Ci Wear News Splash

How to Choose a Cochlear Implant | Determine What Meets Your Needs

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Sat, 29 Sep 2018 03:23:00 +0000

Alright, decision time. You or your family member has just qualified for a cochlear implant, Now, your audiologist hands you several brochures of the available cochlear implant manufacturers and asks you to choose which one you want. Individuals and families will spend weeks agonizing over this decision.

The good news is that all three cochlear implant manufacturers make a good device that will provide you access to sound. Unfortunately, you can’t test different brands like you can with hearing aids, so you will have to do some research. This process can be confusing and cause more anxiety about which cochlear implant brand to choose.

First, you should know that not all cochlear implant devices are offered at every implant center, hospital, or clinic. Depending on the country, insurance, and the doctor, you may have a limited choice. Some government run health programs, as well as insurance companies, may have only negotiated to offer one or two different cochlear implant brands at your center. Then, you have doctors who have a surgical preference over which device they will implant, as well as an audiologist who prefers working with one cochlear implant processor over another. These factors can limit or dictate which cochlear implant you can choose.

The internet can be a good source of information. CochlearImplantHelp.com website has compiled the most up to date, accurate, and complete side by side comparison of each available cochlear implant device on the market. Be careful about Facebook groups and blog stories. This is where you can find the most biased and in some cases incorrect information about cochlear implants.

Most people will speak highly of their cochlear implant because they are all good devices. Some people will say they wished their device had similar features to another manufacturer’s device. Watch out for those who disparage one brand over another. You don’t know their motives or the full extent of the story behind their negative experience. This is how misinformation gets propagated. If you search hard enough, you will find that each of the three manufacturers’ has had a recall at some point in their history. Not to mention, one manufacture being fined for kickbacks to doctors and clinics.

Here are some tips to help you figure how to choose the right cochlear implant for you or your family member.

1. Develop a list of criteria most important to you, (i.e. Technology, upgrade capabilities, wearing configurations, accessories, reliability, warranty, etc.). Download the side by side comparison chart from CochlearImplantHelp.com.

2. Consider how each cochlear implant manufacturers’ device meets your lifestyle needs. (i.e. Wearing configuration and comfort during physical or sports activities, programs for different listening environments, best for hearing music, swimming or for work, etc.)

3. Call each manufacturer and ask questions about their product. Get a feel for their customer service. Find out delivery times for replacement parts to your location. If you’re not treated well as a candidate, think about how it may be as a customer.

4. See what each manufacturer offers in the way of support for pre and post implantation. Do they have materials for rehabilitation, support groups, or networks of individuals that can help you along your hearing journey (i.e. mentors)?

5. If your cochlear implant center or doctor is not offering you a choice between all three cochlear implant manufacturers, find out why. If the reason is medical related, you may want to seek or consider a second opinion. If the reasons are anything other than medical, you have to determine what is important to you. Do you stay with your doctor or implant center or do go to another facility that offers you the cochlear implant brand you prefer.

6. Make sure the audiologist who will be mapping the processors is competent in working with the device you choose. Like most individuals, audiologists will gravitate toward devices (i.e. software and equipment) they are most comfortable and familiar working with. We travel almost 300 miles to see our audiologist for mapping sessions. Other families will go as far as visiting other countries to see their audiologist.

Selecting a cochlear implant is a lifelong decision, so you need to do your homework and make a decision based on your own criteria and lifestyle needs. Eliminating a brand because of third-party recommendations or innuendo doesn’t do you any good if that brand has features that benefit you or your family member. These wonderful devices will continue to evolve and only get better over time. Good luck on your decision and hearing journey.

You may find this story helpful too Choosing a Cochlear Implant, Is Your Provider Giving You All the Info?

#cochlearimplant

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Ci Wear is a patented shirt designed to secure and help protect cochlear implant (CI) processors and other mobile listening devices. Use as a rash guard, swim shirt or an exercise apparel. Ideal aqua accessory for waterproof cochlear implant sound processors.

New Swim Goggles Sure to Make A Splash With Cochlear Implant Users

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Wed, 08 Aug 2018 19:06:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

A new pair of swim goggles has hit the market, and we are happy to report that they are a welcome addition to our cochlear implant accessories. Splash Swim Goggles are comfortable, fashionable, and use a lycra fabric band instead of rubber or latex. This wide, conforming, band nicely covers cochlear implant headpieces and holds them in place.

My son wears Advanced Bionic Neptune processors, a Ci Wear shirt, and goggles when swimming. The shirt does an excellent job of securing and protecting the expensive processors and sound cords, but often we find our son continuously having to re-attach his headpieces when playing in the water. We have to signal over and over to put his headpieces back on. I can’t imagine how annoying this is to him.

My son took a pair of Splash Swim Goggles for a test and they worked great! He jumped off the diving board, swam and splashed around in the water and his headpieces stayed on. I decided to try the goggles myself and they worked like any other traditional pair. They have a nice fit, didn’t pull my hair, and the lenses didn’t fog up.

What was really exciting about these new goggles was watching how our son effortlessly played in the water without having to re-attach his headpieces.

If you or your child is looking for a comfortable wearing option that secures cochlear implant processors and keeps your headpieces on while in the water, Ci Wear and Splash Swim Goggles is your winning combination.

Test off diving board watch video

#Ciwear #cochlearimplants, #Swimming #SplashSwimGoggles

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Ci Wear is a patented shirt designed to secure and help protect cochlear implant (CI) processors and other mobile listening devices. Use as a rash guard, swim shirt or an exercise apparel. Ideal aqua accessory for waterproof cochlear implant sound processors.

Nucleus Aqua+ Accessory Secured With Ci Wear Shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Sat, 21 Jul 2018 00:41:00 +0000

Cochlear Aqua+ Secured to Ci Wear

One of the biggest fears for individuals with cochlear implants, as well as parents of children with CIs is losing their processors in the water. One parent told me “If you can’t see the bottom of a source of water, don’t go in.” Cochlear created the Nucleus Aqua+ accessory to allow individuals to swim and enjoy the water, but what’s the point if you are afraid to go in the ocean or lake?

One adventurous family, who often goes to the beach and spends time on a lake, needed a more reliable wearing option to secure their son’s Cochlear Aqua+ accessory. They searched the internet and found Ci Wear.

Ci Wear is a specialty shirt designed to secure cochlear implant processors. The patented design includes collar loops. This Cochlear family took a simple key ring and attached it to the collar loops and then tethered the Aqua Plus safety line to the key ring instead of just clipping the line to the shirt. They used this secure configuration for a week straight on their trip and “it worked great.”

Key Ring attached to Ci Wear

Aqua+ Safety Line Attached

As Cochlear says, “don’t let a little water hold you back.” Enjoy great activities like snorkeling, surfing, bodyboarding, tubing, and kayaking knowing your processors are safe and secure with a Ci Wear shirt. As this parent shared with us, “we feel our son should be able to do anything he wants. So we are always thinking of ways to make anything possible.”

#swimming #beach #cochlearimplant #surf #Cochlear #Nucleus

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Ci Wear is a patented shirt designed to secure and help protect cochlear implant (CI) processors and other mobile listening devices. Use as a rash guard, swim shirt or an exercise apparel. Ideal aqua accessory for waterproof cochlear implant sound processors.

Choosing A Cochlear Implant – Is Your Provider Giving You All The Information?

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Fri, 23 Mar 2018 03:30:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

Recently, I found myself in a Facebook group chat discussing how someone decided on their cochlear implant. The person shared that they “naively” went along with their surgeons recommendations. Fortunately, the implant worked out well for the person, but it raised an interesting question. How much influence does the healthcare provider have over the individual’s decision in selecting a cochlear implant brand?

I posed this question in several cochlear implant Facebook Groups. What influenced your decision to choose a specific brand? And why? 177 people responded and interestingly 60% of those respondents stated their choice was influenced by the cochlear implant center (hospital included), audiologist, and surgeon. This is reasonable considering people generally trust their hearing healthcare providers. But another picture emerged about hearing health professionals I did not expect.

