Viral TikTok Video Demonstrates What It’s Like To Hear With A Cochlear Implant
Living with any type of disability can be difficult, but having a hearing difficulty brings along certain, specific disadvantages. Fortunately, for those who want it, there are some who can regain a degree of hearing, and that comes in the form of a cochlear implant.
More than likely, you see videos of deaf people hearing by means of a cochlear implant for the first time. Those videos are almost certain to bring a tear to our eye, but it still doesn’t let us know what they are actually hearing.
We do know that a cochlear implant gives them the ability to hear sounds, including voices or music like they’ve never heard it before.
We may now have an answer as to what they are hearing, thanks to a viral TikTok video. It is doing its best to explain what it is like to put in a cochlear implant for the first time.
To answer the question, @asignofmagic posted the video and captioned it: “We had a follower ask what it sounds like throughout Cochlear implant. This is as close an example as we can find.”
The TikTok then goes on for about 40 seconds and it goes back and forth with what a person hears using a cochlear implant when tones are played. You then hear a few sentences of someone speaking.
In both the tones and speech, the video plays the sound first and then plays what the person might hear using a cochlear implant.
It isn’t quite as clear as what we may hear, but it is close. There is a little muffle and some static occurring in the background.
The video says that this may sound weird to someone who can hear but if someone has lived without hearing, it sounds perfectly normal.
@asignofmagic We had a follower ask what sounds sound like through a Cochlear Implant. this is as close an example as we can find! #cochlearimplant #ASL #Deaf ♬ original sound – ASignOfMagic
The reaction to this video is largely positive. Some people find it heartwarming and impressive. Other commenters share their own experiences and how sound gets better as your brain adjusts to it.
