So far so good

So far I love my ONE versata that I have...I will be getting the other one on January 5th. I am still getting used to the automatic program as I am not used to the programs sort of changing by it self. I have had many compliments on the color of my new ha's. I am still nervous about getting the 2nd ha as I was not even used to it when I tried it on for like 20 min in my audi's office, but ah well. It works really well with compressing the not so pleasant sounds...aka my mom yelling for no reason and lil cousins screaming on christmas.

Happy New Years and late Merry Christmas!

they are heree!

Sooo i got my new hearing aids today!! well one today and the other next week since my dad didn't send me money for the first payment. So they gave me the right to wear for now but we programmed both hearing aids and guess what I got the MyPilot too! I didn't even know that the mypilot was worked into the price! So when she told me I was excited, but I hadn't really wanted it because I thought it was an extra few hundred but it was worked into the already good price that I am paying for the left hearing aid since my right was free by phonak. So, we did the real ear measurement first without the ha's on and then with the ha's. My audi was like omg you have such tiny ear canals!!! Lol...I was like ya....I get that a lot...lol Then we started putting the programs on and she set up my programs and I have my automatic program, calm, speech in noise, comfort in noise, music, and fm is with the automatic as well as auto telephone. With my new hearing aids I also got from phonak, a kit with a de-humidifier, lubricant (which i prolly won't use), a battery tester and spray. I also got a battery case, and a phonak case for my hearing aids and mypilot, a iPod sort of case for the myPilot, 2 cases one for each ha, a lil phonak pouch that looks like a change purse i guess for the ha's and I think that's it.

The sound so far is awesome! Not use to the automatic program but I like it. The left did sound weird at first tho but she said i should get used to that.

A sunday...

So, it is snowing out at the moment. I wouldn't mind the snow if it didn't come with very cold weather...and it is VERY windy out. I hate the wind...it always is too loud on my ha when i go outside. My new versatas that I am getting have windblock. Hopefully that will help the problem of all that wind that the mic picks up. I went to the audi to drop of my integrated receiver for my right ha. Phonak is going to re-case it to silver so that it matches my other new one and my new pure translucent versatas:) I also moved my appt to 3 p.m. on the 23rd instead of 1 so that I can just leave work early instead of going back to work and rushing the appt. They said approx. an hour, but they want to do a quick audiogram and real ear measurement for the new hearing aids.

I also talked to the other audi, the guy, ron and he was like how come u didn't want me as an audi! lol I told him i'd rather a girl since I can understand girls better... (my loss is a lower db loss). Anyways he asked what I was taking in school so I told him I'm at college for a law clerk program and then next year I am going into linguistics and then taking either Audiology or Speech Language Pathology. He was like "AUDIOLOGY!!!"..lol I was like ya probably, and then he asked if I would like to go to U of Ottawa cuz he can get me in since he is head of the Dept. there. The only problem is that U of O is a predominant french school although english is offered as well...alot of french ppl go there and currently the SLP and Aud masters programs are ONLY offered in french! Which is really stupid in my opinion as in Canada we speach ENGLISH and french....and considering University of Ottawa is in ONTARIO and our first language here is english I find it stupid that they do not offer it in english and I don't really want to go away for school...at least not yet. Anywho when I finish my undergrad or am part way done I will figure out where I want to go...i'll tell him to pitch to the school that it should be offered in English instead of just french! I also told him I'm going to minor in ASL but that I do know Italian and Spanish, if that helps haha...he was like wow u are an over acheiver like Melanie (my audi). Well at least we have some things in common :p

My new audi

OMG So my new audi is amazingggggg she is absolutely great! When I went in i was expecting to meet her and talk about stuff and when I left I orderd a new pair of hearing aids the new phonak versatas! I ordered the pure translucent "color" and I should be getting them in 3 weeks! We set an appt for Dec 23rd:) I am sooo excited! She also made an ear impression for my left earmold:) woot...I don`t like the feeling tho..blech it just feels so weird..but what can u do! I am excited for my new ha`s. Also my school is paying for my new receiver for the new ha too:) Anyways I will add more updates but I need a nap now today has been so exciting and tiring at the same time:)
Cheers!