I found people were unaware they had a choice when they were going through the selection process for a cochlear implant. Certain facilities and government run healthcare systems have contracts with certain manufactures and insurance, limiting the devices that were offered. Also, choices were limited because of known recalls or device failures. Audiologist and surgeons have a certain level of comfort and experience working with certain brands, so they would guide patients toward one brand over another. One person even shared that one of the cochlear implant manufacturers settled a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice for alleged kickbacks to health care providers.

Trust and comfort is important when dealing with your hearing health professionals, and you should have all the facts when your audiologist, surgeon, or implant center recommends a life-long implant for you or a family member. This includes knowing if their recommendations are based on business reasons, experience, or personal preferences.

In the end, when going through your selection process for a cochlear implant, you need to do your research and due diligence. If you can’t get the device you want implanted, you may have to switch providers or facilities.

#cochlearimplant

If you like our blog, please subscribe and share with others. Thank you!

Ci Wear is a patented shirt designed to secure and help protect cochlear implant (CI) processors and other mobile listening devices. Use as a rash guard, swim shirt or an exercise apparel. Ideal aqua accessory for waterproof cochlear implant sound processors.

Troubleshooting Cochlear Implant | Processor Will Not Turn On

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 02:25:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

Have you ever placed a fully charged battery into your cochlear implant processor only to find out it doesn’t power up?

Dirt on battery terminal

In a blog story, AAA Batteries For Cochlear Implant Processors, I wrote about how rechargeable batteries can lose their capability to store a charge above 750 milliamps (mAh). When this happens the processor tends to turn on and then shut down or may not power on at all. Well there may be another issue with the battery that can fool you into thinking your processor has gone bad.

Over time, the processor’s battery terminals can become dirty. When this happens, the dirt forms a barrier between the battery and the processor’s battery terminals preventing your processor from turning on.

This happened to my son’s processor. After a weekend of totally refreshing the rechargeable batteries, one of his processors didn’t power on. I knew the batteries were good because they all tested above 900 mAh and they worked in the other processor. Plus, my son had recently seen his audiologist for a mapping session and all his equipment checked out. I thought I was going to have to buy a new processor because his is out of warranty.

Materials to Clean AB Neptune Processor

My son is bilaterally implanted and wears Advanced Bionics Neptune processors on a daily basis. The Neptune processors are very durable, so it is hard to imagine that it would die from everyday use.

When examining the processor, I noticed what looked like a scuff mark on the brass battery terminal. I grabbed a Q-tip and 91% isopropyl alcohol and cleaned the terminals in the processor. The scuff mark came right off. After making sure everything looked clean, I popped in a fully charged battery and the processor powered right up and has been working ever since.

Practicing good maintenance on your hearing devices will help them last and stay in good working order. Make sure you follow your manufacturer’s instructions on maintenance and troubleshoot before you start looking at replacing your device. It might just save you time and a lot of money.

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AAA Batteries For Cochlear Implant Processors

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 01:00:00 +0000

by Eric Sherman

Have you ever put a fully charged AAA battery into your AB #Neptune processor and had it blink as if it had full power and then shortly after shut down? When we found ourselves in a similar situation, we would replace the battery with another fully recharged battery only to have the same thing happen. Right away you think, “oh no, my processor is bad,” and then next thing you know, you are on the phone with customer service looking at replacing your device.

The beauty about the AB Neptune Processor is that it’s waterproof and very durable. People participate in all kinds of extreme activities with their Neptune Processors and they continue to work. Last year, we shared a story about a father who found his child’s Neptune at the bottom of the ocean (after three days) and the processor still worked. For many recipients and their families, it’s disconcerting to see their processor shut down unexplainably. Well, it may not be a processor problem at all.

Our son has been wearing the Neptune Processors every day since he received them in 2012. We have found that the processors will shut down if the battery drops below 750 milliamps (mAh). Recently, our son’s processors were shutting down. We identified the batteries and did a refresh cycle in our smart charger. After being refreshed, the batteries could barely make it to 500 mAh and the result was the processor would turn on, beep once and then shut off.

Most rechargeable nickel–metal hydride (NiMH) batteries that are available in stores are 850 mAh and come in packs of 2 or 4. If you are buying rechargeable batteries that are not 1000 mAh and you’re not using a smart charger (see blog story “Making Your Rechargeable Batteries Last Longer For YourCochlear Implant”) you may be misleading yourself into thinking your processor is bad.

Batteries for Cochlear Implant Processors

We buy our 1000 NiMH batteries online and have found that these brand batteries last at least a year or longer if refreshing and charging them with a smart charger. The ones we recommend are Powerex, Sanyo, Panasonic or FDK.

If your processor is shutting down or doesn’t seem to power up when you put in a fully charged battery, do this simple test:

Take a brand new alkaline Energizer battery, place it in your processor and see if it powers up and works for the day.
If it does, you have a rechargeable battery problem not a processor issue. Often people will replace a bad battery with another bad battery unknowingly and think it is a processor issue.
Lastly, try refreshing new batteries as it will help them properly hold a charge. You can get over 1,000 uses out of these batteries if you take care of them in the right way.

Back-to-School with Cochlear Implants – What You Need to Know

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Tue, 26 Sep 2017 22:30:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

School is back in session. Is your child prepared? I’m sure you’ve already purchased items such as, backpack, pencils, paper, pens, etc., but what about your child’s cochlear implant(s)? If you are like our family and sending your child off to school with cochlear implants, there are things you should know to help your child succeed in the classroom.

Cochlear implants have been around for more than 30 years, but it is amazing how few schools or teachers are aware of this wonderful technology. In our experience, most teachers and schools have never worked with a student who has cochlear implants, and we are in the second largest school district in the country.

The population of school aged children receiving cochlear implants is growing. Unfortunately, parents have to make sure teachers and schools are educated about their child’s cochlear implants and hearing needs. If you child is entering a public school in the U.S. with a cochlear implant, you should have an IEP or a 504 plan agreement in place. These are legal documents under the Individual Disability Education Act (IDEA) to insure your child receives the necessary support in the classroom.

The Individualized Educational Program (IEP) or a 504 plan is developed to ensure that a child with a disability receives specialized instruction, related services, and accommodations that will ensure their academic success and access to the learning environment. Similar laws or rights may exist in other countries.

Classroom seating arrangement is important

to the success of a DHH student.

When appropriate accommodations are provided children with cochlear implants do very well in mainstream classrooms or in a special education programs. We have found that the following steps are helpful to our child’s success in the classroom:

Pack a bag in your child’s backpack with extra accessories (i.e. sound cord, audio jacks, etc.), batteries and troubleshooting instructions with your contact info.
Make sure the school has appropriate assistive listening equipment in place, per IEP or 504 plan, at the start of school year. This is generally an FM system that can directly connect to your child’s processor(s).
Meet with teachers during the first week of school and explain how the cochlear implant works, troubleshooting, etc. If your child is old enough or has the ability to advocate for themselves, great! If not, you’ll still want to discuss the following:

o Optimal seating for hearing needs in the classroom

o How to change batteries, sound cords and headpieces, different programs on processor

o Breaks if needed. The sounds of a noisy classroom can be overwhelming for some children and small breaks can be helpful.

o Possible behaviors that might occur if the processors aren’t working properly

o Speaking naturally, in a clear voice, not talking to fast or shouting

o Making sure child is following along with instruction

o Repeating questions and answers during class discussions

o When using audio & video equipment making sure it can connect to assistive listening equipment

o Explaining to the teacher the importance of using the assistive listening equipment (i.e. FM system, Roger Pen, etc.)

Every child entering school has different hearing needs and it’s good to look for resources that will best support your child. We found Advanced Bionics Tools for Schools had a pretty comprehensive list of materials. They have communication logs, tips for teachers, assessment tools, as well as other information that could be helpful in addressing your child’s needs.

If your child participates in school sports, extra-curricular activities, or just plays on the playground, make sure you have an accessory that secures and helps protect the processors. Our son uses the specialty shirt Ci Wear to secure his devices.

It’s important to be involved and collaborate in your child’s education. Nobody knows your child’s hearing needs better than you do. The more the school knows the greater success your child will have in the classroom.

