I discovered Smriti through posts on LinkedIn. I was thoroughly impressed with her drive and ambition. Never slowed down by her bilateral cochlear implants, I asked her to sit down for an interview.

With a hearing loss at birth and a combination of hearing aids and speech therapy, her parents perceived the limits of that option and decided to have her receive a cochlear implant when she was four a half year old. 

Smriti discuss the challenges and her parent’s decision to get the second side implanted when she was ten. She talks about the differences in rehabilitation for the second side.

Although I have interviewed parents of pediatric cochlear implant recipients, I was glad to have the opportunity to hear the story firsthand from a woman now in her twenties. 

I hope candidates contemplating a second cochlear implant will find inspiration in Smriti’s story.

I know I did. 

Transcript

Richard:

Cochlear Implants Basics is a site for candidates and their families and friends. If you have been told you qualify for a cochlear implant, these podcast interviews tell how receiving a cochlear implant can be a life changing experience. You will meet recipients who face a hearing loss and their hearing aids could no longer provide comprehension of speech or music. They faced growing isolation, inability to socialize, or compete in the world of business. Their joy of music disappeared. They explained how receiving a cochlear implant changed their lives. Welcome to Cochlear Implants Basics. A reminder, Cochlear Implants Basics is not sponsored by anyone nor is it offering medical advice. Please consult your own healthcare provider.

Richard:

Good morning or good afternoon. I would like you to please state your name, where you are, and the date, and we’ll get into the interview.

Smriti Rijhwani:

My name is Smriti Rijhwani. I was born and brought up Delhi, which is in India.

Richard:

And what’s today’s date there?

Smriti Rijhwani:

Today is 25th of January.

Richard:

Tell me a little bit about your hearing loss. Were you born with a hearing loss? Did it happen later?

Smriti Rijhwani:

I was born with bilateral profound hearing loss.

Richard:

And how old were you when they discovered it?

Smriti Rijhwani:

When I was six months old, that’s when my parents got to know about my hearing loss. They had compared milestones with other kids and they thought that something was a miss. I wasn’t responding to clicks or sounds, so they took me to a specialist. And that’s when they realized that I have a hearing loss.

Richard:

And did you get hearing aids at the time? What did they do?

Smriti Rijhwani:

So at the age of one, I was fitted with hearing aids. Because 20 years back, the awareness was pretty low. So we didn’t know what all are the possible solutions for this problem. So when I was around nine months, that’s when we got to know a audiologist. We had a chat with her. And at age of one, I was fitted with hearing aids.

Richard:

Did you have speech therapy or what kind of help did you have after you got the hearing aids?

Smriti Rijhwani:

When I got hearing aids at the age of one, at that time only we started with the speech therapy. And it went on for three and a half years. And at that time that, we realized that hearing aids were not benefiting me much. It was benefiting me up to some extent. And the situation was if I would’ve gone for a longer period of time, I would’ve actually developed lip reading.

Richard:

So you did develop lip reading later though?

Smriti Rijhwani:

No, I didn’t develop. When I was four years old, we got to know about cochlear implants. And at the age of four and a half, we went for the surgery. We didn’t delay. And I continued with my speech therapy. It was from hearing aids journey to cochlear implants. I actually did speech therapy for around five to six years. And because of that therapy, I can connect with the world. I was able to interact with everyone.

Richard:

Well, let me ask you a question. Because I’m very interested in cultural differences of hearing loss and cultural implants because I have spoken to people in 24 time zones and I know there are differences. What about going to school with the cochlear implant? Did they treat you differently or did you just go to a mainstream school?

Smriti Rijhwani:

So I got admission into a mainstream school and I got admission immediately after I got cochlear implant. Yes, it was a bit challenging for me, the whole journey during my school life, because at that time, students of that age, they didn’t know about the problem. So they always treated me that I was different. It was hard for me to make friends in the school, although I did have very good friends, but it took time for me to get open up with everyone.

Richard:

Well, that’s a very interesting point. Was it because of you afraid to open up or did people just look at you differently and treat you differently?

