I'd say a lot of them on that site were successful despite being implanted at a later age. Why the rush?
For example, Jordan received a hearing aid at age at a very early age until the FDA revised the guidelines for cochlear implant in 1998 she received it at age 10. She would've gotten it earlier.
Abigail - "In May of 1999, at the age of 11, I finally received my cochlear implant! I had tried to receive on several years earlier but had not been a good candidate at the time."
Melissa W- "I’m Melissa, I’m 18 years old and I have a Nucleus Freedom. I received my cochlear implant at ten years old. My life has changed so much since then. I wasn’t born deaf but my hearing was destroyed by aminoglycosides antibiotics after my premature birth at 28 weeks gestation. I was diagnosed as severely deaf at 9 months old and got my first bilateral hearing aids at 14 months. I attended a deaf school from 3-11 years old , the class sizes were so small and you got more 1-1 attention with teachers and there was a oral and SSE policy, so teachers used both while communicating with us deaf children. I was so upset when I left because I loved it so much!
My hearing loss deteriorated at around 7/8 years old so my parents, my audiologist and I decided to go through the cochlear implant assessment to see if I was eligible, after a long year of tests and assessments I was found to be eligible! "
Rhiannon - "
I was born a hearing child. When I was about two years old, my mother noticed that I wasn’t responding to her when she didn’t face me. She took me to have my hearing tested, but I passed the tests because I trained myself how to watch the movements of audiologists and respond when I saw their hands move. A lover of cinema, I always watched actors express themselves onscreen so I started to mimic their movements and lip motion, teaching myself how to lipread in front of any mirror I could find. ”Boy, she sure likes herself,” my dad said. I was training myself for a life that would be spent looking at faces that I would grow to respect and love.
After I got a CAT scan, it was determined that I had a hearing loss. Many tests were done, yet the cause still remains idiopathic.
My hearing loss first started off as moderate. When I had the choice to either hear or sign, I looked at my mother and said, “Mama, I want to be like everyone else. I don’t want to use my hands. I want to talk.” I was four years old. I was outfitted with my first pair of hearing aids then and went through several different brands over the years, along with adjusting to a loss that progressed to profound. I had the help of a speech therapist so that I could pronounce words correctly and work on my hearing. I succeeded in school and athletics to a point of where my deafness was secondary. It was only a part of me and I rarely discussed it.
I wore hearing aids until I was eighteen, when I decided to get the cochlear implant so that I could have a more successful career in the film industry. "
Leah - "I was born with a profound sensorineural hearing loss. I was fitted with hearing aids at two weeks old and continued to wear them for several years.
I struggled as my hearing got progressively worse. I reached the point of being unresponsive in both ears, even with hearing aids.
In 1992, my parents and I made the decision for me to get the cochlear implant.
It was only two years before that the FDA approved implantation into children. At this time, Cochlear would only consider patients with profound hearing losses and I was a good candidate for the cochlear implant. So the day after my 9th birthday, I was implanted with a Nucleus 22 device on my right ear."
Monique - "She learned to hear and speak utilizing the Auditory-Verbal approach and
hearing aids and is leading a fulfilling life. She attended Vancouver Oral Centre for Deaf Children for
Auditory-Verbal therapy sessions from the age of 6 months until 17 years old. At the age of 17 years old, she received a cochlear implant, and she said it was an incredible decision as there is no comparison between hearing aids and cochlear implants. "
Jentry -
Jentry's Story - YouTube
Lidia - Lidia is a cochlear implant recipient from the UK
who was born with normal hearing but
began to lose hearing at the age of 12 years old.
As for Charlotte, getting at age 30 her voice is markedly different from those who receive CI at a very early age. The key is not just the voice but the ability to understand the spoken language without even looking. Let's look at Deena who got her implant at age one.
Deena is a five year-old bilateral cochlear implant recipient who is being raised by deaf parents and has a deaf sister who is also a bilateral cochlear implant recipient. She shares a little information about herself in a video interview.
Deena - a cochlear implant recipient raised by deaf parents - YouTube
