Post op checks.. continuing the CI journey.. by Eleanor

No need to worry, I am still here!

 I thought I'd better write a lovely blog post to update you all on my Cochlear Implant journey.
It is now exactly 3 weeks since my operation and I'm feeling great. Nothing hurts anymore, nothing aches, nothing throbs or groans or tries to remind me of the fact I have a implant in my head.

However, I am constantly reminded of how deaf I am. I know, I was deaf before the operation, and I'm still deaf now and I will always be deaf. But, having just one hearing aid has hit me rather hard. It's gotten to the point where I don't even notice people chatting away on my right side (the implanted side) until I look round. I'm zoning out all the time because I'm too tired to focus, and I'd much rather be at home in the land of silence and not having to listen to anyone. My world is an oral world, which was why I wanted to take this journey, to be able to access it a little more easily. This isn't forever, I know that, but it doesn't make it any easier in the now. I'm waiting rather impatiently for the switch on date and once I have that, I'll know there's an end to this stage and the start of a new and exciting one.

 Last week I went back to the hospital for a post op check, where I was asked to go to X-ray for a head scan to check the implant was in the right place. I also saw the nurse who checked inside my ear and the wound. Everything is healing so well and I'm amazed by how easy it has all been. It really is just waiting now.

 A few weeks ago there was a programme on Channel 4 called 'Breaking the Silence' which showed 7 people getting their CIs switched on for the first time. It was all filmed live, a brave decision by channel 4. I'm not really sure why they felt they had to show it live, nor why they had to show 7 people getting switched on. Don't get me wrong, it was very interesting and I enjoyed it (apart from the dodgy subtitles...) but couldn't help wishing it had been more of a documentary, showing the journey of CI, from assessments, to switch on, through to a few years later. Hearing is such a difficult thing to explain. I don't know what it is like to be hearing so I couldn't ever be accurate in telling you, but for people who are hearing, that's all they've ever known. How can you explain something that comes so naturally? It's like when you think too much about the way you breathe and suddenly it becomes very overwhelming and you think you've forgotten how to do it.

For anyone interested in Cochlear Implants, Breaking the Silence is a great place to start, but there is oh so much more I could tell you. And pretty soon, I hope there's even more I can tell you, in between listening to your impressions of Donald Duck...

Pitch Perfect 2 - A Film Review by Imogene

 

Pitch Perfect 2

 

Directed: Elizabeth Banks

Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfield, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Adam DeVine, Ben Platt, Anna Camp, Snoop Dogg, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins

 

Genre: Comedy, Music

 

Stars 5/5

 

(Spoilers!!)

 

 

I was so excited to see this film after the first one, because the trailer looked so funny and because when you've started with one film, it's polite to follow the series through to the end, right? Well anyway, one weekend, Els and myself was away and on the way home we made a stop to watch it subtitled in Luton - I'm so glad we did!

 

We see the return of all the quirky individuals at Barden University within the Barden Bellas circa. I'm so glad the film started in such a gripping way - before we've barely got into the film I was bopping in my seat ready to have lots of fun, I wasn't disappointed! That first scene was the most hilarious one I've seen for a while and genuine laughter came out, I couldn't believe how surprising and unexpected it was, which was definitely what reaction they were after.

 

Finding equal access in the strangest of places @ Christmas - by Eleanor

I love equal access, although sometimes when I do get it, I don't want it.

Strange as it may seem but often when I have my communicator in the classroom with me I want to do it all myself. I want to lipread, create a 1:1 situation where the other person feels comfortable, relaxed and not constantly apologizing or trying to find some sort of drama to involve the communicator. The communicator is there to do a job, impartial, unbiased and detached. The awkward moments when people feel they have to apologize to the communicator, I mean, what for? For making her do her job? Those few minutes that it takes to do this, means I'm standing there, concentrating on your lips, wasting my time that I could be cherishing with the children, watching their progress, seeing them grow, learn and develop. Talk to me, please. Would you apologise to me? No. So don't. Don't even think about it. Look at me, talk to me, I have feelings, I'm human and I'm desperate to succeed in life. So please, just help me on my way by treating me exactly how you'd treat others (but also be slightly deaf aware, face me, don't mumble and please don't stand in direct sunlight).

