Benefits of CI for single sided deafness go way beyond the speech testing scores

[Mary Beth]

As a Teacher of the Deaf I attend many presentations/workshops for professionals working with CI users.  
 

Recently I heard Camille Dunn, audiologist and Director of CI at University of Iowa present on single sided deafness benefits in real life versus tested speech scores.  Impressive!

Increased understanding of speech in quiet and in noise.

Decreased effort of listening 

Increased ability to locate sounds

Research is funded in part by Med-El .

 

@Kirk S. another contact for you.  Camille Dunn is very knowledgeable about SSD and CI.  And they used OTOPLAN in their research study to best match electrode array selection to actual cochlea duct length.

[Kylie]

This is very interesting and definitely matches with my experience.  Adding the second ear is so much more than half of hearing - the quality sound and function it adds is more like another 3/4 to me.

I had a strange event last night where I was out for dinner and my battery went flat. We were about 10 minutes from leaving so I figured I'd just let it go and wait till I got home. No particular reason, I had fresh batteries with me, I was mostly feeling lazy and preferred to change it over at home seeing as I was going to shower etc anyway. But I had regret!!! It was so hard and I had somehow forgotten how awful it was to be SSD even for a short time. Noisy environment, lots of people at my table trying to talk to me (they got a few blank stares in return!) I was so exhausted from that 10 minute period of effort. And my mother in law was frustrated that I didn't even know she was talking to me at all because I wasn't facing her so she didn't really exist in my hearing world. 

Silly me.

[Kirk S.]

15 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

As a Teacher of the Deaf I attend many presentations/workshops for professionals working with CI users.  
 

Recently I heard Camille Dunn, audiologist and Director of CI at University of Iowa present on single sided deafness benefits in real life versus tested speech scores.  Impressive!

Increased understanding of speech in quiet and in noise.

Decreased effort of listening 

Increased ability to locate sounds

Research is funded in part by Med-El .

 

@Kirk S. another contact for you.  Camille Dunn is very knowledgeable about SSD and CI.  And they used OTOPLAN in their research study to best match electrode array selection to actual cochlea duct length.

Hi Mary Beth! Thanks for this. Do you happen to know if there is a copy of Camille’s presentation online? I searched Google and YouTube but came up empty. In any case, it’s great to have another potential contact. I sent Camille a quick note this morning outlining my situation and asking if she had any recommendations for an audiology center in the States that might be able to help. I am halfway afraid that she’ll recommend the University of Iowa. I was a wrestler in college (University of Hawaii) and we had to wrestle the University of Iowa a couple of times when they were they were among the Top 10 ranked teams in the country (which they still are). It was brutal. But all will be forgiven if Camille can help with my CI issues. I’ll let you know what she says. Thanks again for thinking of me. Talk to you soon. Best, Kirk 

[Mary Beth]

@Kylie

It is amazing how quickly we forget the degree of exhaustion listening had been before our CIs!

 

[Mary Beth]

@Kirk S.

I expect the information from Camille Dunn’s talk will end up on a published paper at some point. 
 

 

[Kirk S.]

7 minutes ago, Mary Beth said:

@Kylie

It is amazing how quickly we forget the degree of exhaustion listening had been before our CIs!

 

Hi Mary Beth. Yes, I think that’s something that people with normal hearing have no idea about — even those with single-sided hearing. It was exhausting and frustrating for me even though I had perfectly good hearing in one ear (though none at all in the other). I hadn’t realized until recently that SSD itself created a whole host of additional problems: mood swings, loss of directionality, lack of situational awareness, etc., etc. I thought there was something wrong with me, when in fact it was just something wrong with my hearing — there’s a big difference, y’know? Lucky for me that I’ve had an incredibly understanding wife... It’s ironic that, so far, my CI actually has made the situation a bit worse by “masking” good sound from my non-CI ear. But overall  I’m not too worried about it because I still have “good enough” hearing to get by on a day-to-day basis, and I’m confident that my CI will begin to make a difference sooner or later — especially with help from all my friends at HearPeers!  ... In any case, I dashed off a note to Camille Dunn this morning and I hope to hear something from her soon. I will let you know. Thanks again for passing that along to me. Best, Kirk

[Kirk S.]

On 3/11/2021 at 9:48 PM, Mary Beth said:

@Kirk S.

I expect the information from Camille Dunn’s talk will end up on a published paper at some point. 
 

 

Hi Mary Beth. I still have not received a response from Camille Dunn. Perhaps I sent my note to an address that Camille does not check regularly. Do you happen to have an email address for her, or perhaps another way to contact her? Of course, I’m sure she’s quite busy and she might simply have a policy of not responding to un-solicited emails, which would be entirely understandable. Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks, Kirk

[Mary Beth]

@Kirk S.

I do not have any contact information for Camille Dunn.  Sorry.

[Dominique Cornick]

Camille has been a huge help to me thru my process. I go to the Univeristy of Iowa.  So when I got to my appt. I try to see her to at least say hello.  I was recently implanted on 2/25 and got my processor on 3/17.   

[Mary Beth]

@Dianna

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[Dianna]

Hi, ive not heard of camille dunn (yet) but trying to navigate through all of the research at this university is somewhat trying, lol some times zero searches need to repeated for the stuff. I am seeing dr gantz and others. This uni has been doing so much research!

[Dianna]

Ok, after another round of research i found pictures and i did meet camile last week. Lol so many folks drop into rooms sometimes. She grabbed me a last minute mri appointment. So to explain....i actually contacted u of i on my own without referrals, and went straight to requesting an appointment, simultaneously contacting cochlear and i believe that all got me in in june, now we are speeding to implant. So exciting for me. I am leaning towRd med el, i miss hearing well so much....especially music. I sure hope covid doesnt get in the way.