Tomorrow

So, I think I mentioned I have an appt with the new audi on December 11th...well they called today and it turns out that they had to re-schedule my appt. She wanted to re-sched for an earlier time on the same day but I have an exam, so that won't work. So, now I have the appt tomorrow at 10:30:)
I'll let you all know how it goes!! :)

Updates...

Hey!

So, I know I haven't posted in a while. I have been busy with boyfriend/now ex, school, work, and cheerleading.

So, I have definitely been having some trouble with my audi. I don't like him, he just doesn't seem efficient and he doesn' explain ANYTHING. I got my left ear re-tested and he also tried something new with competing noises in the background while doing a sentence test, which I did NOT do well on at all. My speech discrimination has gone down as well as my left ear which got re-rested to make sure. So, I went audi "shopping" and I *think* I may have found one. The only reason why I was maybe going to stay with my current audi, that I don't like, was because I could traid in my UNA with them and get better ha's. I went to this place called Advanced Hearing Aid Clinic and the secretaries were SO nice! One of them that helped me the most and booked my appt asked for my ha and said she would call phonak herself to see if they could still trade up for me, she took my ha to write down the serial # on my ha and she actually waited til she gave it back to me to talk to me. The people at my audi office are not that considerate! She called me back around noon the next day and told me that phonak said they are willing to do a FULL refund - the earmold for my current UNA phonak hearing aid and trade up to another phonak aid. I was really looking into the exelias! I'm so excited!

On the hearing front...it was an OK weekend...I turned my ha off a lot this weekend because I was at a cheerleading competition. I did wear it for my 2nd run thru performance but it fell off my ear when I tumbled, which sucked. So, I need to figure out a way for it not to fall off...hmm i dunno. I also dropped alcohol on my ha this weekend by accident! I freaked out! I dried it off tho took the battery out and then after i was sure it was dry i turned it on and it beeped and worked! Thank god! Anywho that's enough babbling from me! I'm so tired from all the driving! Goodnight!

A little ignorance

As I waited at the Dr's office to pick up some stuff I was trying to think access wise how I'd rate them. I now would give them a 2/10 for access for people with "disabilities". They don't have an e-mail address or TTY for people who need an alternate way of getting hold of the secretary or the doctor, and the phone line they do have is automated so I had to repeat the selections a few times because I didn't understand what was being said. The room is set up weird so that the acoustics kind of suck. Also the aisles of chairs ar pretty narrow... which was kinda blah. I don't mind too much some of the downsides because my doctor is a sweetheart, she's so nice!

When I went this afternoon to the office I went up to the desk that is blocked by one of those 2 way plexi glass things. With a hole in the middle to talk through. I had to go on my tippy toes to be able to go closer to the hole in the plexi glass to be able to hear the secretary better, and then when I asked her to repeat herself (for like the 5th time) she gave me the dirtiest look ever. I don't get why people cannot be polite. I work at a bank and I am always polite even if the customer is yelling at me for something that is out of my control. All I asked was if she could repeat herself because it's hard to hear someone through plexi glass and a room full of patients who are coughing, talking, etc. I just would like a little more respect and courtesy from people...is that too much to ask?