 I love Christmas, and I love spending time with the people that matter, because these are the people who treat me the same as everyone else and always have done. These are the people that I can rely on (sure they make the odd mistake but they are still human too!) and treasure. I went home for Christmas day and my brother was so excited to show me the signs for 'Happy Christmas'. We were in a pub (as you do) and although pubs are generally awful for trying to maintain oral conversations I have my own personal communicator in the form of my mum, who as a mum, always recognizes when you just don't understand. She repeats things, often. We finger spell the odd words. She shows an interest in new signs (even when they don't seem to stay in her mind very long). I didn't feel stupid, I didn't feel excluded and I most definitely didn't feel like an annoyance or a problem.

 In life I choose my friends, I choose who I surround myself with because some people, are just too hard to be surrounded by. It may seem like I'm a bit of a loner I suppose but I'm pleased to say that the friends I do have are the most important and also the loveliest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Quite often they tell me that they 'forget' that I'm deaf, but its not the sort of 'forget' that means they switch between emphasizing the lips so much that its no longer comprehensible and mumbling to the point where you wonder if their future job should be a puppeteer. They just 'get it' and that is the most amazing quality in a friend you could ever find.

Present giving is always difficult at Christmas. I've never thought of offering tickets to a play or the theatre because generally it means that I'm expected to go too. I do love the theatre but for me they are a bit hit and miss.
 I recently went to see Cats at the Theatre Royal in Norwich which was subtitled with STAGETEXT. Although I really enjoyed the play I found it was very hard to take in the full contents of the play whilst constantly looking directly to the side of the stage (screens on both sides) to see what was being said. It really is a difficult combination because I love subtitles but maybe I am slightly spoilt with having them at the bottom of a TV screen, skim-reading so fast that I've still got a moment to take in the action, the drama unfurling between every glance.

 This year I offered to buy a two tickets for a friend to a play called The Secret Garden @ West Acre Theatre. I intended the tickets to be for her and a friend of hers but through some misunderstanding she made the assumption I would be the 2nd ticket holder. My immediate reaction was to say no, why would I want to sit through a play that I'd probably only understand about 20% off, mostly due to visuals. Then I thought about it, why couldn't I go? Maybe I could get a communicator or a script to read during the play. So I emailed West Acre Theatre and I was so pleased by their quick responses and willingness to help. They explained the theatre was far too small to accommodate a communicator (this became transparently clear when I went to watch the play) but they would be more than happy to give me a script, and with a small torch I could follow it during the play. Some of my family wanted to see the play too so they came along. When I paid for the tickets they asked me if I could sit in the middle of the group so that they wouldn't get any complaints about the light. This made me laugh, since when has being a family member or a friend meant they wouldn't complain?! Needless to say, they didn't and they were also very pleased by how accommodating the Theatre were being.
  I did enjoy the play. I was sat at the front so I could attempt to lipread most of it but often referred back to the script. It was hard work, flicking between the play itself and looking down at the script in my hand. Earlier that day I'd accidentally caught the film 'The Secret Garden' and wondered if the play would be pretty much the same (and it was very similar). I love the storyline. A girl, Mary sent away to a manor with lots of rooms and gardens, only to find a young 'crippled' boy, Colin who had lost his mother and himself. With the help of Mary who finds a 'secret garden' which had been locked away with the death of the mother Colin finds himself again and realizes that he is not at all 'crippled' and that magic exists in others and himself.

 Thank you so much West Acre Theatre, it was a pleasure to visit you and watch the play. Thank you for accommodating me and for putting on a lovely play, it really means alot. So if in doubt folks, don't be afraid to contact the Theatre directly and seeing what they can do for you - they don't bite!

A muffled world, my week with one hearing aid: By Eleanor

 This week has been particularly tough. Not in the usual format of being on placement, assignment work etc. (its half-term whoo) but in the fact that one of my ear moulds has been causing me a lot of pain recently, constantly rubbing to make sores in my left ear.


 It has got to the point where I am coming home and taking it straight off. As a person that has grown up dependant on these machines to communicate it has been strange.


