So many hearing tests, I have the audiogram test memorized!

Posted by dorothynoz45 @dorothynoz45, Jan 25, 2022

I have a long history of hearing loss issues. Many, many audiograms. I recently had a cochlear implant evaluation at a major university program. It was found that I have experienced so many audiograms that I have them memorized. What a surprise. It's true that audiogram content never changes so why shouldn't one unknowingly retain the wording after a long period of time? "Baseball, sidewalk, hot dog." It's always the same. Something new to think about.

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Hilarious. Good for you, exposing that weakness in testing.

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Hello @dorothynoz45
While you may have hearing loss, your sense of humor is certainly strong and vibrant! Thanks for the smile this morning. I'm scheduled for an audiogram in a few weeks. It looks like I'll have one answer correct!

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@ner

Hilarious. Good for you, exposing that weakness in testing.

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I think the real weakness is that you are cheating yourself in pretending to hear words you can't. The test results will be skewed and not in your favor.

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@hopeful33250

Hello @dorothynoz45
While you may have hearing loss, your sense of humor is certainly strong and vibrant! Thanks for the smile this morning. I'm scheduled for an audiogram in a few weeks. It looks like I'll have one answer correct!

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Oops! It appears that I have given away ear tech secrets but it would help us all who have chronic issues if there were several options for audiology testing. Where's Plan B or Plan C for those of us who are much too familiar with repeats of Plan A? We all desire accuracy especially for something so important. Maybe I would be closer to a cochlear implant if I had not memorized the one and only Plan A. It's not purposeful but as we know that everyone's hearing loss is different, testing should likewise accommodate individuality. As for my humor, thank you. I find it's easier for me to count my blessings if I don't lose it.

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@chud2

I think the real weakness is that you are cheating yourself in pretending to hear words you can't. The test results will be skewed and not in your favor.

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You are absolutely correct and I didn't realize it until my recent experience. Now that I have been educated my mind set will be different. We want to do our best, right. Thank you for your input.

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I would like to know which hearing aid to buy that just goes in the ear and can be charged in a charger and the cost.

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Yes, this has been a topic of conversation of many people I've met through involvement in HLAA*. We joke about taking a test we know we're going to fail, but also realize that some of us have taken it so many times it's redundant. We work very hard to identify those words when we are being tested, and we use 'logic' in our response. Probably better to take a deep breath, relax and repeat what we heard rather than what we think is right. I do know people whose CIs were postponed a few years for this very reason...they 'almost' qualified but didn't.

A full evaluation for a CI should involve a lot more than this standard word test though. I also think there is more than one series of words that can be used, but not sure. It would mean the testing professional would want to know what has been used for you previously. You should have also been given the SPIN test, which is speech perception in noise that increases exponentially throughout the test. Understanding speech in noise is one of the biggest barriers people with sensorineural hearing loss experience, and that gets more difficult as hearing loss gets worse. There should also be a standard sentence test, which includes some nonsense sentences that put you out of context thought wise. because they don't make sense.

So, my question is: Did they give you these other tests in Your CI evaluation?

*The Hearing Loss Assn. of America, Inc. hearingloss.org

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