Last weekend I flew out to Valencia, California for Advanced Bionic’s BEA Mentor Training Weekend with about 40 other people who also have the Advanced Bionics Cochlear Implant or someone else in their family does. It was so much fun learning about the company, about the things coming out in the future, seeing AB’s headquarters, meeting all the BEA and AB staff and learning how to be a better mentor.
I also had a great time meeting other people who have the CI and hearing about their hearing journey and what it was like for them to go through the process of getting the implant. It’s amazing to me to hear all the stories of what it was like, because it seems like we all have unique situations that we’ve been or are going through. Here are a couple pictures of me with some of the other CI users I met…
I edited my links list which is to the right, below my profile box. As you can see, there are three categories: Resources, Other Bloggers, and Other ways to find me.
In the “Resources” category, there are some important links to check out for when you are going through your CI journey…
The Auditory Verbal Center is the center I went to for Auditory Verbal Therapy to help train my brain to hear and understand with the CI. This is also the center that taught me to hear and speak when I was diagnosed at 2. So I went there for therapy when I was youger to learn to hear and speak with my hearing aids... then when I got my CI, I went back for a couple months for some more therapy.
Advanced Bionics, as you probably already know, is the Cochlear Implant company I have… best choice I ever made! This is the link to their website in case you want some more information anout the company.
Hearing Journey is an online community through Advanced Bionics to where other CI users and potential CI users can post topics and discuss their questions or concerns.
Hearing Exchange is Paula Rosenthal’s site for blogs and recourses of people with a Hearing Loss. On Facebook, she also has two groups you can join called “HearingExchange” and “HearingExchange Teens.” I am a member of both groups, which is cool because you can meet other deaf people and post on discussions within that group. It’s a fun way to meet other deaf people in your area and throughout the country.
Deaf Village is also a website like Hearing Exchange to where you can find information and resources about Hearing Loss and other deaf people.
The next Category is “Other Bloggers" and as you can tell, there are three subcategories for Adults, Young Adult/Teens and Children. So depending on your situation, you can also find someone else w ho might be going through the same challenges as you. They are all great Mentors and some of them I had the privilege of meeting at the BEA Mentor Training this past weekend. So I highly recommend checking them out too! :)
And lastly, “Other ways you can find me” is for anyone who would like to find me outside of my BlogSpot… through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Email, AIM and/or Skype. I love getting emails and meeting new people... so feel free to find me or add me as a friend! :)
I hope these links will be beneficial to you and if you have any other questions or comments, dont hesitate to ask/tell! :)
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