs more in the lower frequency range while the primary energy of consonants is in the higher frequency range. The vowels give power to the sound. The consonants are relatively weaker sounds but give intelligibility to speech (earinfo, 1996).

There is great difficulty in trying to cope with language without the important information-carrying consonants (Fraser, 1996).

Here are the opening lines of two familiar nursery rhymes. In the first all the vowels have been omitted and in the second, all the consonants have been omitted.

Tw-nkl- Tw-nkl- L-ttl- St-r
H-w - W-nd-r wh-r- y-- -r-

-a-- a-- -i-- -e-- u-
a -i-- -o -e--- a -ai- o- -a-e-

The sense in the first is relatively unimpaired, with the consonants giving the clues that are necessary. The second is difficult if not impossible, unless you are given the additional clue that it involves a boy and a girl going up a hill. This example illustrates the difficulties encountered by the child with a moderate, severe or profound hearing loss in a classroom situation. "

If you google speech banana diagram, the first small picture that shows up is the hand out I have been given. The website is (http://www.apsea.ca/images/banana.jpg). I can't quite get it big enough on my monitor to clearly show exactly at which frequencies the consonants fall....maybe you can.

Regardless, if you can imagine plotting a line beginning at 25 decibel loss and as you move across the page drop it 20 to 30 decibels at each frequency, you would drop out of the speech banana by 1000 or 2000 decibels. That's kinda how Mikaela's aided hearing results look.

I hope this gives a bit more clarification to what I posted about with regards to the booth results.
In my next post, I want to chat a bit more about my hesitation to getting the implant. I have to run as Nicole is pulling up in the driveway and I am watching her son Ean for a bit.