Smriti Rijhwani:

So earlier, the sound processors were huge. That was quite visible. And at that time, I was going through speech therapy. I was just practicing getting used to my sound processors. So I wasn’t able to get involved with a lot of people. It was quite difficult for me. And probably it’s a mix of. And my confidence level was very low. I had to ask for repetitions. So it was quite difficult for me to interact with them. And as well as they used to look at me and I was the only one with sound processors. So they treated me differently in that way.

Richard:

One student that I mentored many years ago from India, he was about to take his college oral exams, and he said that the professors had no sympathy. He was afraid that he would be failed. I don’t know what happened, but there was very little sympathy for hearing loss. Did you find anything like that?

Smriti Rijhwani:

So my professors didn’t treat me differently. They treated me as other students. They took care of me definitely in the starting. When you’re in a KG primary school, you need a lot of care. And changing the batteries and all, I couldn’t have done without any help. So in the initial few years, professors were there to help. And also, even in my senior school, they didn’t treat me differently. They were talking to me normally. And it was just only my classmates who looked at me differently.

Richard:

I understand. What about now, you went to college. What did you study by the way?

Smriti Rijhwani:

So I did my graduation from Delhi University and I did bachelors in management studies.

Richard:

And you work in that area now?

Smriti Rijhwani:

Currently, I’m doing MBA in business economics. And before starting with MBA, I was working for two years, particularly in sales field. Marketing and sales.

Richard:

Marketing and sales with a hearing loss. My goodness.

Smriti Rijhwani:

Yeah.

Richard:

How did that work out? Was that difficult or did you find a way?

Smriti Rijhwani:

So it was challenging at first because firstly I was staying alone for the first time and I was miles away from my hometown. And that was my first corporate job. So it was quite challenging, but I somehow overcame it. So we are advised not to wear cochlear implants at night. So I started wearing one of my cochlear implants just to hear the alarms and wake up on my own. And also, after six months of working, the lockdown started. So all of those challenges came in. It took time, but somehow I just did it. Because I had good support of my colleagues and my manager. So I was able to manage everything.

Richard:

They must love you.

Smriti Rijhwani:

They do.

Richard:

What about your parents? How did your parents react to your hearing loss? Were they very supportive the whole way? Are they still supportive?

Smriti Rijhwani:

They have been. So my parents, my family, and my friends for that matter, they have been very supportive. So when my parents got to know about my hearing loss, they were completely devastated because no one in our family had this issue. This was the first time it was happening with me. But they didn’t give up. Until now also, they have never given up. They have really worked hard on me. They have really supported me throughout.

Richard:

They’re very proud of you. Let’s go back a little bit. When they suggested cochlear implants, obviously you were too young to understand what was going on, but your parents knew. What about the second one? How far apart did you get the first and the second?

Smriti Rijhwani:

So the first one I got when I was four and a half years old. And the second one I got when I was 10 years old. So after a gap of almost six years.

Richard:

Wow. Why did you decide to go for the second one?

Smriti Rijhwani:

During my school life for I was facing a lot of challenges. So when I had my first one, I wasn’t using any hearing aids or any other device on my second implant. And it was going very well with one. When in classrooms, teachers used to roam around the class or whenever my classmates used to call me, I had a very difficulty in understanding direction, from where they’re calling me. So that was one challenge. The other challenge was conversing in a noisy environment. I wasn’t able to converse with people because I was hearing everything on one ear. All of the sounds were coming here and it was quite a big challenge for me. Also, the awareness was very low. We didn’t know the benefits of two. So we got to know about that later on and then we decided to go for it.

Richard:

Let me ask you a question. Because obviously when you’re four years old and 10 years old, you have very different sense of awareness. Do you remember how you felt about going for the second one? Were you afraid? Were you nervous? How did you feel?

Smriti Rijhwani:

I vaguely remember it. For the first one, as far as I remember what my parents told me that we were scared about the surgery. Will it be successful? How is it going to be? But luckily it went very well. And for the second one, getting a surgery is always scary. I just remember the moment I was going to the operation theater. I don’t remember anything else. So I was a bit nervous, but when they gave anesthesia and all, so I don’t know what happened after that. And by God’s grace, everything went very well.

Richard:

You bring up a very interesting point. Because I don’t know if you’re on Facebook, but if you’re on Facebook, one of the groups that I founded it’s called Bilateral Cochlear Implant Warriors. And these are all people who go through what you’ve just described. One of the things we’ve talked about recently is it more difficult to rehabilitate the second ear than the first. Did you have a special challenge for the second ear?