new audiogram AND new hearing aids...soon i hope lol

So, I went to a different audi and my hearing dropped in both ears. My left went down and the other audi I saw said I should maybe get another hearing aid and have two instead of one. So we are looking at exelias but with Canadian Hearing Society they want to charge me 150 for the Service Plan, 695 dispensing fee, and 2795 for ONE exelia, and a 70 dollar fee, minus 60 so ir would be 3650, and for 2 exelias it would be 6445 for both hearing aids and the service fees and stuff... that is ALOT more than my regular audi charges...The exelia for ONE at my audi would only be 2 something but i can tade my UNA in for a full refund and the exelia for ONE would be brought down to 1740 which is a lot better! I would only need one ear mold if i need to get another ha and then the full cost of one ha which is still alot better than the full cost of 2. I don't have a service fee cuz i already go to the audi and i never had to pay for an audiogram or new tubing or adjustments...i think my service package was maybe 50 bucks if that cuz i honestly don't remember paying for any service plan
Freq. R L
250= 50 45
500= 50 45
1000=35 30
2000=35 35
b/w =35 40
4000=50 35
b/w= 50 35
8000=50 40
the b/w is in between the frequencies but the audigram was a bit confusing.My MCL is 60dB in both ears and my SRT is 35 in my right and 25 in my left. My speech recognition was 95% in my right and 92% in my left which was interesting to me seeing as my right is my worse..so that confused me a bit..but their were 2 diff word lists... My tympanometry was really good she said.Oh she also looked at my audiogram and thinks considering my loss she thinks it's a genetic sensorineural loss

I think I am definitely going to go for 2 hearing aids as opposed to the one, I want to hear equally..and now that I am not it's frusterating ...I'm still doing well with hearing sounds..just speech really stinks...

Halloween I went out on a haunted walk of downtown tour where I live. We also went into a haunted museum and some weird stuff happened...which was cool..my friend almost peed her pants because she was so scared. Anyways we were walking outside and for 1.5 hrs I probably asked her to repeat herself at least 50 times. Now, I am not depressed or sad that I lost more hearing, that's life...I just cannot wait until I can hear better with new hearing aids. It will be a relief and I finally chose a color and that would be the phonak exelia clear ones:) Also my school will be getting me a new receiver for the new hearing aids too if mine don't fit/I'll need a second one anyways for the ha for my left. :)

Hearing from those who cannot hear themselves

Alicia Magliocco Speaks of her
experience on campus as a
partially deaf student
By: Jenn Burden

Having disabilities that can't be seen makes life on campus a little more difficult for students like Alicia Magliocco.
Magliocco, who is in her second year of the law clerk program at Algonquin, is just like any other student. But spend a little extra time with her and you would soon become aware of all she has to deal with.
Walking the halls of the college can be a challenge because Magliocco's disability isn't noticeable by looking at her-she is partially deaf. She said people don't really act accordingly as they would if the came across someone in a wheelchair.
"I hardly ever hear people say excuse me" said Alicia. "I've had people knock into me on purpose for not getting out of the way."
Alicia, who developed tinnitus (constant ringing in the ears) and a hearing loss at the age of 16, now relies on a hearing aid to hear what so many of us take for granted.
"A lot of people get pissed off because I don't understand them." she said.
She can't go to certain places on campus, such as The Observatory (school pub, pool tables, and lounge), because of the acoustics of the room. The openness of the Ob, the number of people, and the amount of metal that echoes throughout the room, makes it extremely difficult for Alicia to hear anything specific.
However, she has taken advantage of the services offered at the college by the Centre for Students with Disabilities to help her out.
Alicia uses the Phonak Smartlink SX Fm system , a device which her teachers can wear around their neck so that she can understand them without having rely so much on lipreading while they can move freely around the classroom. The CSD provided her with the system and it's hers to keep.
Unfortunately, Alicia said many of her teachers don't use the system properly. The system is designed to be worn around the neck of the teacher on a lanyard so that it moves with them. She said some teachers just leave it at the front of the class and walk around the room where the system can't pick up anymore and Alicia can't see them. For someone who relies on lipreading and visual cues to understand, this becomes difficult.
Rod Delcourt, who teaches Alicia legal accounting, has worn the system on a couple of occasions and said it doens't impede on his teaching style. " [The system] helps," he said. "I'm a little movile in the classroom...It allows me to not be in front of her."
Delcourt said Alicia doesn't always bring it to class however. "She's not nervous or self-concious about asking her profs to wear it, " he said. "She decides that day whether or not to use it."
Alicia also had help of note takers for her classes. "I have one professional note takerand the rest are student note takers," she siad. Ramla Ali, 20, who is in the same law clerk program as Alicia, is one of her student note takers.
Ali said the CSD provides her with special carbon papaer that allows her to take the notes. The CSD also gives Ali a $25 gift certificate to the First Class Bookstore on campus for each course she takes notes in for Alicia.
Alicia would like to see more information about students with disabilities at student fairs and for teachers to be more aware educated and understanding of certain disabilities. She would just like people to be more aware.
"You never know if someone has a problem,"she said.