 Today I had to go to the UEA to do a 'viva voce' to pass the remaining assignment. I worried about attending with just the use of one hearing aid, knowing that it is really quite disorientating and that I can only realistically listen to one person at a time who is facing me. I considered wearing my hearing aid just to avoid any issues. But then I started to wonder, how would they cope if I did lose my hearing further, if I couldn't rely on my hearing aids any longer, and more to the point, how would I cope?... so I went without.

 But actually, I didn't need to worry. I explained to my tutor and she actually made a point of swapping positions to be sat on my 'better side'. She spoke clearly, not treating me like an idiot (you know the 'caaaan yoooooou heeeeaaaarrrr meeeeee?' version). She said if the other person in the room would ask me anything then she would indicate this was so, knowing that they were sat on my 'deaf side'. It really made me feel more secure and safer, not just in those 30 minutes but for the rest of my day. I spend the day with Imz (one of my best friends) and although we were in the busy city centre, I wasn't distracted by anything (mostly because I couldn't hear much of anything) but I could focus, I could listen, I could lip-read, I could speak, I could communicate. I'm not saying that if were was more than one friend, that I would have been able to cope but I really surprised myself.

The ones that matter don't mind and the ones that mind don't matter.

 On my way home Imz had left one of my old favourites in the CD player, with just one hearing aid in, I cranked up the sound to the max and belted out the lyrics, feeling the vibrations through the floor and reciting those lyrics from those thousands of times we practised when we were young. It made me smile, so much. Thank you (Imz, I love you :) ).


 In some ways it has made me so appreciative of the life that my mum and dad brought me up in, they encouraged me to speak rather than sign. This has made me really good at adapting to situations, by lip-reading and fitting in the missing bits (it often still goes wrong when I don't know the context!), and quite probably TOO good because some assume that I can talk so I can hear leading to another world of pain and communication breakdowns.
Sometimes I wish my signing was as fluent as my speaking, however it has enabled a bigger, accessible world, ensuring that I can associate with hearing people. This world is predominately a hearing world, and always will be.


It is estimated that 1 in 1000 people are deaf. This means that there are ALOT more hearing people, speaking, talking, chatting with their backs turned, talking from another room, mumbling down the phones, whispering secrets, singing along to lyrics, sharing stories, every minute of every day of every week of every year. A life with working ears, taken for granted, hearing and absorbing. Of course I can understand not knowing, not seeing and not understanding a world with broken ears.


  Sure, I still get frustrated at the lack of deaf awareness but quite often it is fixable with knowledge and communication. I want to fight for equal access, be it in the form of subtitles in cinemas, on TV, on the train, for any and all announcements. I want to fight for sign language to be a GCSE option, I want to fight for all companies to have and to use access to emails and live online chats rather than phone calls. I want to fight to enable that no deaf child feels they don't know which world they belong in. But I (and probably many other deaf people) have heard the same things, reached the same brick walls, same boundaries time and time again.


My energy falls, my enthusiasm and motivation to continue the fight often waivers. I celebrate at LoveFilm finally agreeing to subtitle more contents, but the fight goes on, directed for Sky next. I celebrate at getting my local cinema to show subtitled screenings once a month, but I despair at no-one using them.

 One day it will all be gone, and people will moan, but they didn't use it when it was there. These changes will be those failed movements of time that no-one opened their eyes or closed their ears to see. 

LoveFilm vs Netflix (the subtitled problem)

 So, I joined Lovefilm around 2 years ago when I won a McDonalds Monopoly sticker 'one month's free trial and two free cinema tickets when you sign up with lovefilm'. Who am I to say no to that?

 For the last two years I've paid £4.89 a month for two discs (one at a time). It has no roll-over so if you're late sending one back thats it, next month starts. For £5.99 you can have unlimited access to Lovefilm streaming and for at least £7.99 you can have both unlimited access and a disc.
 Not all of lovefilm films are available on streaming, and more importantly THERE ARE NO SUBTITLES WHATSOEVER available on streaming. I have flagged this up and there are NO FUTURE PLANS for subtitles either!