Smriti Rijhwani:

All the decisions for were taken by my parents. I was very young, so I don’t remember anything. I’m sure it might have been difficult for them to go through that process again. Doing the surgery, then taking therapy sessions again, because it was for 10 years I was hearing nothing from second ear. And I still remember when I got my second switch on, I was feeling very different. I mean, I took time to get adjusted to my second processor. I was used to hearing from one side. It took me around about one year to get adjusted to it, to actually wear it full day. And I took therapy for a year also to get used to it and to understand the directions and to understand only from my second implant. So it was quite challenging, but I’m glad I went for second implant.

Richard:

Everybody says that, but I was curious about the challenges because I find that some people adjust to the second one right away, but a large number say it’s much more challenging for the second. And I like people that are thinking of the second one to understand that. Not to say don’t do it, but to understand it’s going to be a different journey. I had both of them done in one operation, so I didn’t have that conflict.

Smriti Rijhwani:

Okay. So we didn’t know about the benefits I would’ve got from second plan. And as soon as my parents discussed my challenges with my audiologist, she explained us all the benefits. That’s when they decided we should just take this chance. And definitely there is a risk in surgery, but if you think about future, there’s a lot of benefits. So I think it’s a one time thing. Even I would suggest everyone who are thinking for a second implant, they should definitely go for it.

Richard:

Well, that’s great advice. [inaudible 00:13:22]. I tell people that all the time. But then again, I don’t like to twist anybody’s arm. I always say you have to do it at your own speed, at your own time. Nobody’s going to make you do anything.

Smriti Rijhwani:

Absolutely.

Richard:

Tell me a little bit about your work today. How do you handle clients? Do you work with clients or how do you handle the phone? What are the challenges you have today?

Smriti Rijhwani:

Currently I’m not working. When I used to work, I was in touch with customers directly. And earlier, pre-lockdown, I had to go outside. It was mainly a field visit. So I used to interact with client. I used to solve the problems, give guidance to them and help them in every possible way I can. Yes, I did face some challenges. Also, it’s like I do face challenge in understanding the accent in terms of everyone has their own way of conversing. Sometimes it becomes difficult for me to understand the accent, but I eventually got used to it.

Richard:

That’s a very interesting question. Because I understand India has, I don’t, dozens and dozens of languages. Is there a real problem about accents between talking to a person from one section to another?

Smriti Rijhwani:

So there is one common language which everyone speaks. Its Hindi. And although we were conversing in that language, but the way of framing sentences, the way of putting the points, it’s quite different for everyone. So initially, it was a bit of challenging. But as soon as I interacted with more and more customers, more and more recipients and families, I started understanding them. And since I was away from my hometown, the people in my hometown, the way they speak, it was completely different from that place. So it was quite a bit challenging, but I just overcame it.

Richard:

You bring up an interesting point. What about people that have normal hearing? Do they have problems understanding the accents between areas?

Smriti Rijhwani:

Yeah. So the thing is, in India, as you mentioned, that you rightly said, we have a lot of languages. So there are some people who might not know a particular language very well. So yes, they do find it challenging. But for me, it was like understanding these same language was challenging. But when I started chatting with people more and more, and with time I was able to understand them and able to interact with them easily.

Richard:

You’re a quick learner.

Smriti Rijhwani:

Yeah.

Richard:

Okay. Let me ask you now for the future, where do you see yourself five years from now, 10 years from now, now that you have bilateral implants? I assume that your road is a little bit easier, but where do you see yourself in the future?

Smriti Rijhwani:

Currently I’m doing MBA. And I really want to work in a corporate world in marketing field. So five years from now, I just want to learn everything as much as possible, every skill, and to apply those skills in my work life as well.

Richard:

But with hearing it makes it a lot easier. I thank you for your time.

Smriti Rijhwani:

Thank you so much.

Richard:

And I’m sure that people are going to be inspired by your journey. I look forward to speaking to you again in the future.

Smriti Rijhwani:

Thank you so much. It was a great opportunity for me as well. I mean, I’ve done nothing like this ever before.