This was an article that was written for my school newspaper . Their are 8 deaf/hoh students.
Stats at my college:
Students who use interpreters: 6
Students who use computerized notetakers 3
Students using fm systems: 12
Students using a peer notetaker : 32

New HA

I am so exited! My Phonak Una which was thought to have enough power for my loss and such was working great up until about 2 months ago when it started having to be cranked up. So, I got the volume adjusted and did some other tinkering to it. Not long ago I went in for more adjusments and added t-coil and again I am turning up the volume and even with my ha on I am still having a pretty hard time understanding speech, the TV is just getting plain annoying, as is the telephone and the t-coil in my opinion doesn't go loud enough. So, I figured if I am having probs now and my work doesn't cover a new ha for another 4 years that I might as well trade in my Una and go for a better HA. So I have decided to trial the Phonak Exelia! I have heard good things and bad about it but you don't know until you try it. An audi I know has mentioned to maybe get the Exelia SP and just skip P since my loss is progressive. I have an audi appt tomorrow at CHS (canadian hearing society) so I am going to talk aobu it tomorrow. OO btw my grandparents are purchasing my new ha for me since I definitely can't afford it even with the trade in!
.....Now the only decision...what color to choose lol

Follow-Up

So I had more tweaking done to my ha..my audi upped the gain and such and I finally got new earmolds and filters on my mic covers lol. We talked about the exelia and if I want to trial it, it will cost 1795 I believe it was for the one exelia with the trade in of my una. I get a 2 month trial and If i don't like it I get my una back or we can just keep trialing until I find a diff ha that is a bit better..

OH and we added t-coil hahaha

Audis and Oldies

I have an audi appt 2morrow. I need new tubing and a convo with my audi to let me trial the exelia M or P whichever he thinks is better. I asked if they had it in office and they said they would prolly have to order it and then she said my audi wanted to talk to me first about it. I hope he let's me trial them, I don't see why he wouldn't. My una just isn't doing it for me anymore, and I recently found out that it doesn't have noise cancellation/reduction...which would explain why I've been having more of a routh time since my hearing decreased a bit. My audi usually works with older clients and I don't think he is very used to younger ppl and their needs, which are of course different from older clients. They also don't have up-to-date equipment in their office. I am going to their new office tomorrow which is closer to my house, bonus!, so we shall see what's new there. I also have an audi appt at CHS (Canadian Hearing Society) they work with younger people and have many audis, slp's, ASL classes, and such all in one office so I think that would be more convenient. They are a bit cheaper as well with some of their products and such because of donations and funding. Anywhooo I shall give u the update on my audi appt 2morrow:)

New ears:)

So, I have seen many people rave about the Gear for Ears...so I decided what the heck I should get a pair as well!!! Since I only have the one hearing aid I decided to get two diff colored ear gears...so I got lipstick pink and the pink purple (it's not really purple tho..more like two diff pinks) and I LOVE them! Everyone at work though they were pretty cool as well:) Here are some pics!

Side note I was looking @ ha's that have more volume and "room to grow" on them and I was contemplating the Phonak Eleva or Phonak Savia. I would like to stay with Phonak since i have the integrated reciever and fm system by phonak as well:)
Anyone have experience with either of these aids?