If you like stories like this, we invite you to subscribe to our blog as well share with others.

Overstimulation May Be Why Your Child Won’t Wear Cochlear Implant processors

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Tue, 16 May 2017 18:30:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

Recently I shared why my child refused to wear his CochlearImplant(s). Unfortunately, the recommendation from others, including hearing health professionals, was just do your best to keep your child’s processor on.

Forcing a child to wear a cochlear implant that they clearly don’t want to wear is not the correct approach. Refusing to wear CI processor(s) is generally a symptom of a problem that a child can’t necessarily express. Their behavior becomes the only way to communicate the issue.

Pediatric Audiologist Joan Hewitt, Au.D., who specializes in cochlear implants says, “Our brains crave hearing. Children should want to have their CIs on all the time. If a child resists putting the CIs on in the morning, cries or winces when they are put on, or fails to replace the headpiece when it falls off, there is a strong possibility that the CIs are providing too much stimulation. Some children appear shy or withdrawn because the stimulation is so great that interacting is painful. Others respond to over stimulation by being loud and aggressive.”

In the article, "Overstimulation in Children with Cochlear Implants," Berger et al (2011) found symptoms which indicated children were overstimulated by their cochlear implants. They included: reluctance or refusal to wear the device, overly loud voices, poor articulation, short attention span or agitated behavior, and no improvement in symptoms despite appropriate therapy. When the researchers reduced the stimulation levels, they found very rapid improvement in voice quality and vocal loudness and gradual improvement in articulation. Finally, they found "surprising effects on the children's behavior" such that the parents reported a marked improvement in attention and reduction in agitation.

If you find that your child is refusing to wear their cochlear implants, an overstimulating map could be the problem. You should discuss the issue in detail with your child’s audiologist.

Jennifer Mertes, AuD, CCC-A, and Jill Chinnici, MA, CCC-A wrote in their article,

“Cochlear Implants — Considerations in Programming for the Pediatric Population,” (2006) AudiologyOnline, that children are not little adults. To address their CI needs, they require an experienced clinician. Most children are unable to provide accurate feedback while the audiologist programs their cochlear implant and therefore, the clinician must take many things into account:

The audiologist's past experiences with other patients
Updated information regarding the child's progress (from parents, therapists and teachers)
Audiometric test measures
Observations of the child during programming
Objective measurements (NRT/NRI, ESRT)
If age appropriate, the clinician will train the child to participate in programming (Conditioned Play Audiometry (CPA), loudness growth task.

Many of the decisions made during programming appointments come from the clinician's knowledge and experience, rather than the child's behavioral responses.

If your child continues to refuse to wear their processors after a remapping, take into consideration your audiologist’s experience and mapping approach and seek a second opinion.

When we sought out a second opinion with a new audiologist who specializes in pediatrics, she found our child’s map was overstimulating. Once she remapped our son's cochlear implants using a different approach, he didn't have a problem wearing his processors again.

More about the author

Eric Sherman is the inventor and founder of Ci Wear, the patented specialty shirt designed to secure and protect cochlear implant processors. Ideal for sports and water activities. No need for added accessories or clipping processors to collar. Shirts are manufactured in the USA and are available in youth and adult sizes at CIWear.com

#cochlearimplants, #audiology, #parenting #mapping

Why My Child Won't Wear Their Cochlear Implant Processors?

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Fri, 05 May 2017 18:47:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

As a parent of a child with cochlear implants, the answer to this question shocked us and made us feel as if we were torturing our child.

Our child was first implanted at about a year old and was seeing an AVT on a weekly basis. Our son could definitively hear with his implant and responded well after activation. As the weeks went on, our AVT would tell us that our son was not hearing certain vowels or consonants sounds and recommended we see our audiologist to have his map adjusted.

We went to our audiologist and told her that the AVT said our son was not hearing the /p/ or /s/ sound (for example). The audiologist plugged our son’s processor up to the computer and began saying /ba/, /ba/, /ba/ over and over at different voice levels watching to see how our son responded then she would make changes to the map.

We made this trip to the audiologist constantly over several months because the AVT kept telling us that our son was not hearing different vowels and consonant sounds. We were remapping our son’s processor so often that we were starting to hear /ba/, /ba/, ba/ in our sleep. Then one day our son just refused to wear his processor. He would throw off the headpiece as fast as we stuck it back on his head. Unfortunately, He didn’t have the language ability to tell us why he wouldn’t wear the processor. Our AVT suggested we go back to see the audiologist to check the equipment to make sure it’s working properly.

We set-up an appointment with the audiologist and she brought in a rep from the manufacturer to help go through diagnostics of the equipment to see if anything was wrong. After a thorough review everything seemed to checkout. Sadly, our son still refused to wear his CI processor. Our audiologist’s recommended that we do our best to keep his headpiece on at all times, maybe use a headband, noting that maybe this was more of a behavioral issue.

Over the next couple of weeks, we did our best to keep our son’s headpiece on, but he wouldn’t have it. The AVT was starting to have problems working with our son. He started to have new behaviors and was not responding to therapy. We were feeling that something was wrong with our child other than hearing loss.

Eventually, our AVT recommended we see another audiologist to get a second opinion about our son’s equipment and map. She sent us to an audiologist who is an expert working with cochlear implant pediatric patients. This new audiologist was known for fixing issues children may be having with their implants.

I remember how distraught my wife and I were as we shared our story with the new audiologist and showed her how our son was resisting wearing his processor. She assured us that she would look at everything and see what she could do to help. After running diagnostics, the audiologist turned to us and said, “there’s nothing wrong with your child or his equipment.” After a massive sigh of relief, the audiologist told us our son’s map was over stimulating and probably the main reason why he is resisting wearing his processor.

The audiologist used the analogy of driving through the mountains with the radio volume turned all the way up with bad receptions; she said that was how your son’s processor was mapped. She couldn’t blame him for not wanting to wear it. We felt horrible as if we had tortured our child for weeks trying to make him wear his headpiece all the time.

What happened next truly shocked us. This new audiologist began mapping our son using different consonant and vowels sounds, no more /ba/, /ba/, /ba/. With her partner they elicited responses from our son using different vowel consonant sounds like /s/, /oo/, /ah/, /p/, /t/ etc. After they were done, our son seemed very happy and joyous about the sounds around him. From that moment on, our son never had a problem wearing his processor again.

I share this story because too often I hear similar stories and the recommendation to the parents is always try to keep your child’s processors on. A behavior, such as refusing to wear a processor, is generally a symptom of a problem that a child can’t necessarily express. A behavior becomes the only way to communicate. If your child is refusing to wear their processor(s), find out why. Your child might not like the feel on their ear or the magnet strength is to strong, etc. If the physical comfort of the processor is not the problem, check with your audiologist about the equipment and map. If you walk out of your audiologist office and they have not resolved the issue, get a second opinion.

Don’t torture your child like we did by making them wear a poorly mapped processor. Every day, when putting on your child’s device, do a simple check to see if your child can repeat or respond to different speech sounds or words. If you feel there is a problem, talk to your speech or AVT therapist at your next visit or schedule an appointment with your audiologist. Finally, if your audiologist doesn’t map your child using different speech sounds, it might be time to find a new audiologist.

Sounds used to map my child's cochlear implant processor

More about the author

Don't Risk Losing Cochlear Implant Processors When Swimming

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 19:25:00 +0000

Recently, this story was sent to us by an audiology group about one of their patients who was surfing with cochlear implants while on vacation.

A storm was brewing, and a large wave pulled off my son's entire cochlear implant processor and headpiece. Devastated, he swam in to tell me, but searching for it was nearly impossible in the strong surf. For the next 3 days while the storm raged, I went down to the shore and watched the pattern of the wind and the waves. On my family's last day of vacation, the storm had finally subsided so the I decided to snorkel near some rocks the waves had been hitting. During one dive as a wave pulled away sand from the floor of the ocean, the dad saw something red under a rock. When I swam down to investigate, I found the processor still connected to the headpiece, which was stuck under the rock! When I pulled on the processor, the headpiece would not budge. I knew that I was running out of air and if he went back to the surface to get a breath, another wave would come and bury the device again. So, I gave one final tug which pulled the headpiece free. I returned to the surface with the entire device! As if finding the processor after 3 days in the ocean was not amazing enough, my family was astounded to see that it still worked!

