Dad, how do you hear me?
My 4-year-old son is always asking me questions and often leads me to ask Alexa or Siri to help me answer his questions. One question that I will always take more time to help him understand is, “Dad, how do your ears work?”
From a very young age, my three kids have learned that the “things” on my ear are special and they help me hear their voice and everything around them. It was not too long ago when my oldest started to make connections that I really can’t hear without my sound processors (cochlear implant). The “how dad hears” conversation is an ongoing conversation with my kids as they ask more questions or wonder why I may have heard something wrong. I love these little moments. One thing I always remind my kids is that even if Dad does not have his “ears” on, I will always be able to hear them as I read their lips, watch their hands move, some sign language, pointing, and body language. I want them to feel that they can wake me up in the middle of the night while my sound processors are charging and still know I am there for them. Thanks to cool apps, I have had them talk to my phone and I can read what they are saying when I am in a pinch. These opportunities provide them a knowledge that there are many ways to communicate with me. That alone gives me comfort as a parent.
I recently created a graphic to show how my sound processors work and the 3 main points that help process sound. It is always mind-blowing to me at how fast everything works so I can hear my kids yelling for me to come to see them do a cool trick and at an instant hear one of them cry for help. This is a modern-day miracle for me.
Disclaimer: On point #3. It is actually not the magnet that transfers all the information. There is something in the likes of a radio antenna in the headpiece - that connects with another radio antenna on the cochlear implant itself and this is how the information is sent across. The magnet is there just for pure ease of use. Even if one had to remove the magnet for whatever reason you would see that it would still work if you would hold the antenna in place with a headband or anything else.