 I started looking into Netflix a few months ago when I've had so many people commenting on how good it is. It's amazing. There is so much choice available, you can watch it right there and then for a flat-price of £5.99 - how awesome is that?! The best bit is that all the films I've tried to watch so far HAVE SUBTITLES!

 Ok, so it sounds like I've already made my mind up about the best of the bunch. But, its not that simple. Ok, so netflix is all amazing, so much choice, so much SUBTITLED choice... but its not so updated as lovefilm. Put it this way, Hunger Games only started appearing on netflix a week or so ago when its been out since 3rd September 2012 - I should know as I was lucky enough to get it from lovefilm a few weeks after release (I'd waited and waited to see it subtitled at a cinema but sadly couldn't work the times around work and travel) which was completely and utterly amazeballs.

 So, the choice is, to have unlimited choice that won't be quite so recent at a really good price (netflix), or, pay the same to have just 3 discs a month from lovefilm but with more chance of them being more recent releases.

 I have decided to go with netflix for now and hope that subtitled screenings at cinemas will become more accessible (this is yet another story, we are STILL waiting on Majestic Cinema in Kings Lynn to open their doors for the deaf) to fufill my needs and I can be the first of my friends to talk about that awesome new release (looking forward to the next Hobbit film and Hunger Games people!!) whilst enjoying some of the older and vast collection of films that netflix has to offer. :)

Frustration of the Day: Lack of Subtitles

Its been a long time since I've posted anything, so I wanted to share my latest deaf frustration! No subtitles working! When you've turned the telly on and get settled, desperate to hear what's happening and then this appeared...

I always feel like it ruins the moment, especially as at this particular moment something sad and genuine was happening - I needed them more than ever. Sometimes its like having a relationship with your subtitles.. and well subs, you let me down this time!

The Host #2 by Imogene

The Host

Directed: Andrew Niccol

Starring: Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, Jake Abel, Chandler Canterbury, Rachel Roberts, Diane Krugar

Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance

Stars: 3.8/5

Hi, so if you've read my previous encounter to the film 'The Host' (if you haven't, I'd recommend you do here) you'd know that I went to see it without subtitles and that I misunderstood quite a lot during the film. (So I thought) I went with Eleanor yesterday to see it again with subtitles, and whilst I did wonder if I’d get bored watching it twice over.. I didn't. For me, I was looking forward to finally putting them few missing jigsaw pieces into the puzzle!

I was surprised by how accurate my first review was! There were quite a few sections of the film that I missed out and some vital information which made me go "Oh." But in general, I did get the gist (This makes me a very happy girlie!).

My Subtitled Review

The parts I was confused about & now understand.

• ·         I was confused about what the Hosts (which I find out are called ‘Souls’) were doing there and what their thoughts were about the planet. I understood that they saw us humans as violent and ruining the planet and they were there to clear that up and make Earth a better place to live.
• ·         The Souls have occupied many planets.
• ·         That once the Soul was inside the body of the occupant, that the mind of the human in this case, was still alive and slowly fade as the human gives up hope – but a few live on as they’re determined to survive and come back.
• ·         That Seeker wrestled with her Human Lacey for several years. (I didn’t see this during the first time, as I didn’t hear the little things that Seeker said to herself like “I am in control” and “You think you’re better than me?”) and became more apparent with the moment when she shot another Host and started her own war
•       The ‘Stars’ in the cave were actually called Glow Worms.
• ·         The section in the caves where Uncle Jeb was talking to Wanderer and asked if he could call her ‘Wanda’ to which she agrees. Also how he found the caves and that it was in fact an old volcano.
• ·         After Wanderer found out about the Doctor killing the Souls, that when she went to the hospital she claimed some pods and told the doctor that you can take the Souls out of the body by showing love.
• ·         I understood more about what happened after the ‘months later’ when, Wanda, Ian, Jared and Melanie were driving in the car and then bumped into what they thought were Hosts, but it was a bunch of Humans and a Host that had switched sides to be with the Humans. (This was good and glad made sense!)

I think in all honesty that the reason I probably understood the film quite a lot at the first time is probably is because the story line isn't a massively developed nor ‘deep’, so it makes it a fairly easy film to follow. I mean I’d watch it again – maybe not for a long time as I feel like I’m going insane watching it so close together. (haha!)