Audi Appt

So, I went today for my audi appt today! I had to do an audiogram today and it was soooo long! They did an audiogram with the beeps and the words....and then she did a bone conduction test too and my hearing went down :( She reprogrammed my hearing aid and upped the volume and she said there isn't ALOT of room left on my ha but enough to last me for a bit if it goes down again. I saw a girl audi today and she was really nice. So, the rest of the day was good and she gave me a noise in background program so one of my mic's turns off and I can just focus on the sound in front of me instead of behind as well. My hearing in my right went down 10-15 dB, i think it was, in the low frequencies.

OH and good news...Phonak is launching a new hearing aid!

First week of school...

So, yesterday was my first day back to school from two weeks ago
lol i had a bit of a break but i did summer school.

Anywhooo I had to get my friend's schedule changed to match mine because she is going to be my notetaker. So i told her i needed my schedule changed..well my friend talked more cuz there were soo many ppl i was kind of lost in the convo...newho i told her i am deaf/hoh and I need a notetaker and she stops me mid sentence and goes " WOW you speak SO well!" ..i was lke..ummm thanks and then she proceeds to ask me if i was born that way, and how it happened and was it recent and she threw in some great expressions and nods and was like wow..i think im losing my hearing too! i was like ook..and then my friend was lke well we are already late for class soo....and she was like ooo im so sidetracked..well do ur job maybe?
It was a very awkward situation.

And then..doom..accounting class ...I'm not a math person so when I saw that it was a guy teaching it I was iffy..and then I got there gave the teacher my student plan sheet and sat in the front row (comp lab) with 60 comps on (with the loud fans) and we find out he is a pacer..like not pace around in the front..i mean he paced the WHOLE room side to side, back to back, 360'd talked to the wall..and then he says "is my constant pacing bothering anyone?" i didn't want to say YES out loud so i nodded very non discreetly and I was like i can't hear you very well, did you read the paper i gave you? he was like No. I was like ook..nd he kept teaching didn't even glance at it..and at this point it was in front of him too...so i talked to him after and he was lke u and ur notetaker sit in the middle so hopefully you can catch me at all angles....So now i am super ancy about that class cuz not only am I going to have trouble cuz its math..but also cuz i can't hear anything..I am going for another hearing test aided and un-aided on friday to see how that is and I'm gonna ask for a volume boost and talk about possibly an ha for my left to be more "balanced"...

newhoooo thanks for listening guys

Decorated my ha!

Heyy so I was bored today and decided to clean out my side drawers and guess what I found!? Pink and white rhinestones...I had boughten them to decorate my cell phone awhile back and I guess I forgot I had them! So, that saved me a trip to the dollar store and a few bucks:) Enjoy the pics:P

vaca soo far..

I had a bit of a let-down when my dad told me I couldn't go to BC anymore to see him since he had a bunch of meetings pushed up and stuff. So, instead he and my lil brother are coming next week!
Moreee great news! My aunt was spose to be due in 3 weeks but the baby was early but he's a healthy 7 pound 7oz baby boy named Stefano. My other lil cousin (her 1st) is very attentive of his new brother and really wanted him to wake up lol. My aunt and my lil cousin are going home 2morrow. I am looking at possible new ha's that I might want to upgrade to if need be. I would really like to stay with phonak since My reciever for my fm only goes with phonak ha's (mlx9? reciever) it integrates into the ha so it you can't really see it.

I hae to go out and buy new batteries for my ha. I want to maybe buy a pack..anyone know a really good place to buy them and long lasting ones. I used the energizer ones this time around and they worked pretty well. My ha died today during work and i had ONE more left:) thank goodness for that. I still haven't decorated my ha cuz i haven't gone to the dollar store..but soon enough!!!

Last day of Summer Schedule

So tomorrow is my official LAST day of classes and exams for the summer. I have two weeks off and am looking forward to some R&R. I have been on the go since last sept. having classes and one week off and then the new summer semester started, which left me no me time really. Sooo i am going to see my dad in british columbia (canada) and my lil brother lives there with him so that should be fun. I haven't seen them since x-mas...