This is a truly amazing story with a happy ending, but many families and individuals around the world are not as lucky. Some people clip their processor to some part of their clothing only to find it lost after being tossed by a wave, or crashing on mountain bike. Mishaps during recreational activities happen. Unfortunately, for people with cochlear implants those mishaps can be very costly.

As a parent of a child with bilateral cochlear implants, our greatest fear came when our son participated in any activity where there was a chance he could lose his processors. We became helicopter parents even though we never wanted to limit our child’s ability to participate in any activity. As a result of this problem, we created the Ci Wear shirt.

Ci Wear makes specialty shirts designed to secure and help protect cochlear implant processor(s). It has patented pockets that include elastic bands to clip the processor to and a button hole inside of the pocket to run the sound cord under the shirt. This reduces the risk of a wave, hard fall or crash knocking off your processor(s).

If you have ever spent money on a case to protect your cellphone, then a Ci Wear shirt is for you. It is the perfect accessory for your cochlear implant processor(s), and gives you the security, comfort, and confidence to participate in and enjoy all types of activities without the fear of losing your device.

#swimming #cochlearimplants #Secure #CiWear

IS THERE AN "I" IN IEP

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 02:21:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

According to the Department of Education, “each public school child who receives special education and related services must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Each IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized document.

To create an effective IEP, parents, teachers, other school staff--and often the student--must come together to look closely at the student's unique needs. These individuals pool knowledge, experience and commitment to design an educational program that will help the student be involved in, and progress in, the general curriculum. The IEP guides the delivery of special education supports and services for the student with a disability. Without a doubt, writing--and implementing--an effective IEP requires teamwork.”

If the IEP is designed to be a collaborative process, why are parents always fighting for their child to receive appropriate services or school placement?

We have learned over the years it doesn’t matter what the IEP team recommends, it comes down to what the school or the District wants to offer and the parent agreeing or disagreeing with the offer.

The first time we were hit with this reality was when we were requesting more speech for our son in a very contentious IEP meeting over speech services. Our son has bilateral cochlear implants and is on the autism spectrum. His co-occurring disability poses a lot of challenges, so we argued our facts and reasons why more speech was needed. The speech therapist, who never worked with our son or had conducted an assessment, explained to us that our son was being offered the same amount of speech as all the other students receive. Needless to say, we jumped on the statement claiming the IEP was not individualized to our son, but predetermined by the District. The school district agreed to the additional speech hours, but has been trying to change our son’s speech services in every IEP since.

We have found over the years, our IEP teams have not always been made up of knowledgeable school personnel looking to develop an educational program that is individualized to our son’s needs. We’ve had to fight school administrators, who’ve never met our son or lack any understanding about his disabilities as well as school service providers, who’ve never worked with our son, then write IEP goals and suggest inappropriate services. We’ve even had school placement offered to us, when no one on the IEP team even knew anything about the program being offered.

For the most part, schools and school districts will do their best to create an IEP for a child with special needs within the bounds of their budgets, personnel, services and programs they have available. But individualizing a program outside those limits becomes a real fight for parents.

If an educational program is to be truly individualized to the student’s needs as the law intends, those on the IEP team (including parents) need to be fully knowledgeable and have a good understanding of the student’s disability and their needs. It is imperative for the IEP team to know about all available services and school programs that appropriately address the student’s individual need without prejudice.

As long as schools districts consider limits on what they can offer students with disabilities, the “I” in IEP will always be hard to define. Parents have to be knowledgeable advocates for their child to make sure the "I" means individual.

Please feel free to leave a question or comment about your child’s IEP and we will be happy to respond. The more parents share, the better prepared we are to help our children with special needs.

Cochlear Implant Experience – Leah's Story and Review of Ci Wear

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 20:28:00 +0000

Leah, who’s a bilateral cochlear implant recipient shares about her 20th Wedding Anniversary Trip to Australia and how Ci Wear helped enhance her experience.

Hello Rock Stars of the Ci Wear Team,

I must admit that these few experiences I am sharing here - would have been very different deaf. For the two separate days that we did these excursions, I wore my Bilateral CI Advanced Bionics Neptune processors all day. The CI Wear shirt is so comfortable.

1. Snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef - the view was indeed inspiring - the colors were awesome, almost unfathomable the diverse landscape - but the sounds! The water, the biologists guided talks, the snorkeling-helpers! I was really glad I could hear the helpers... When I first sat on the edge of the platform and peeked into the water, it was so clear it looked like I was on the top of a skyscraper, I thought I was going to fall right down to the bottom! I heard all of the snorkeling helpers' reassuring words and direction when they were putting on my lifejacket and directing me on the placement of how to hold my swim noodle. They even gave me a snorkel tube with red-tape, in case my head pieces fell off and I was in distress. - But guess what? THE CI HEAD PIECES STAYED IN PLACE! And it is funny now, thinking out it… I was soooo nervous about ME falling, but was never in fear that my CIs would end up at the bottom of the ocean - as they were tucked in your fabulous shirt!

CI devices secured in Ci Wear shirt sleeve pockets

2. THE BEST EXPERIENCE WITH CI WEAR. We did the bridge climb in Sydney! It turns out the bridge form you fill out asks if you wear Hearing aids. You can not wear hearing aids on the climb as they will blow off your head. I explained that I wear CIs and that I would be okay on the climb with my CI Wear shirt. They called over the head of security and the manager of the climb-office. I demonstrated showing them the CI Wear pockets, the Neptune clips secured to the white bands, the pockets, the wire-feed section and from the processor to the magnetic head pieces. And then without missing a beat - I said, “And if there IS a big-huge wind that does blow the magnets off my head... - (without stopping my words, I swept both my hands against my scalp - you should’ve seen their eyes!) … they are safe and secure, as they are tethered to me, and I can simple click the magnets together and toss them in my shirt. (and there they were, my CIs safe and sound). The manager and security chief were SOOOO impressed! They had never seen anything like it! They commented how very well prepared I was to do the bridge climb! We were in the front of the group and I heard the guide, the cars on the bridge, the commuter trains, and my husband’s romantic words at the top of the bridge, and my son’s woo-hoos when we completed this incredible activity! www.bridgeclimb.com

Feeling like you're on top of the world when you can hear "Down Under."

3. When we got home the garden was very overgrown and a part of the fencing needed repair - the shirt was great. I could work up a sweat digging around, and I could dance around to my Spotify music playing on my phone, and all the while my CIs were safe and sound!

During work secure your CI with Ci Wear

Once again, thank you and many blessings to your company!

Get out there and hear!!!!

- Leah P

If you are looking for a comfortable wearing option that secures your cochlear implants try a Ci Wear shirt. Visit us at www.ciwear.com.

#cochlearimplants #CIShirt #Snorkling #hearing

Cochlear Implant Equipment – Why Does It Cost So Much To Replace?

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 17:01:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

When your cochlear implant equipment is no longer under warranty, the cost of replacement parts such as sound cords, headpieces or the processor can seem quite pricey. Sometimes our health insurance will cover part of the cost, but generally reimbursement for parts can be minuscule to the actual purchase price we pay. For example, our insurance valued the cost of a $125 sound cord at $11 with our plan and then stated they were only going to reimburse us at 50% of the $11, because our CI manufacturer was not in-network.

To most of us, the replacement costs can seem outrageous even with insurance. But… are the CI manufactures taking advantage of us just because there is no competition for their unique parts or are there other reasons such as their warranties on equipment; R & D, etc., to justify these higher prices. Depending upon the CI Manufacturer, warranties may be 1-5 years with free replacement on parts or processors and may include shipping.

Additionally, most people accept the idea that a lot of the cost comes from R & D. CI devices continue to evolve offering better sound quality and new features that enhance the user’s listening experience. Cochlear implants are medical devices that fall under government regulations. Compliance to these regulations can also add to the expense. Then you have to look at the total size of the cochlear implant market which adds to costs. According to the National institute of Deafness and Communication Disorders (NIDCD) as of 2012 there were 324,200 registered cochlear implant recipients worldwide, and over 58,000 in the US.