I still only gave the film a 3.8 rating simply because I didn’t learn that much that was new, the little details, apart from the brother thing and Seeker didn’t make the whole film a “WOW”. Maybe I just expected so much more from the film after seeing Twilight? I just wish I got that feeling that everything makes so much sense and I didn’t.. I cant say it’s now on my favourite films ever list.

Modernising Kings Lynn - By Eleanor

 So, exciting news!
  After at least a year since my email to the Majestic Cinema, Kings Lynn asking them if they would consider putting subtitles on their screens and being promised that they would look into it, only for them to sell and new owners take over. Then after emailing the new owners and being told that subtitles are not possible with their projectors and only when they upgraded to digital (planned for 2013) would they be able to offer them...... They have finally said they are able to provide subtitled screenings and will be looking into providing them! Hooray!!

 I am so excited about this because it will mean so much less driving for me. I've had to drive an hour and a quarter to my nearest subtitled cinema, always re-arranging my life around the random times they are shown.

 To me it feels like an acceptance. The world is constantly changing, adapting to everyones needs. The majestic cinema can only accept wheelchair users in one screen at the moment because the building is listed and a lift cannot be added. With their new expansion they will be able to offer wheelchair access to more screens. With their digital screens they will be able to offer subtitles. This may also mean audio description for the blind too.

 Other cinemas have had these options for a long time already and its always felt like Kings Lynn has been one step behind. Last year we finally had a Primark arrive (which is still extremely popular), a multi-storey car park built and things that I can't think of at the moment!!

 Come on Kings Lynn, one more step and you'll have caught up with everywhere else :)

Madagascar 3: Eleanor's non-subtitled review.

Title: Madagascar 3: Europes Most Wanted
Directed: Eric Darnell, Conrad Vernon
Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Frances MdDomand, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short
Genre: Animation, PG

 OK so I will start with confessing that I had to go and see this without subtitles. My job
involves taking service users to where they want to go, and this particular service user wanted to see Madagascar 3. Previously I have taken service users to the cinema lots of times without subtitles and immediately regretted it. The last time I took a service user (before this time obviously!!) I made a mental note to stop taking anyone to non-subtitled films; I had been with a fidgety service user to see the awful, dragged out, worlds most non-deaf aware film ever called ‘The Lorax’. I’m sure the film was great if you had understood a word of what was said, but it was an animation so I could not lip-read, the Lorax was constantly in shadows with a young boy who had clearly not hit puberty and had the most inaudible voice for my hearing to detect. I can still remember how I felt during that film and it felt like it went on for hours, trying so hard not to fall asleep (which the fidgety service user definitely helped with).

 Anyway, this review will probably not be like my future reviews. This review, I would like to tell you what I understood of the film (so please, if you haven’t watched the film and intend to watch it DO NOT read any further! – SPOILERS!!).  

 OK so here we go.

1.    The crew (Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo and Melman the Giraffe and yes I googled that, didn’t know what they were called apart from Melman as I always think of him as Ross from Friends.) are all in Madagascar and the penguins leave for an adventure. Alex (the lion) thinks he hears them say they’re never coming back and has a dream that they are all old and still in Madagascar – not sure why that was relevant?

2.    I can’t remember how they get out of Madagascar and at this point am really confused because I thought they wanted to be in Madagascar and were loving it there.

3.    An evil woman pops into the story who treasures stuffed animals and really wants the lions head for her collection.

4.    The crew find a circus on a train and want to help them or work with them or something, the circus say no and then yes? And the crew get onboard the train.

5.    Monkeys get the deed for the circus (not sure why this is important either) and we learn why the circus failed previously – due to the Tiger trying to run through a small ring on fire and failing? Alex (the lion) helps get his confidence back and Tiger is able to do the act once again.

6.    The circus crew find a paper article about the animals missing from the zoo and are upset with the original crew because of some reason that I didn’t understand/hear – I thought that the crew were trying to get with the circus and enjoyed being with them?

7.    Evil woman still after the animals but the animals are tranquillised in front of the zoo (that the crew were originally trying to get too?) and the zoo keeper thinks that the evil woman is giving them back and gives her the reward (money).