Anyways on the negative side i was NOT able to make changes to my schedule and I still haven't met with my disabilities counselor yet either. Although we are scheduled to meet tomorrow. And YAY for me I found my FM system that they bought for me to keep (Phonak Smartlink SX) which was an arm and a leg so thank god that I did not lose it:) I am a lil bummed that I can't work often in the fall cuz of my sched but maybe I can make more $$ selling avon :)...ya i'm an Avon lady:P

I have yet to go to the dollar store to get the diamonds that i wanted to decorate my ha with but i will soon:) and i will post pics when i do:)

I am thinking i wil join the deaf community too around here and try to integrate myself so i can start learning asl ...i am SOOO interested and willing to learn it and be fluent ..i am so excited to take it and learn more about deaf culture..

I think I would like to take Linguistics in university and be a speech pathologist or speech therapist and minor in ASL. I think I would be really good at it:)

Fall 08 Schedule?

I am really annoyed at my sched. Since I am currently in college the school picks the schedule at random and there are three diff groups. This summer i HAD to go to school to complete my 2nd semester since I switched programs (business to law) and i had mondays off but class at 8 am everyday!..which kinda bits cuz any long weekend isn't a long weekend anymore since i have mondays off anyways...lol..So i have mondays off again for the fall BUT i have class at 8 am everday again..I have trouble sleeping cuz of my tinnitus so any sleep that i can get i will take..so this whole waking up at 6 thing doesn't cut it for me since sometimes i don't get to sleep until 1-3 am. My mom also has to get ready in the morning AND my grandma since my grandparents sold their house and they are living with us until november. My nonno (grandfather) is retired so he gets to sleep in.

So I plan on going into school to change my sched. I think if is unfair that we don't get to choose our time slots on a first come first serve basis like universities do.

On a side note I am almost done this semester and I get 2 weeks off! I am going to B.C. to visit my dad and hopefully get a tan of some sort!

so..

I haven't been on in awhile. Sorry..I've been so overwhelmed with some probs that I haven't had much of a social life....
But i'm almost done school for the summer...YAY! I am going to be switching into Carleton U soon and I am very excited/scared lol...

On the plus side...i think i will decorate my ha with some pink rhinestones or something...i think it would give it sum oomph lol :)

I REALLY want to learn ASL ...this hearie at my work is learning it and i am sooo jealous! I don't know where to begin though..i have a tough time learning thigs on my own, and I would love totake a class but my sched us busy..is there anyway that i could learn online or get a cd for the comp? Is that ok to do or bad idea?If i can I would like to have ASL as my minor for university...
I had bad tinnitus the other day...it hasn't been like that in awhile and I noticed i've been having to turn my ha up and missing things and having to ask ppl to repeat..maybe it's time for another audiogram:( *sigh*

Ok so there has been a lot of talk on this forum that I frequently go to , All Deaf. You've maybe heard of it?...Anyways we've been discussing decorating your hearing aids/ci's when someone posted this! I highly doubt even a millionaire would get this ha! But some ppl like ALOT of style.... 24 Carat Gold Hearing aid w/Diamonds

What does everyone think?
In my opinion it is a waste of money!..I'd rather buy a new car or d/p on a house!

so i am sitting here..

I am sitting here without my ha on...perfectly content that I don't have to listen to my mom complain about her bf. I went to work on homework but our blackboard system is down until monday night! The time I feel like doing hw and I can't even do it! I am a bit frusterated as I need to get my BB Curve replaced due to internal problems. I hope to get the new bb PINK curve that Rogers (canada) has come out with recently!...I've been told that I may not get the pink one because I did not purchase the pink one, but I'm going to try and bargain with the customer care ppl 2morrow morning. Also I need to contact the school tomorrow regarding my LOST midterm. I am hoping I do not have to redo it as I will not be pleased. I refuse to do somethng over because of someone else's failure to deliver a folder with my midterm to my teacher/or her failure to pick it up.

