Listening Rehabilitation

Surgery is just the start.

Wear your processor(s) during all waking hours.  The more your brain has access to sound, the more opportunity it has to learn and make sense of what you are hearing. 

Practise “active listening”. Take a moment to stop, look and listen to the sounds around you. Notice everyday sounds and give yourself time to become familiar with them again. 

Use a mix of listening practice. Some activities help you use clues from the situation or conversation, while others help your brain focus on the smaller speech sounds that make up words. 

• Top-down listening means using what you already know to help you understand. For example, you might use the topic, the setting, lip-reading, or your knowledge of language to fill in the gaps. 
• Bottom-up listening means practising the building blocks of speech. This might include listening for different vowels, consonants, words, or short phrases so your brain can learn to recognise speech sounds more clearly. 

Use helpful strategies and assistive technology in noisy places. For example, try to reduce background noise where possible, sit closer to the person speaking, face the speaker, and use any recommended accessories or phone features that can make listening easier.