Why sounds matter

I previously alluded to sound being irrelevant to understanding what people say. That's not an fair picture. It matters, but it is not functional by itself. A few years ago, I discovered how much reading lips doesn't always work by itself either.

I went out of town to visit some friends in Omaha, Nebraska for NYE.  My rechargeable CI battery unexpectedly died and I ran out of disposables before I ordered more. CI batteries are pricey.* The last of my disposables died within hours of showing up to Michelle's house. I was around people I've spent a decent amount of time around and I thought I knew how to read their lips. I suddenly went from understanding most of what they said, to almost nothing. Because they were friends, they were willing to work with me and try to help me understand, but the experience provided an insight for how much the CI has helped compared to hearing aids.

This by no means concludes I view the CI as a magical fix or cure. You don't pick up a musical instrument and immediately know how to play, it takes practice. A hearing aid or CI is similar. Some people will never be able to play the trumpet, and not everyone can play decent music no matter how much time and effort they give. (Related to that subject, I grew up playing musical instruments).

 Over time, my brain has slowly and subconsciously been practicing with understanding sounds. Which  was further proven when I went in for my second ever MAPPing two years ago. I learned if i focus intensely, I could understand neutral accents by sound alone. The problem is I don't have any brain power left to remember what was said. If my new health insurance covers CI-related visits, then it's possible if I go through official hearing therapy and get MAPPed more often, I may be able to actively re-program my brain to understand and memorize what people say. For now, it's passive learning. I don't ever expect to pass for a hearing person, and I don't intend to. I plan on primarily communicating in ASL in the future. But it'd be nice to be more functional in a group of hearing people when there's no other option.

*Rechargeables are $200 for one year and disposables are $5/week+ shipping, and there are other parts to the processor that can and have broken in the past to the tune of $100-800. It's not pocket money to maintain the equipment. If I wanted to upgrade the processor, I was quoted roughly $8,000.