Listening Closely: A Journey to Bilateral Hearing - Hardcover

Romoff, Arlene

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1936140217 ISBN 13: 9781936140213

Publisher: Imagine, 2011

Synopsis

Imagine what it would be like not to hear a sound--no music, no friendly voices, no children's laughter. Arlene Romoff doesn't have to imagine how it would feel: she lived it. Although she was born with normal hearing, in her late teens it began to slip away, as if someone were lowering the volume of the world around her. Over the next twenty-five years, Arlene began a long, slow descent into deafness so profound that no hearing aid or assistive device could help. The experience was devastating.

But then Arlene opted for what she considers a miracle: She got a cochlear implant. Using electrodes threaded into the cochlea, an internal computer chip, and an external computer processor, cochlear implants bypass the damaged portion of the cochlea and stimulate the auditory nerve directly, allowing sound to reach the brain. Amazingly, she could hear again.

Arlene's journey, however, isn't just about the magic of technology. What she endured reveals as much about the strength of the human spirit, about the wonders of chance and fate, and about making the most of what life dishes out. For Arlene, events seemed to unfold almost as if they were a part of some elaborate plan: just when she went deaf, her insurance company began paying for the implants. And ten years later, when her old cochlear implant finally failed she received new state-of-the-art technology and underwent yet another metamorphosis--one that helped her continue to counsel others in a similar situation.

LISTENING CLOSELY will give you a chance to walk in Arlene Romoff's shoes, to understand the pain of her loss and the joy of once again being able to hear the music of the world. Those suffering from hearing loss--or who have loved one who is--will find Arlene's very special journey both inspirational and informative.

About this title

About the Author:

Arlene Romoff co-founded Advocates for Better Communication, the advocacy committee of the Center for Hearing and Communication (CHC), and the Hearing Loss Association of New Jersey. She also serves as a governor-appointed member of the NJ Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Advisory Council, and sits on other advisory boards in the state. In 2010, she received HLAA’s State Organization Award.

She is the author of the book HEAR AGAIN--BACK TO LIFE WITH A COCHLEAR IMPLANT, as well as numerous articles for magazines and newsletters. Her pioneering efforts helped bring open captioned live theatrical performances to Broadway, London, and regional U.S. theaters, for which she received the Humanitarian Award from Theater Resources Unlimited. Considered an expert on hearing loss, Arlene is consulted and speaks on a wide range of topics including cochlear implants, assistive technology, accessibility, advocacy, and sensitivity training.

Arlene has two grown children and resides in New Jersey with her husband, Ira.

Review:

This volume will serve to help many people struggling with the decision of whether to get an implant, or a second implant. I think that after reading this book, the answer will be obvious. But perhaps most significantly, even the casual reader will appreciate the experience of witnessing a true miracle in our lifetime--allowing people who are deaf to hear. --Laurie Hanin, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Center for Hearing and Communication -

Arlene Romoff has detailed her journey through hearing loss and hearing gain through cochlear implantation in great detail with honesty and accuracy. I highly recommend this book to patients and practitioners alike. --J. Thomas Roland, Jr., MD, Co-director, NYU Cochlear Implant Center

Listening Closely is the personal odyssey of a brave woman embracing the latest cochlear implant technology. Her story reveals the true, incessant nature of progressive hearing loss. We travel with her through the frustrations of a world without sound to an enveloping sound landscape as she joins the increasing number of people who are realizing the benfits of "going bilateral." --Brenda Battat, Executive Director, Hearing Loss Association of America

This is a unique book that raises both hopes and spirits. Arlene Romoff started to lose her hearing in her late teens, eventually becoming deaf. Powerful hearing aids no longer worked and she opted for a cochlear implant. Her first book HEAR AGAIN, was the story of her first CI. Now, she has chronicled her odyssey through total silence after the failure of the first implant, through re-implantation and finally a second, bilateral CI. This is an odyssey of what Arlene terms biblical proportions. She describes clearly and in detail the technical steps: how a cochlear implant works, surgery, programming, mapping, and the recipient s efforts to successfully use two bionic ears. Above all, Arlene tells us what it means to hear again with two ears. She writes these chronicles in a personal style as though talking to a friend. She is courageous and honest, unafraid to expose tears of despair or joy, her reactions to difficulties encountered and sheer delight in her success. She has certainly worked hard enough, practicing, and using every opportunity to improve her listening skills. Generously, she gives thanks to those who have helped her, and her expressed love and gratitude for her husband and family are unmistakable. She has a delightful sense of humor, lightening-up what might have been a purely technical and educational experience. Nature and its healing powers, her religion, and music, including a memorable carillon concert, sustain her. Arlene s joy is palpable: I was just hearing...really hearing without effort and no longer an observer but a participant. She, and her brain, almost a separate character, learn the importance of directionality -recognizing the source of sounds, the basis of safety and socialization - and that normal-hearing people hear in surround sound. People treat you differently when they know you can hear them. She feels like a normal person. While many, perhaps most implantees are not as successful or fortunate as Arlene is, Listening Closely is an inspiring journey for all. --Monthly Communicator: NJ Department of Human Services Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Listening Closely is the personal odyssey of a brave woman embracing the latest cochlear implant technology. Her story reveals the true, incessant nature of progressive hearing loss. We travel with her through the frustrations of a world without sound to an enveloping sound landscape as she joins the increasing number of people who are realizing the benfits of "going bilateral." --Brenda Battat, Executive Director, Hearing Loss Association of America - October 1, 2010

This is a unique book that raises both hopes and spirits. Arlene Romoff started to lose her hearing in her late teens, eventually becoming deaf. Powerful hearing aids no longer worked and she opted for a cochlear implant. Her first book HEAR AGAIN, was the story of her first CI. Now, she has chronicled her odyssey through total silence after the failure of the first implant, through re-implantation and finally a second, bilateral CI. This is an odyssey of what Arlene terms biblical proportions. She describes clearly and in detail the technical steps: how a cochlear implant works, surgery, programming, mapping, and the recipient s efforts to successfully use two bionic ears. Above all, Arlene tells us what it means to hear again with two ears. She writes these chronicles in a personal style as though talking to a friend. She is courageous and honest, unafraid to expose tears of despair or joy, her reactions to difficulties encountered and sheer delight in her success. She has certainly worked hard enough, practicing, and using every opportunity to improve her listening skills. Generously, she gives thanks to those who have helped her, and her expressed love and gratitude for her husband and family are unmistakable. She has a delightful sense of humor, lightening-up what might have been a purely technical and educational experience. Nature and its healing powers, her religion, and music, including a memorable carillon concert, sustain her. Arlene s joy is palpable: I was just hearing...really hearing without effort and no longer an observer but a participant. She, and her brain, almost a separate character, learn the importance of directionality -recognizing the source of sounds, the basis of safety and socialization - and that normal-hearing people hear in surround sound. People treat you differently when they know you can hear them. She feels like a normal person. While many, perhaps most implantees are not as successful or fortunate as Arlene is, Listening Closely is an inspiring journey for all. --Monthly Communicator: NJ Department of Human Services Division of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Listening Closely is the personal odyssey of a brave woman embracing the latest cochlear implant technology. Her story reveals the true, incessant nature of progressive hearing loss. We travel with her through the frustrations of a world without sound to an enveloping sound landscape as she joins the increasing number of people who are realizing the benfits of "going bilateral." --Brenda Battat, Executive Director, Hearing Loss Association of America - October 1, 2010

About this edition

• Publisher: Imagine
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1936140217
• ISBN 13: 9781936140213
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176