I’m sure the numbers have gone up over the last 4 years, but in general terms this would be considered a niche market. Furthermore, the 3 cochlear implant manufacturers divide up the total CI market making their market share even smaller. Due to constant changes in technology and new product offerings, existing brand models become a subset of an already small market and thus become a limiting factor to mass produce proprietary items. With no real aftermarket for replacement parts to sell generic options, people are left to pay the higher price from the manufacturers or search online to purchase parts from another person. All of these factors seem to play into the higher cost of replacing parts for cochlear implants, but consider the replacement cost when the item is not under warranty.

Like many families we’ve replaced our son’s processor, sound cords and headpieces numerous times while under warranty. Most often our daily activities might cause these sensitive devices to fail. For example, a child is sucking or chewing on their headpiece or sound cord, a processor getting damaged during an activity because of too much moisture from sweat or being knocked off the body. These sensitive devices will fail and need to be replaced.

Think about this, your smartphone stops working within the manufacturer’s warranty period because you caused physical damage to it, like dropping it in water or cracking the screen. The manufacturer is not going to replace it, unless you’ve paid extra for an extended warranty. Yet cochlear implant manufactures know how important it is for you to hear and they usually, without question, provide you a replacement while under warranty regardless of how many times you request a replacement.

Given the advantageous warranties and the responsiveness of the CI manufacturers, the cost of replacement parts may not be that outrageous. Unfortunately, it is an unexpected expense and admittedly I complain about this as well. However; the cost may not seem as bad if you think about it in terms of what it would be without a warranty. Let’s hope cochlear implant manufacturers continue to support their CI recipients by maintaining or providing longer term warranties on their products.

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IEP PREPARATION: CRITICAL INFORMATION YOU NEED

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Sun, 05 Jun 2016 17:05:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

If you are a parent of a child with a disability (e.g. hearing loss, autism, dyslexia, etc.) most likely you are receiving or will be receiving services from the school through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). As a parent, you are an important part of the IEP team and the process to develop the best educational plan that meets your child’s needs.

Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting can cause a lot of anxiety for people, especially if you are anxious to get services in place to help your child at school. Far too often, parents will attend meetings unprepared without the proper information to be a productive participant in the development of their child’s IEP.

While at an IEP meeting, if you let the school present reports and goals to you, you are setting yourself up for a long and a potentially stressful experience. Depending on your child’s disability the information provided can be daunting and tough to process often leading to a very unproductive, sometimes combative and emotionally draining meeting.

As a parent, I got defensive after first hearing my son’s assessment reports. Instead of focusing on how to help create the best education plan to benefit my child, I was angry and arguing about what was being reported about my child.

Picture from Schoolpsychologyfiles.com

Often parents go into an IEP meeting trying to guess what the school is going to present…this is a big mistake. As a parent, you have equal rights under the law to be an active participant in shaping your child’s education plan. Too many parents go to IEP meetings without information regarding their child’s educational needs.

Prepare yourself; if it is an initial IEP or an annual review, you have the right to review present level performance reports and any assessments, as well as request suggested goals from service providers prior to your meeting. These goals will need to be discussed and agreed to at the IEP meeting.

We request the school to provide us with our son’s reports and suggested goals, at least 5 days prior to the scheduled meeting. It is customary for the IEP team members to contact us in advance to discuss our son’s present level of performance and thoughts about goals. For us, this has been the easiest and most efficient way to create the best education plan for our son.

Here’s a version of an email I’ve sent, copying all the service providers, requesting information:

Dear {school administer},

For our child’s upcoming IEP review {date}, we request copies of all assessments, present level performance reports and suggested goals prior to our meeting. This information will help us prepare and engage in a constructive manner that will help the IEP process move more efficiently. Generally, there is a lot of information presented at our son’s IEP meeting and having this information (at least 5 days in advance) will help us get through the meeting in a shorter period of time.

We invite anyone on our child’s IEP team to contact us with any questions. We can be reached by email or phone. We look forward to receiving the requested information as soon as available or at least 5 days prior to the scheduled IEP date.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

Sincerely,

By requesting this information prior to our IEP meetings, we’ve been able to move through the IEP process more effectively. This has enabled us to spend more time addressing appropriate goals and services and less time on reading and processing reports. In many cases, the suggested goals provided prior to the meeting were appropriate for our child. Thus, we were able to move on to goals and services that we felt needed to be discussed further. Other times, the reports and suggested goals forewarned us there was going to be an issue with particular services.

IEP’s can become very adversarial and stressful, especially if you feel you’ve been blindsided by the school. Being alerted to possible issues, allows you time to investigate a solution and to discuss with the IEP team or it prepares you to look at your options if there is going to be a disagreement.

One of the reports and suggested goals we received prior to the IEP alerted us that the school was engaging in inappropriate and unprofessional behavior that violated our parental rights. We made certain that this behavior was well documented at the IEP meeting in case we needed to go to due process. To become more informed and learn the specifics to what we did, please click here and we will email part 2 of our story to you.

Remember YOU are an essential part of developing an appropriate education plan for your child. Requesting reports and suggested goals, prior to your IEP will help you save time; keep you focused and better prepared to discuss your child’s educational needs. It may alleviate some of the stress and anxieties that are associated with IEP’s. It has certainly been helpful for us.

#SPED #IEP #Hearingloss #autism #specialneeds

Accessory | Smartphones | Mobile Device | Cochlear implants

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 18:44:00 +0000

Mobile and Hearing devices shouldn't stop you from activities when you want to stay connected.

According to Pew Research, 90% of adults have mobile devices. Many of those

Cochlear implant in sleeve pocket

adults like to stay connected or listen to music during different activities. A smartphone, MP3 player or hearing device, such as a cochlear implant processor can be cumbersome and uncomfortable to wear depending on the activity and the accessory needed to use the device.

The concern is always how to secure your device without the risk of dropping or damaging it. Armbands, belts, clips or pouches can be uncomfortable and still allow for cords to be snagged and ripped out of the device or off your head.

Ci Wear's patented design secures and integrates your device into the shirt keeping you connected - eliminating uncomfortable accessories and flapping cords that can cause damage to a device or potential injury.

Ci Wear shirts offer you the added security & comfort to use your device anywhere.

Sleek looking sleeve pocket with elastic band to secure device
Inner pocket opening to run cords under shirt to eliminate flapping cords that can be annoying or get snagged
Collar loops keep cords to the back of your head and allow for rapid replacement if dislodged
Excellent wearing option for waterproof devices during water activities.
More focus on your activity and less on your device

If you're struggling to find a functional, appealing and comfortable wearing option for your device when working out. Visit www.ciwear.com.

#Fitness #Running #IPhone #Samsung #Music

MORE IS NEEDED TO EDUCATE CHILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS AND AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD)

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 15:47:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

In its 2009–2010 Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and Youth, the Gallaudet Research Institute estimates about 40 percent of children with hearing loss exhibit another disability and notes the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to be 1 in 59.^[1] Early intervention is critical for the development of speech, language, communication skills and learning. Some families are fortunate to discover their child’s hearing loss at a young age, so an early intervention can be implemented to help their child stay on track with their hearing peers. What happens when you put your child through a cochlear implant surgery, spend years of AVT or speech therapy and it seems your child is making very little progress?

This was the case with our son. Two years of AVT, after receiving a cochlear implant, it was becoming increasingly frustrating to find our son was nowhere near his hearing peers in communication and language skills. We knew language development could be a long process, but something else was wrong. Our AVT thought it best to seek additional medical evaluations to see if there was something else prohibiting our son’s language development. After having evaluations done, our son was diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum or having ASD. Having a child with hearing loss takes lot of work and commitment by a family, add autism to the mix and it is like trying to solve a puzzle without knowing what pieces are in play.

With intensive behavioral and speech therapy over the years, our son has done well. He has become more verbal and can certainly communicate his needs and wants. What is difficult is unlocking the doors into his learning style. There is this blurred line between his autism and hearing disability. When our son has difficulty doing school work; we are always questioning whether he is hearing the information, does he have a problem processing the information or is he just not interested in the material because it has no real meaning to his everyday life.

