As a speaker for the charity, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, for fourteen years, the thought of addressing an audience does not faze me in the least.  After all, if my flow of rhetoric dries up, there is always my Hearing Dog, Maple, there to step in and amuse the audience.

But addressing two lip-reading classes at Richmond College was a slightly different proposition. I was less familiar with the subject matter, the material was more technical and I was not 100% sure that I knew all the answers to the questions that might arise. So, I started my talk by saying that I am not a surgeon or technical expert - just a volunteer who has had the benefit of two very successful implants!

I need not have worried.  I was given a warm reception by both the classes I addressed (Beginners and Advanced Lip Reading classes).  Most of them were hard of hearing, with one or two profoundly deaf students, experiencing the isolation and frustration that hearing loss brings. I told them,  that was me six years ago before I had my implants!  They were eager to hear if perhaps they too might rejoin the hearing world!

The majority of the groups were older people and understandably nervous at the idea of surgery.  They were surprised and reassured to hear that I left hospital just one day after the operation, with not so much as a sticking plaster, let alone a bandage. They found it hard to believe that my hearing had improved from being unable to use a telephone, to detecting the barely audible sound of a fingernail tapping lightly on the table.

Asked to explain just how a cochlear implant actually works, I drew on my former life as a teacher of physics to explain the intricacies of sound and electrical vibrations, I hope without too much "blinding with science!

My talk prompted a lot of questions, most of which I am pleased to say, I was able to answer!  What do voices sound like?  Can you hear music? What about when it gets wet, when it goes wrong, when you go through X ray machines and one - quite difficult to explain - how do you know what sounds are? I told them the story of how, soon after switch on, I heard what sounded to me like my memory of a fast dial telephone, only to be told that I was hearing the birds singing! Also, of course I was asked about the downsides, in particular the loss of natural hearing as a result of the CI procedure. The alternative of a BAHA attracted a lot of interest too, particularly by those who were concerned about surgery or the loss of their natural hearing.  Both 1-hour sessions overran by nearly another hour and it was very rewarding to see the interest that my talk had aroused.

The burning question, of course was "Will it work for me?". As an implantee whose experiences have been so totally successful - I have virtually normal hearing now - I do have to remember not to paint too rosy a picture and to inject a note of caution.  Let's face it, not everyone can benefit from a CI and not everyone's experience will be as straightforward and positive as mine.

It now remains for us to wait and see if the local health authority in Richmond receives a sudden flood of requests for referral to the hospital CI departments.  If so, you know who is to blame!

Liz Arendt MBE