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Cochlear Implant Pioneer Advocates for Adult Aural Rehabilitation
Sigrid Cerf was vaulted into a new world when she received a cochlear implant (CI) after 50 years of deafness. Her world expanded to include long telephone calls and effortless conversations with her two grown sons and her husband, Vinton Cerf, considered a "father of the Internet" and renowned for his role in the development of e-mail and other communication tools that particularly benefit people with hearing loss.
After receiving her first cochlear implant in 1996 and a second implant in her other ear nearly a decade later, Cerf honed her listening skills by listening to 500 audiobooks. She also makes use of assistive listening devices to maximize her ability to hear in challenging environments.
A longtime advocate on behalf of people with hearing loss. Cerf has served on the boards of Auditory-Verbal International and the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, where she observed parallels between the aural habilitation needed by children who receive a CI and the rehabilitation needed by adults. A year ago, the Cerfs met with ASHA to advocate for an increase in the number of speechlanguage pathologists providing aural rehabilitation services for adults with cochlear implants, services that would increase their ability to understand speech with the CI and to utlize assistive technology to its full extent. They also expressed a need to advocate for reimbursement to cover these services. In the following interview, Sigrid Cerf shares her success with cochlear implantation and offers insights about how professionals can work with clients and patients to help them use available technologies.
Q Tell us about your experiences growing up with hearing loss.
After spinal meningitis at age 3, I had a 90-dB bilateral loss that progressed to a 100-dB loss by age 32. The right ear was unused from age 3 as it was determined that I couldn't benefit from a hearing aid in that ear. My mother and I attended a summer session at the John Tracy Clinic, which had recently been established in Los Angeles, to learn how to retain my speech and listening skills. Although well-intentioned, my family subtly discouraged talking about the hearing loss. My parents would whisper to people who noticed...