Our son has been lucky, over the past 3 years, having a teacher who is very creative and skillful in teaching and engaging her students in interesting ways. Unfortunately, we have had DHH teachers, audiologists and other service providers struggle to help our son because of their lack of knowledge, training or willingness to learn more about ASD.

It’s clear from our experience, our school district is in need of more information and training of how to educate a child with a dual diagnosis of hearing loss and ASD. They seem to address the disabilities individually as oppose to collectively, and how they may impact a child’s overall education. We have a school audiologist who wanted to create a goal for our son where he tells his aid or teacher when his CI processors are not working. This is a good goal and skill for a child with hearing loss. Add autism to the mix and the goal may become very complex and difficult to achieve.

A child with ASD may have to be taught what it means for their processor not to be working and then trained what to do after they determine they are not working. Furthermore, generalization of whether the processor is “working or not working,” “broken,” or “on or off” could be confusing and difficult to understand. Our son would consider his processor being “on” if his headpiece was attached to his head. Also, a child with autism might like the silence and prefer not to notify anyone their processors are off.

The dual diagnosis of hearing loss and ASD has been documented for the past 20 years; however, research and clinical guidelines on how to identify and teach young children with this dual diagnosis are sparse.^[2] School professionals and educators need more tools and training to better equip the growing number of children afflicted with ASD and hearing loss. Both Advance Bionics and Illinois State University have done work in this area addressing this issue and calling attention to the need for better diagnostic tools, early intervention and training of education professionals. Significantly more needs to be done!

More about Ci Wear

Ci Wear is a patented specialty shirt designed to secure cochlear implant processors or other mobile/hearing devices, adding a layer of protection to prevent wires from being snagged or entangled. Shirts are manufactured in the USA and are available in youth and adult sizes. www.ciwear.com.

References:

Government Run Health Care – Possible Consequences For Cochlear Implants?

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Sat, 20 Feb 2016 17:38:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

The following was a post I saw online from a CI parent, from another country, which has universal health care and it got me wondering what could be the possible consequences for cochlear implant users if a universal health care system was implemented in the United States:

“Our government funded system holds one contract only with another implant company - therefore blocking AB from our market. No insurance cover for implants, so its government funding or private. We implanted AB because we had to pay private. I know our country blocks users from accessing some clinics due to wearing AB and not Cochlear. A lot of politics at play here.”

Our recent attempt at using Medi-Cal to try to purchase CI equipment really opened our eyes to how one of our government’s health care programs runs in this country.

When needing to order headpieces, we were told that it could take up to 90 days to receive approval from Medi-Cal. Around the 90^th day, we were informed we needed a case number to receive an authorization. I spent additional weeks trying to find out a case number. When I finally reached the Nurse Case Manager, she said she had no record of my son ever receiving a cochlear implant. My son has been in the system for 11 years.

My son qualified for Medi-Cal because of his severe hearing loss and the program was used as a secondary insurance to receive his cochlear implants.

The nurse asked for a recent audiology report, so we sent our son’s last audiogram. The nurse then informed us the audiology report was not acceptable and that they need to verify my son is deaf and has cochlear implants at one their approved facilities.

According to the Board of Audiology, there are 34 Audiologists in the United States who hold a Cochlear Implant Specialty Certification. Our son’s audiologist is one of them. A simple phone call, from the case nurse to our audiologist, probably would have been enough to provide confirmation that my son was deaf and had cochlear implants.

To receive any benefits under Medi-Cal, you need to see a Medi-Cal provider. There are only two Medi-Cal provider locations in Los Angeles where an audiologist could conduct an audiogram to confirm our son’s diagnosis. UCLA was one of the facilities, so the Case Nurse set up an appointment for us.

The UCLA audiologist was surprised they were being asked to do an audiogram on a CI child to confirm they had no hearing. They happily did the test wrote up the report and submitted it. We got a case number submitted it to purchase the headpieces and to this day we still don’t know if Medi-Cal paid for any portion of the headpieces…and it has been almost a year.

Our experience and the comment from someone living with a government run single payer system made me wonder what would happen here in the U.S. if single payer government run health care system was implemented:

Would the government drive down the cost for cochlear implants that only one manufacturer could afford to deliver products to meet government price requirements?
Could one manufacturer lobby for exclusivity for their devices?
Would there be enough ENTs to choose from to do the surgery in a timely matter that would accept the government’s reimbursement rates?
Would there be enough audiologists to choose from who accept the government’s reimbursement rates to activate and service cochlear implants?
Would a universal health care system inspire new innovations by manufacturers if they already had a secured government contract for their device?
Would a child miss valuable language development time waiting for an approval to receive a cochlear implant or even getting the needed equipment in a timely fashion?
Would we be sacrificing quality care for costs?

These are just some important questions to consider when examining a possible government-run health care system.

About Ci Wear

Ci Wear shirts are used as rash guard/swim shirt in the water or as a high-performance shirt on land. The shirt features raglan sleeves and flatlock stitching for added comfort and flexibility. The shirts are made in the USA and sell directly to consumers via online store. Available in adult and youth sizes. For more information visit www.ciwear.com.

#singlepayer #cochlearimplant #insurance

CI WEAR FOUNDER RECEIVES PATENT FOR SPECIALTY SHIRT TO HELP DEAF SON-

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 14:51:00 +0000

Can Benefit Many Active Individuals

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (February 9, 2016)-Ci Wear, LLC. (www.ciwear.com) an apparel company focused on creating active gear for the hearing impaired, announced today the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 9,242,093 for a specialty garment used during physical activity to conceal a hearing device and its wires to

Shirt can be worn in all environments including underwater

protect against entanglement and dislodgment. This proprietary shirt design reduces the exposure of hearing devices such as cochlear implant (CI) processors, smartphones and MP3 players; and their prospective sound cords/headphones. By integrating the device into the shirt, this adds a layer of protection from tangles and snags that cause loss or damage, especially during activities in tough environments such as surfing, skiing, water parks, soccer, rock climbing and basketball.

"The idea for Ci Wear came from watching our son swim with his waterproof CI processors," explained Eric Sherman, inventor of the Ci Wear shirt. "We noticed our son spent a lot of time tending to his processors and headpieces, and not enough time playing. We wanted to find something our son could wear that improved his experience in the water and not be a hindrance."

By incorporating the hearing device, the user could slide their CI processors or any electronic device into the sleeve pockets, thread the cords through the shirt, and enjoy any physical activity without the need to make constant adjustments for comfort and protection of equipment. This patent is an important component of Ci Wear, differentiating its clothing from other apparel, especially in the area of active wear for individuals who use hearing devices. Ci Wear is focused on enhancing the users experience. Parents of hearing impaired children have expressed their appreciation for a product like this because it works wells with sports across the spectrum all while neatly concealing the hearing device and its sound cord/wire.

About Ci Wear

Ci Wear shirts are used as rash guard/swim shirt in the water or as a high performance shirt on land. The shirt features raglan sleeves and flat lock stitching for added comfort and flexibility. The shirts are made in the USA and sell directly to consumers via online store. For more information visit www.ciwear.com.

#Activegear #technology #Ciwear #cochlearimplant #ProFinderContest

Do Insurance Companies Determine Unreasonable Rates For Cochlear Implant Equipment?

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 23:48:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

When your cochlear implant equipment is out of manufacturer’s warranty period and you need a new sound cable, headpiece (coil) or processor, often people will go through their health insurance to help cover part of the cost. Not all health insurance is the same, so be aware as your insurance company might reimburse you for less than you expect. This was the case with us when we purchased a CI sound cable for $125.00 and the insurance reimbursed us $5.81, less than 10% of the cost.

Cochlear Implant Sound Cord

After receiving our reimbursement check and Explanation of Benefits (EOB), we noticed the “Allowable Amount” (the amount the insurance company will pay for service or medical equipment) was substantially less than the cost of the equipment ($125.00 compared to their allowable amount of $11.62).

