1.3 wrap up blog

1.3.1
 In this section we studied sound waves and the different parts of them. Frequency which is the pitch of sound and amplitude which is how loud a sound is were the main two points. We also studied conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound is not conducted efficiently through the outer ear canal to the eardrum and the tiny bones of the middle ear. Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when there is damage to the inner ear, or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. We also studied the anatomy of the ear and made models.
1.3.2
 In this section we studied the two most important tests used to diagnose hearing loss.  The Rhine Test is used to diagnose conductive hearing loss. One of the ways to conduct this test is to take a tuning fork and strike it on the sole of your shoe and hold it beside your ear, using a stop watch you see how long you hear the sound given off. The second part of this test is to again strike the sole of your shoe but this time to press it to the mastoid process and time how long you hear it again. The speech in noise test is used to test for sensorineural hearing loss and is conducted online at  http://press.hear-it.org/page.dsp?forside=yes&area=1189 . It uses a persons ability to understand speech in a noisy environment.
1.3.3
In this section we researched Cochlear Implants and the pro's and con's of getting the surgery done. I was on the against team for the debate. It was neat to learn about the way the deaf community felt about the surgery. The key points for the against side were that the person with a CI couldn't swim, play on a playground, Play any contact sport that could possibly do damage to the unit. It costs 45,000 to 70,000 dollars for the surgery which lasts up to 6 hours. There is a higher risk after a patient has this surgery to develop pneumonia meningitis and the CI implant typically destroys any hearing that was left in the ear. There is a risk of infection, recall, shock, and emotional trauma caused by isolation and having ones choice taken away if they are young. Most people still do sign language after they have the CI implanted.