"I perceive my environment much more consciously with hearing on both sides!"

I am Pascal, I live in Tyrol and I am a bilateral CI user. My deafness was diagnosed when I was six months old, after which I was first fitted with hearing aids. Despite this, I never really heard well. It was normal for me not to hear anything and I tried a lot to compensate with gestures and mouthing. I was then implanted at the age of four, initially only on the right side. After my initial fitting, everything was strange to me, but my hearing developed rapidly. My grandfather had a farmhouse and I loved hearing the sounds of the chickens, cows, sheep and goats.

Thanks to hard work with speech therapists and intensive training at home with my parents, I was able to attend a normal school. At the age of eleven, the implant suddenly failed. That was a shock for me. We decided on a reimplantation on the right and also a fitting on the left side. I was able to settle in quickly and directional hearing was possible. I never needed sign language, I was able to communicate normally with my family, teachers and friends using spoken language. I have worked many different jobs and completed a degree, and my CIs have always worked reliably. I also love winter sports, especially skiing. I've never had any problems with my CIs there either, despite falls.