8.    Evil woman rips up the cheque, she doesn’t want money, she wants the lion and attempts to shoot Alex but he is saved by the circus.

9.    I assume that the crew are happy to stay with the circus? And Marty starts to sing ‘I like to move it, move it’.

OK so that’s my understanding of the film. Because it was animated and largely relies on the animation side of things I was able to get a lot without dialogue. But there are so many things that I didn’t understand that could be solved with knowing the dialogue. It can be so frustrating only being able to laugh at the things I can visually see and missing the dialogue humour.

Although I didn’t enjoy not having subtitles I have always liked Madagascar films and my favourite part was the relationship between the circus bear and King Julien who falls instantly in love. It demonstrated that love is everywhere and it doesn’t matter how different two people are, what they look like, how old they are, if there’s a connection its right.

I also enjoyed the storyline about the Tiger, he got overconfident with the ring trick and when he failed he became grumpy and closed-minded. He lost hope, so the others around him (the circus) lost hope too. But with a bit of help he was able to do it again and become a brilliant act once more.

I feel unable to rate this film because I did not get all aspects of it and do not think it fair of me to judge it on what I have understood. I would say that it’s a brilliant film, the graphics were amazing (I watched it on 2D) and that my service user enjoyed it very much (although they were under the age of 8).

For those of you who are not deaf this will hopefully give you an insight to our world.

El's Review: The Hobbit - The Unexpected Journey

Title: The Hobbit – The Unexpected Journey

Directed: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Sylvester McCoy

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Stars: 5/5

It begins with a thrilling backstory of a historical dwarf-city that is invaded by a dragon obsessed with gold. Enter Bilbo Baggins, or as we know better know him; Martin Freeman.

Everytime I see Martin Freeman I always think of him from ‘The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy’, an image I cannot shake from my head of a man in his 30s wearing a dressing gown. He’s a great actor don’t get me wrong but I always find it hard to follow actors in different roles. To his credit, The Hobbit probably wouldn’t have worked without him.

If, like me, you are an avid LOTRO fan you will recognise some of the sights immediately, such as Rivendell, Moria, the stone giants, the orcs, the wargs etc etc. Many of the scenes were shot in the beautiful views of New Zealand which acted as the perfect backdrop for the film giving justice to the book itself. The combined sights and sounds (obvious dramatic music and upbeat catchy verses for the odd ‘just running around’ scenes) were set beautifully and have not degraded The Lord of the Rings in any way and made me want to revisit LOTR to experience some of that magic once again (Will be watching the trio within the next week or so!). The CGI was done extremely professionally that I did not notice all the areas that must have been done. The stone giants must have been largely CGI and the detail was astounding.

 Gandalf has always been a favourite characters of mine and in The Hobbit you get the chance to see him perhaps not so confidence and self-assured as he has been in LOTR which was brilliant to see, nothing better than finding the backstory of a character. Other familiar faces such as Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman and Gollum return and provide a constant and much needed link between The Hobbit and LOTR.

The scenes between Gollum and ‘Bagginses’ were beautiful to watch with the constant riddle torment and the obviously personal torment for Gollum/Smeargul ending in the clever ‘What have I got in my pocket’ scenario. We finally got to see why exactly Bilbo had the ring in the first place (setting the scene for the LOTR trio) and that he does know a little about the power of the ring. Although Bilbo plays a character that does not know much about much, this adventure is the making of him and quite predictably eventually shines, saving one of the vital characters and becoming a valuable member of the team.

The whole film was much more upbeat and light compared to the heavy action-filled LOTR. I have always loved LOTR and did enjoy The Hobbit just as much, if not more. The fascination of the ordinary Bilbo Baggins (yes, just plain ordinary) with attachment issues to his mother’s plates and determination not to change. Bilbo is set to embark on a life-changing adventure with a gentle shove from a friendly voice. The storyline provides us with a life lesson; new adventures and experiences are all around but they have to be embraced.

Admittedly a little disappointment and dread filled my heart when Bilbo spoke his last words ‘I think we are over the worst now’. Of course not, it’s a three parter.