When inquiring about the allowable amount and how it was derived, the insurance company’s own definitions, terminologies and explanation were as confusing, ambiguous and misleading as credit card offers you receive in the mail. Under “medical supplies, equipment and footwear benefits” in our plan it stated our responsibility is “all charges in excess of 50% of the Negotiated Fee Rates,” for non-participating providers. The negotiated fee rate is the rate negotiated for in-network providers and is synonymous with “allowable amounts.” Our implant manufacturer is not a participating provider, but we received an in-network provider waiver, meaning we would receive the in-network rate (60% coverage based on our plan).

Here is the problem with cochlear implant equipment; it is proprietary to each manufacturer’s device. Parts cannot be mixed and matched between manufacturers. Finding a compatible sound cable at the cost of $11.62 is not possible. In our grievance filed with state regulators, we argued this point and requested the insurance company explain their methodology in how they derived at $11.36, in this instance, to determine their allowable amount.

Based on the definition outlined in our policy, we reasonably believed that the insurance company would cover 60% of the cost of the sound cord. The insurance company responded to our inquiry and grievance describing five different methods of determining allowable amounts and none of it made sense in relationship to our claim. In some instances, their explanation directly contradicted what was outlined in our policy. Eventually, the insurance company claimed the amount was determined by a “customary and reasonable rate of reimbursement and not at billed charges.”

A "customary and reasonable" is a term used by insurance companies to cap their exposure on certain medical equipment and procedures. Paying less than 10% of the billed amount didn’t seem to be reasonable. The insurance company refused to divulge the methodology used to determine what was customary and reasonable and thus settled on the rate of $11.62. Under this terminology, insurance companies decide the rate they will pay.

In the end, state regulators didn’t have the legal authority to compel the insurance company to reveal how they came up with their rates. An adjustment was made to our claim and the rationale behind the adjustment was equally confusing. We were reimbursed more on our claim, but the amount was substantially less than what was billed.

Clearly, the power in the health care industry lies with the insurance companies and not the consumer. Right now is open enrollment for health care insurance (it’s the law, you must have health insurance). If you are looking for a new health care plan, you may want to contact the insurance provider you’re considering to find out their coverage on your cochlear implant equipment. (Here are links to billing codes for different cochlear implant manufacturers Advanced Bionics, Cochlear, Med El).

Final thought, be an informed voter when it comes to your health care. Avoid the temptation of negative ads and political bias. Unfortunately, in our state, the voters missed an opportunity to gain more control over their health care. The insurance companies ran a huge negative ad campaign with no opposition which helped defeat a health care proposition. The bill would have helped make health care costs more transparent.

More about Ci Wear
Ci Wear is a patent pending shirt designed for cochlear implant processors and other listening device. Use as an exercise shirt, rash guard or swim shirt during sports activities. The shirts have pockets that add a layer of security to your device. Made in the

USA

and sells direct to consumers via online store. Shop at www.Ciwear.com.

If you like our stories feel free to Subscribe to our blog and share with others. Do you have a story you would like to share? If so, send it to us. We just might use your story on our next blog.

Trampolines - Great Way to Address Sensory Seeking Behaviors

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Wed, 09 Dec 2015 18:31:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

As a follow-up to my story about the lycra swing being a great way to address spinning behaviors, I wanted to share how the trampoline is another great way to address other sensory seeking behaviors. In addition to our child spinning in circles, he also liked jumping. When our son was a toddler he would jump off anything he could climb on, such as a bed, other furniture and climbing apparatuses at the park. One day, he used his dresser drawers to climb on top of the dresser. When preparing to jump off, the weight of my son along with the open drawers tilted the dresser forward, partially yanking the anchors out of the wall. Thankfully the dresser was anchored or our son might have been seriously injured. Our son’s jumping behavior was not only dangerous, but it was damaging our home.

Jumping is a fun activity for children and it helps them learn about coordination and movement. Our son’s jumping

issue was a sensory seeking behavior that needed to be satisfied.

We addressed this behavior in occupational therapy (OT) and it helped. Our son learned how to control himself when he was on high objects and how to climb off them, instead of jumping. The OT also introduced our son to the trampoline. Our son loved jumping on the trampoline. It was a great motivating tool during therapy sessions, but once he got home the beds in the house took a beating.

Clearly we needed a trampoline of our own. We purchased an 8’ trampoline with safety netting and put it up in the backyard. It worked great! We found that after jumping on the trampoline, for at least 10 minutes, our son became calmer and more focused. Also, he stopped using our beds as a jumping apparatus.

Since the purchase of our first trampoline 7 years ago, both of our sons jump on it daily. Trampolines are not only good for children with sensory seeking behaviors, but a great form of aerobic exercise. If you are looking for a gift the entire family will enjoy consider a trampoline.

If you have a solution for a sensory seeking behavior, please share with us.

More about Ci Wear

#cochlearimplants #trampolines #sensory #swimming #shirts

How Listening To Our Gut & Not Our Doctor…Helped Diagnose Our Son’s Hearing Loss

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Sat, 17 Oct 2015 16:50:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

As a general rule, we listen and trust our doctors when it comes to our health. Why shouldn’t we, they went to medical school, spent years of their life training to be a doctor and they take a Hippocratic Oath. But, doctors are people too. They aren’t perfect and if your gut is telling you one thing and your doctor is telling you another, there are times you might just need to listen to your gut.

It might sound cliché when someone says, “what is your gut telling you?” in our case, it helped diagnose our son’s hearing loss at an early age.

As with most parents, especially those with newborns or small children, anytime something seemed wrong with our child (i.e. runny nose, yellow poop, excessive crying, bright red ears, etc.), we called our pediatrician. In most cases, our pediatrician addressed our son’s health issues, except the one time when we raised the issue about his hearing.

When our son was around six months of age, he seemed to be getting a lot of ear infections. He wasn’t at the point of needing tubes, but it was a health issue. Anyway, my wife and I went on a vacation and the grandparents watched our kids.

When we returned home, the grandparents raised a concern that our son didn’t seem to be hearing. We thought this couldn’t be right as he had passed his newborn hearing test. The grandparents did some simple tests (e.g. banging pots, slamming doors and clapping) to show us why they felt our son wasn’t hearing. Admittedly, my son didn’t respond to those stimuli which seemed odd, but to other similar stimuli his behavior seemed normal.

After a few days and a lot of anxiety over whether our son had a hearing problem or not, we called our pediatrician. We shared our concerns, expressed what the grandparents observed and asked about a hearing test. His response was, “the grandparents are just a bunch of worry warts. I saw your son a couple of weeks ago, he had an ear infection and now he’s fine. I don’t need to see you again.” Our gut told us otherwise.

Feeling very uneasy and confused by the doctor’s flippant attitude regarding our concerns, we decided to find an audiologist who would do a hearing test on our son. Generally for a six-month-old you would have an auditory brainstem response (ABR) test done to test hearing. After our conversation with our doctor, he didn’t seem interested in writing a prescription for an ABR test. We found an audiologist who ran some tests in a sound booth. After about a ½ hour of testing, the audiologist turns to me and said, “I’m seeing enough red flags here to warrant an ABR test.” The audiologist agreed to call our pediatrician to share her observation and recommendation. Luckily, our pediatrician was out of town and the audiologist spoke to the “on call” doctor who wrote a prescription for an ABR test at a local hospital.

The ABR results confirmed that our son had profound to severe hearing loss. When our pediatrician received the report, he was in total denial and wanted us to have another ABR test done but this time at UCLA medical center. Again, results found profound to severe hearing loss.

Our pediatrician’s response to our son’s hearing loss, “I guess we sometimes have to listen to the grandparents.” No apologies for dismissing our concerns. He didn’t talk about next steps or options for us. Nothing!

This epic failure and lack of professionalism could have set our son back months if not years with developmental delays. Luckily, we have family and friends in the medical field that provided help and guidance that allowed us to take matters into our own hands. Our son now has bilateral cochlear implants and hears great.

The unfortunate thing about our story is that it is one of too many where doctors have dismissed a parent’s concern or another professional’s opinion (i.e. school audiologist or teacher) regarding hearing issues.

