It's interesting to read the difference in experiences as for all intents and purposes I was raised as a hearing-only child (no sign language or lip reading) and didn't quite grasp the nuances until much later on. There was ~7 years of speech therapy to close the gap (so to speak) to hearing kids, but after that it's been repeatedly mentioned that most folks assume that I hear like everyone does. Wouldn't have it any other way, honestly - having that modification done opened so many doors. (That being said, like the author, it's amazing to be able to take the CI off to go to sleep. Soundless sleep is something to be enjoyed.)
Would be happy to do an impromptu AMA if anyone has pertinent questions on the topic. (Keep in mind that singular experiences are only singular experiences.)
I don't -recall- hearing half tones but that may be because I avoided classical music out of personal taste and after a childhood of mandatory piano lessons... it's been a while since I've gone near an instrument. Amusingly picked up a strong fondness for 80's synthpop/EDM/industrial which feels like it could be partially explained by it being 'beat heavy' and less delicate/subtle with different instruments. Would be a fun study!
edit: Jumping back to explain that resolution/quality vastly varies from person to person, even if they're using the same generation of devices - to make a long story short, CI's hook up to electrodes within the ear, and the more electrodes that can be sync'd, the better the resolution. Mine was an odd case where I have a facial nerve right next to a cluster, and those had to be turned off otherwise it would cause my face to twitch excessively whenever a certain pitch of noise was played.
There's also single-implant users and bi-lateral implant users - most folks these days opt for bi-lateral as you do get a whole 'nother level of quality; I was one of the early bunch and have other medical complications that make another surgery very difficult, and decided that since the single's been fine for daily use, it's worth it just to stick with it.
This is partially true. CIs replace everything up to the auditory nerve -- the hair cells in the cochlea, the mechanotransduction at the eardrum, etc are all literally short-circuited by the implant.
However, much of what we call "hearing", and basically all of the perceptual aspects of it, begin on the AN itself, or in the areas of the brainstem and midbrain that the AN projects to. These areas receive input from the AN as would be true in a normal-hearing individual, with the caveat that the available frequency spectrum is greatly reduced.
Even those with normal hearing do not process all sounds that arrive at out Tympanic Membranes (and if we did...we would likely go insane from over stimulation).
I had quite a few patitents that lost most of there hearing yet still had constant tinnitus.
A small few even reported the tinnitus changing from a constant tone (whne they had mild hearing loss) to almost recognizable speech and/ or music once they had severe hearing loss.
It could be argued that even though they had next to no hearing they still "heard" more than they cared for.
The author mentions how she likes silence. This is interesting, as non-100%-deaf people began to hear noises even before being born, and even when placed in the best anechoic chamber will still hear sounds from the own body. So few people in the world really knows what silence is.
