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Wired for Sound: A Journey Into Hearing

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Beverly Biderman's journey from deafness to hearing is eloquently captured in her compelling book, Wired For Sound. The reader shares the author's kaleidoscopic array of emotions which range from guilt and anger over her own hearing loss to unsurpassed joy in the new hearing she receives from her cochlear implant. Those readers who have a severe to profound hearing loss or who are deaf and who long to hear will feel an empathy in her travails which is almost uncanny.

Wired For Sound reflects more, however, than merely a personal experience. It compiles detailed resource material on cochlear implants and, thus, is must reading for anyone who is investigating the potential benefits and occasional pitfalls of cochlear implantation. While Ms. Biderman has chosen for herself a cochlear implant to enable her to more fully assimilate herself within the hearing world to which she has, even when deaf, always belonged, her presentation is unbiased and non-judgmental. She respects the Deaf culture and does not engage in proselytizing.

Wired For Sound is a book which transcends the issue of hearing versus deafness. Indeed, this marvelous saga of courage and compassion offers any caring person hope for the future of humanity.

This book is a great read for anyone trying to decide if they want to get a CI or for anyone who might have already had the surgery and want a good realistic description of what the activation might be like. That's when I read it, while waiting to heal after surgery and before activation. As a matter of fact, I think it should be recommended reading for all CI canidates. It helped on that first day to know that even if I didn't hear speech, it would get better! Lots of interesting history of CI research and personal stories. Thank you, Bev, for a great book!

I had heard about this book from someone at Kapiolani Community college who knew I had an interest in getting the Cochlea implant. This book opened my eyes, because I was deathly scared of getting the implant, but reading Bev's book ...has also opened my eyes wide enough to accept that the cochlea implant might just be for me...Bev always had expressed the willingness to be able to hear music. to be able to understand the lyrics of the song thats being belted out on the radio, to be able to hear the phone without a third person, to be able to carry a conversation without missing a word...to wait 40 years like Bev did to be able to hear music, its kind of sad...>I really liked this book...

I loved this book. I am getting an implant on May 21, 2007, and this was required reading for me by my surgeon. I found myself nodding in agreement at so many of her thoughts and life experiences. The description of her mapping afterwards was encouraging and helpful. The task of learning all the environmental sounds was fasctinating to me. I am so inspired by Beverly's story! The only downside is that the technology has advanced so much in the 10 years since this book was written. She wrote of possible advances, that have been here now for a several years. But it still is a wonderful story.

When I ordered this book, I knew that the book was outdated in regards of modern technology updates. I didn't buy the book to learn about cochlear implants. I bought the book to learn about how people dealt with their hearing losses and since my son is being considered for a cochlear implant, I thought I would inform myself with what people are thinking as they undergo their cochlear implants. I have one and would not trade it for the world.

This book is very well-written, informative but it is also full of personal insights, of which I had to disagree with on quite a bit. I am lending the book to my mom who has a hearing loss as well (we are not considered Deaf by any means at all), and it will be really interesting to see what she has to say. This book literally has me talking to my husband about whether or not he found it difficult to be married to me because I am HOH and he laughed. This book has sent me on a personal journey to examine my thoughts and feelings regarding my hearing loss, my CI, my feelings regarding my son (who is my hero, by the way, as he is one of the best kids I have ever met ... he is proud of his hearing aid and is frustrated that he can't always hear and is just simply a beautiful person ... I hope he keeps that while going through the angsts of teenagehood in a few years.), and more.

If you are considering a cochlear implant, this book can help you get started on that journey. If you know of someone who is deaf and would like to know more about it, this might be a stepping stone to get more information. Be aware of the technology changes which is not presented in this book. Also, I think Canada has a different procedure than here in the States. So, keep that in mind while reading this personal journal of a woman who underwent a cochlear implant.

8/6/08

I'm glad that K.Anderson found my book useful, and that her cochlear implant surgeon recommended she read it. Having had a new (second, bilateral) implant recently using the current technology, I can affirm that although the way in which the technology works is basically unchanged, that people (myself included) seem to do better faster with the newer technology than they did when I got my first implant. But, there are still no guarantees regarding how well one will do, in what period of time, and the devices still do not make a deaf person hearing. Cochlear implants are, however, tremendously liberating, life-changing applications of technology! -- Bev Biderman
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I'm glad that K.Anderson found my book useful, and that her cochlear implant surgeon recommended she read it. Having had a new (second, bilateral) implant recently using the current technology, I can affirm that although the way in which the technology works is basically unchanged, that people (myself included) seem to do better faster with the newer technology than they did when I got my first implant. But, there are still no guarantees regarding how well one will do, in what period of time, and the devices still do not make a deaf person hearing. Cochlear implants are, however, tremendously liberating, life-changing applications of technology! -- Bev Biderman
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Found it engrossing, fascinating and encouraging as a parent of a child who has just received an implant. I also specifically found Ms. Biderman's honesty about her childhood experiences and processes and challenges in life as a result of her hearing impairment an eye opener, especially for a parent who is trying to understand from all aspects what my child must be going through in his new journey into sound!