In the end, you should always follow your doctor’s instructions. But if your concerns are not being addressed or if you have a feeling in your gut that something is just not right, don’t be afraid to seek another opinion. The more information you have the better decisions you can make regarding your heath.

BTW, we found a new pediatrician!

Lycra Swing – A Great Way to Address A Child’s Spinning Behavior

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Fri, 18 Sep 2015 21:18:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

Shortly after my son received his first cochlear implant and started to become mobile, we noticed he enjoyed spinning in circles. He would look up at the ceiling and spin in circles, laughing. Spinning is fun for children and it also helps them learn body control, balance and focus. Our problem was our son was constantly spinning to clearly satisfy a sensory need, it didn't seem like a game or casual fun for him.

Our pediatrician thought our son’s spinning and other sensory seeking issues may be related to his profound hearing loss and recommended we see an occupational therapist (OT). Our OT worked on body awareness, coordination, balance, focus and control and it all helped, but our son’s spinning motion seeking behavior continued. This not only became a problem for him throughout the day, but an issue at night. Our son was very restless when we tried to put him to bed.

We had a backyard swing but that was not satisfying our son’s sensory needs either. One day, while at OT with my son, I began to look around at all the apparatus and equipment they had and found my son really liked to be bounced around in this lycra hammock. The OT would use it either as a reward to get my son to finish a task or to refocus his attention. I quickly realized this is something I could make at home.

I went out and purchased a large piece of nylon/lycra fabric and tied it to a carabineer which I attached to a swivel hook (items we picked up at REI and a local hardware store) and hung from a beam in our living room. The whole set up cost me about $80 which was a lot cheaper than anything you can find in a therapy product catalog. The fabric hung down little more than half way to the floor. Once my son was inside, his weight would pull him down to about 18-24 inches off the ground. Everything was measured out so he wouldn’t hit the walls or the ground when swinging.

The lycra swing worked great! It gave our son a real snug feeling, while enabling us to push him in tight fast or large slow circles helping provide the sensory input he was seeking. Our son became calmer, less fidgety and more focused. His daily need to spin himself dramatically diminished. At bedtime, the swing helped settle his body down allowing him to fall asleep much easier.

OT really helped our son, but it was the lycra swing that got us through the day and down for the night. If you developed something to help address a family member’s sensory seeking needs, please share. Hopefully, it may help someone else.

#lycraswing #cochlearimplants #autism #ciwear

Making Your Rechargeable Batteries Last Longer For Your Cochlear Implant

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 15:47:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

One of the best benefits of my sons newer cochlear implant processor (he received several years ago) was that it uses a AAA battery to power it. No longer did we have to depend on a proprietary battery and charger. We could pick up either 1000 milliamp hours (mAh), Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) rechargeable, or alkaline batteries at any store and it would power the processor. Although using a rechargeable battery was more expensive, it made more economic sense to use on a daily basis than burning through alkaline batteries.

Rechargeable batteries should last up to 1000 charges. We don’t really keep track of how many times we charge our AAA batteries, but we went from replacing batteries every few months to maybe once a year… if not longer.

Smart Charger

We extend the life of our rechargeable batteries by investing in a smart charger.

A smart charger is designed to protect and prevent from over-charging your batteries. If your batteries feel very warm or hot when pulling them out of the charger, it’s likely you’re not using a smart charger and over-charging and shortening their life span.

The smart charger we purchased allows us to charge, discharge, refresh, and test the batteries. The batteries definitely don’t feel warm after charging. In addition to extending the life of the batteries, we found that when a battery tests below 700 mAh on our smart charger, it will only power our son’s processor for a short length of time… which is less than a day, randomly shutting off the processor before signaling a low battery. In general we refresh our batteries with the smart charger, which is a process of discharging and recharging several times. We do this especially if the battery tests below 800 mAh. This assures that our son’s processor will be powered throughout the day. If we can't refresh the batteries back above 800 mAh, we will no longer use them in the processor.

Also, not all rechargeable batteries are the same. Do a little bit of homework before you buy. We found some batteries lasted longer than others. Also, we found it best to charge a new NiMH rechargeable battery before using it. These batteries will self-discharge, so who knows how long they have sat in some warehouse or on a store shelf. There are many resources on the internet; Michael Bluejay (http://michaelbluejay.com/batteries/) put together a battery guide on his blog that you may find helpful.

If you have battery or charger suggestions, please share your comments. Lastly, remember to recycle old batteries.

#cochlearimplant #ciwear #CIbattery

SWIMMING WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS IS IMPORTANT FOR WATER SAFETY

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 14:31:00 +0000

By Eric Sherman

For many people, swimming is a fun and refreshing activity…especially when it’s hot. For parents, (like us), with a child who is profoundly deaf, swimming can be quite challenging, nerve racking and scary.

When trying to beat the heat, we head to the beach and my son loves to swim in the ocean looking for fish. He will chase them by diving through waves and swimming away from the shore. I often find myself in the water for hours making sure he is safe. It is exhausting and frightening trying to keep him from drifting to far down the beach and/or getting caught up in the current or swimming into large sets of waves.

Thankfully, he wears waterproof bilateral cochlear implant processors and can hear instructions about where to swim and when to come in, etc. This has been extremely helpful in keeping our son water safe! It also enables us to do more water sports, like surfing and body boarding. We do check his devices periodically to make sure they are on and working. Sound quality is not a concern as long as he can hear his name and follow instructions.

If you’re having problems getting your child to wear their CI device in the water because of sound quality, comfort or wearing configuration options… then try to find solutions that will help make them comfortable in the water with their device. It’s a safety issue more than anything else. It’s important for your child to be able to hear lifeguards, other people, oncoming boats or personal watercrafts and especially you. When my son was swimming looking at fish, he was drifting to far from me; I yelled his name, his head popped up out of the water. I told him to swim back towards me and he did. Without the ability to hear, we would probably limit his swimming activities. Swimming is therapeutic for our son, so this would not be a good thing.

In our house, we make wearing cochlear implant processors mandatory in the water like wearing sun block. Most cochlear implant manufactures offer a water configuration for their devices. In time your child will get use to and understand any sound differences in the water, but make sure they are comfortable. There are wearing options such as hats and arm bands, etc. Our son wears a Ci Wear shirt. It's a sun protected swim shirt designed to secure and help protect cochlear implant processors. If your child isn't comfortable wearing their processors in the water find a wearing option that works for you. In the end, your child needs to hear to be safe and being comfortable will likely lead to a more enjoyable experience.

#swimming #beach #cochlearimplant #watersafe #Kids

Shirt Designed for Cochlear Implants is Helping to Fight Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (Ci Wear) — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 19:48:00 +0000

First shirt sewed by Aileen that led to the birth of Ci Wear

Earlier this year Ci Wear sadly lost a valuable member of its team to cancer. Aileen Sherman was the impetus behind getting Ci Wear started. She took the idea for a specialty shirt with pockets and made into reality by sewing the first prototype shirt. Aileen saw the potential on how altering a swim shirt could not only help her grandson, but many others like him, who wore waterproof cochlear implant devices. The shirt she made was crude in its looks, but it proved the concept that the shirt would work. Thus, Ci Wear was born.

In Aileen’s honor, we will donate $5.00 for every shirt purchased between now and the end of September to the Aileen Sherman Memorial Fund to raise money for cancer research. As of 2014, 14.5 million people have a history of cancer. In 2015, about 589,430 Americans are expected to die of cancer, or about 1,620 people per day. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the US, exceeded only by heart disease, and accounts for nearly 1 of every 4 deaths according to American Cancer Society.

Regardless of whether you purchase a Ci Wear shirt, we ask that you donate to the Aileen Sherman Memorial Fund. A contribution of any size helps. It's our hope we can find a cure for this horrible disease that indiscriminately afflicts so many people. The fund is partnered with Kure It Cancer Research, a 501c3 non-profit organization, so your contributions are tax deductible. To learn more about Aileen and to donate to help finding cures for cancer please visit https://www.crowdrise.com/AileenShermanMemorialFund.

Please share this blog with others.

Thank you!

#KureIt #fightcancer #AileenS