Oh and my hearing has gone down a bit I think...maybe time for a trip to the audi! I hope I won't have trouble with my ha cuz i'm already turning it up and i don't know how much more dB can fit on it seeing as its only an UNA M and a for mild/mod hearing losses. The UNA SP is for anything past 60 dB.

Midterm marks!?

Sooo I finished midterms this week! YAY...downside i got a 70 on one of them and my FAMILY teacher..the bitch one...said she posted all the marks on our intranet system (blackboard) BUT mine was NOT there! :( I took my midterm somewhere else as I get extra time cuz i get easily distracted from the tinnitus, anyways my mark wasn't posted, so i sent her an email and my disability counselor and neither emailed me back ( I e-mail'd them both around 10 a.m.)! So now i am very frusterated because someone told me that sometimes if they misplace it they will either give you the mark (100%), not count it at all, OR the one that makes me most nervous...make my final exam worth 50 percent! and that is NOT happening, cuz if i fail that then there goes the whole course down the tubes!

stupid teacher..

i am so mad! I have had it up to my eyeballs with this teacher!..My family law teacher is one of the biggest bitches on the planet..the FIRST day of school we were in a comp lab and it was noisy cuz of the fans from the comps and such, neways i couldn't understand her and she kept putting her hands in front of her face to talk, so i got up when she was getting a book out and was about to ask her to speak louder and clear and ask if she could try to stop putting her hands up and down so much when she said to me
Quote:

Excuse me I am in the middle of a lesson, do you mind?!

so i said to her, sorry i am hoh/deaf and i cannot understand you...she was like OH and then walked away. THEN the 3rd or 4th class...we had an ORAL quiz, jeorpardy style..one side of the class vs the other...so naturally ppl are shouting out answers and i have NO idea wats going on...so i didn't participate...at the end of class i went up to the teacher and was like "are we going to be doing many of these types of quizes, because It's really hard to follow with everyone talking at once"...her response was
Quote:

well why don't you sit in the front then, maybe then you would hear what's going
on

Do hearing ppl not get that it doest NOT matter where sound is coming from, if EVERYONE is yelling out stuff sitting in the front isn't going to do squat! So after she said this i thought she was finished talking..so i walked away...little to my knowlege, she was still talking...my friend in the class said her face turned red and she looked all pissed off at the fact that i walked away while she was still talking, and she was like "how rude" and my friend was lke "shes hard of hearing she wears hearing aids, she wouldn't walk away on purpose"...i would never do that! well esp not to a teacher, im not that rude!ANDDD the kickerrr...we had an assignment to do and we got them back and YAY i got an 81% and its worth 10 percent of my mark..so i thought i did pretty darn well for it being the first assignment and all...we had or pre midterm meeting with her and she was like u could have done better and i made a mistake on something cuz i had never heard her say it n class (it was a mistake onher part with a fake cheque that she had made for us to hand in) so really it was her fault why i got it wrong, cuz she shud have fixed HER mitake inthe first place. So when i noticed the mistake i never questioned it cuz i figured since she had given it to us, heyyyy it must be right, right?....WRONG..but of course..that was my fault for not emailing her and asking her if it was wrong, according to her. We had this lil meeting on wednesday..now friday i walk into another class and go to check my school email and get this!
Quote:

Each term teachers are asked to complete an “early alert” form identifying
students that may be at risk of not being successful in a given term.Your
professor Sheena Laird has expressed concern about your progress in the Family
Law course.Getting help around the college is easy! Please contact me and I
would be pleased to discuss various strategies to help ensure your future
success at Algonquin College.

Nastia Toulova

Student Success Specialist

i couldnt believe it! I got an 81% on my first assignment so right now my mark is at about an 86 or better cuz that's including my participation and some little work sheets...i have missed ONE class, and usually when i "socialize" it's to clarify wat shes talking about...so me being the nice Patient (getting mad one) i sent an email back
Quote:

Dear Nastia,I really am confused as to why she would be sending you a "early
alert" as to my success in her class this term when I have received my first
assignment back already and received an 81% on it. I don't appreciate her
"concern" as I think I am doing well. I have missed one class and maybe I do
socialize sometimes when other people in the class, but I am far from being a
"problem" or a "concern" in her class.

Alicia

she proceeded to send me back this...
Quote:

Hi Alicia,If you have couple of minutes in between classes, please stop by my
office B337d and I would be able to provide to you more detailed information,
based on the teacher’s report. The teacher confirmed that you did OK on your
first assignment.Many people here at Algonquin are committed to your success.
This includes your teachers, the program coordinator, myself – as a Student
Success Specialist.Take care,Nastia

last time i had checked an 81% was more than OK and it's like she wanted to emphasize the ok, that's what had ticked me off the most, because i work very hard at school and to get this because a teacher dislikes me is very frusterating.I talked to the coordinator for my dept and she was like well i know from personal experience it's very hard to accomodate something u are not use to esp with someone who is deaf/hoh, well if it's so hard then why accept me into the program!?any thoughts on what i should do? i am soooo frusterated and mad about this whole thing..
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my ha

My Ha..

I've never taken pics before of my ha and It's weird looking at myself with it on..

First Post

Sometimes I like to express my day and just talk so I decided to just blog all my thoughts, etc! I am Hard of Hearing and I don't mind it...I am still adjusting to it a bit as I have only been (as far as we know) hoh since I was 16/17.

So, here goes my first entry!

I was born hearing but since I was a baby I have always had problems with my ears. I had constant ear infections every month or so and sometimes in both ears! They decided to put tubes in, which lasted a bit, but not long enough. I ruptured my (right) ear drum 3 times. My mom talked to the pediatrician and was worried it would damage my hearing but they reassured her that nothing would come of it and I would be fine! Ya right. All throughout school every couple of years I would have my hearing checked (at school) with the 5 min hearing test (not in a sound proof booth) and I wouldn't have any trouble except for maybe 1 or 2 beeps. They never thought anything of it since it's possible that my ears could have been "plugged" or I was "stuffed up". I never had any real problems in school accept on report cards I always seemed to have "trouble" listening to the teacher and I talked too much lol. So, come and goes middle school and high school and suddenly my rents get divorced and I'm thrown back to canada (where I'm from-which isn't too bad). I turned 16 which was pretty monumental...i had a big party! :)

And then...it started!

I first started to notice a ringing in my ears. I would have a lot of trouble sleeping and it was quite annoying...and then it got louder! I went to one audi who said oh don't worry just deal with it...bye bye to him. Then I went to the children's hospital of eastern ontario (CHEO) and they were pretty nice, but they too said you should be fine, you have a slight hearing loss but nothing that needs to be worried about. Then my tinnitus got worse and i was referred to a tinnitus specialist at another hospital and she labeled my tinnitus as severe and suggested tinnitus maskers that stayed in my ears all day...umm hearing loss plus more noise in my ears..how am i supposed to hear? "OH YA!" she said. She was like well that could be a problem now could it. So I ditched her as well since she didn't tell me anything that I did not know already. I finally switched to another audi which usually deals with older ppl but the centre is really good and they have ALOT of experience dealing with the deaf/hoh. So, he finally said you seen to have a progressive loss but your left ear is not too bad and is not a cause of concern, but on the other hand your right ear has a loss b/w 40-50 dB across the board which would definitely be helped with amplification. So FINALLY someone who was thinking with their brain! So we looked and we picked the (back then) Phonak Una. Which I love (i will post pics) I have it in black and it seems to work fine, some days I do get frusterated and i just yank it out...but most it's great! I also have a smartlink SX fm system for school which is pretty handy in class as it's a big difference from high school to university. I have only gone two or three times for volume adjustments and lil tweaks of my ha but overall the ha has been great.
I think that is all for now! I will try to post more tomorrow! orr maybe later :)