Acoustic Characteristics of the Speech of Young Cochlear Implant Users

shel90 said:
OMG!!! It is a miracle that I can speak clearly despite having a severe profound deafness since birth. :whistle:
Click to expand...

And OMG!! I could hear myself farting even though I'm totally deaf!! It's a miracle, hooray!!

:giggle:
 
Right, Jillio, I really believe Neecy (sticking my neck out here) does see that distinction and I don't know why she doesn't wanna acknowledge it because I think she can while at the same time champion the idea of CI's that will work on folks carefully selected for it for ALL of the right and just reasons.
 
Tousi said:
Right, Jillio, I really believe Neecy (sticking my neck out here) does see that distinction and I don't know why she doesn't wanna acknowledge it because I think she can while at the same time champion the idea of CI's that will work on folks carefully selected for it for ALL of the right and just reasons.
Click to expand...

**nodding agreement**
 
Cheri said:
And OMG!! I could hear myself farting even though I'm totally deaf!! It's a miracle, hooray!!

:giggle:
Click to expand...

*Tousi sticking a muffler in Cheri to deaden the sound. Too bad about the smell, tho* :giggle:
 
:lol: at Tousi and Cheri!

My reason for saying that it is a miracle that I learned to speak is I am playing Devil's advocate. If I protrayed that as a miracle, then it can be misleading to some people who dont have the knowledge and accurate information about deafness and deaf people. They are more likely to take my comment and try to apply it on their children or on all deaf people. I wouldnt want to be responsilbe for that if their children werent able to develop speech skills just because they took my comment literally.
 
Last edited:
Wonder if it's a specific mental disorder that makes people so scared of deafness they get the feeling of miracle when they see kids communicate without sign language? Surdophobia? Could be interesting to do a research. It's agreed on by many psychologists, even religious ones, that some of the experiences of miracle in religion, can be explained by mental disorders.
 
Well, Flip, be that as it may, I believe, for the most part, that the term "miracle" as used in this topic is pretty loose.
 
flip said:
Wonder if it's a specific mental disorder that makes people so scared of deafness they get the feeling of miracle when they see kids communicate without sign language? Surdophobia? Could be interesting to do a research. It's agreed on by many psychologists, even religious ones, that some of the experiences of miracle in religion, can be explained by mental disorders.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's a facet of mental disorder.......its called denial. Selective attention to the information that supports the distorted view only.
 
I would say that the CI could be considered a miracle to the people that use them. I would consider my CI a miracle in that it allows me to hear again. Not all miracles are the unexplainable.

You could consider a CI as a gift from God in that he gave us the intelligence to be able to make something like this.

Im not saying everyone should get a CI, as I know that it is not suitable for everyone and also would not be something everyone wants. But to me for those of us that DID decide for one, it could be a miracle to us.

I was facing a life of never hearing again. While that may be ok for some. It was not ok for me. I can accept that I am deaf. But does that mean I have to accept silence for the rest of my life?

The CI provided a way for me not to have to accept silence for the rest of my life. And to me that is my miracle.
 
Cheri said:
Tell me about it, If it was a miracle to them, then they would not need the practices, the follow-up studies, the oral language training etc.

The implant is not turned on until the incision has fully healed, about 4 weeks after surgery. Not everyone performs at the same level with cochlear implants, they need practices, following up, oral language training, listening and realizing sounds sure does not sound like a miracle. :ugh3:
Click to expand...

You raise an excellent point there. As much as I love my CI, I have to train myself to listen to sounds and to relearn some sounds that I can hear as they sound different from my HA.
 
shel90 said:
I know...*sighs*

Not that I am against CIs but to call them miracles is misleading. They are devices to assist with hearing and like HAs, some people respond well with them and some dont.

I guess I can call my HAs "miracles" too.
Click to expand...

You are so right Shel CI are not miracles but they do a lot more then hearing aides especially if you have a straight profound hearing loss. Yes, some people respond better to them then others. In young children which is my area of focus the biggest determining factor is parent follow through.
 
Cheri said:
How do you really know what works for a particular child?? Almost all members here on AD have hearing parents, and many of us learned signs much later because we weren't introduced to sign language.

While spoken words are important so are sign language, Why can't they use both? from my understanding what's wrong with using all communications?

Are you a hearing parent? Do me a favor, why don't you turn down the volume on the TV so you can't hear it. How much can you understand of what they're saying? Would you be able to understand words and meanings by watching their lips and face?

Deaf people read lips everyday. Put yourself in those deaf people shoes, and You'll understand why we deaf people feel that sign language and spoken language are important, not because we are anti-oral. All it takes for a person to understand where we are coming from, feel our pains this is what we struggle half of our lives, it's time for hearing parents to start listening, I mean really listen. The real experts are deaf adults.

While deaf people are not all alike which I agree, but that doesn't mean they cannot use all communication options: / Oral Auditory / Verbal / Cued Speech / Total Communication and Sign Language They entitled to full communication access to avoid any delaying in their language. :)
Click to expand...

Not all oral deaf adults and children read lips. I have 2 oral deaf teenagers. One reads lips very well and she actually signs much better then her brother. While my son does not read lips at all and his signing skills are very limited although they have both been expose to same amount of sign language. Even in my house that I have children with a hearing loss, I make sure that each of their unique needs are being met.

I have lots and lots of contacts both professional and personal that are oral deaf adults and they have all told me they wouldn't change a thing. They were raised to be oral deaf adults and they say they would change a thing about the way they were raised that they are happy to be oral.

I have listen to both sides and have done what I thought was best for my children. I have told my children that if they wish to turn their voices off and get completely involved in the Deaf culture, they are more then welcome too and that my husband and I would take more ASL classes, their responds is why would I do that. My children both do have friends that are oral deaf, signers only and some that are a combo of both. Good thing their friends are accepting of them and who they are just as my children are. I havn't found too many people here that are accepting of each other differences and ways that they were raised unless they were willing to convert to their believes.
 
jillio said:
While you are at it, why don't you explain it to themainstreamed kids who are simply passed through the system withou sufficient skills to get into college without rememdial courses in reading, writing and math? Might give them something to think about while they are sitting in class without a clue as to what is going on.
Click to expand...

I know you think oral deaf mainstreamed kids are just passed through and you have insulted my son's writing samples, I would be more then happy to post his TRI, he just had one about 6 months ago very through. He had the Brigance which he topped out, wood-cock johnson, and several IQs, verbal and non-verbal. Verbal IQ was at 108 and non verbal 115.
 
rick48 said:
Being banned on this forum is evidence of absolutely nothing other then the double standard that is applied to certain posters.

If you truly think that anyone other than your faithful sycophant actually
believes that your statement about Jackie's son was "neutral" then I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I would like to sell you.

Your act is tired and stale, we see through you Jillio.
Click to expand...

You are so right, my son made maybe about 5 posts. In 5 posts, she was able to tell what my son's writing skills were. But we she did do was prove my point and I was able to show my son what type of people are in the Deaf culture. I know that not all Deaf people are mean like Jillo and I happy that my children have positive Deaf and deaf people in their lives that accept them as they are and as they chose to live their lives.

Just as a side note if anyone knew my son knew that his writing mistakes are caused by his need to finish everything especially writing as fast as he can and this is not caused by his deafnes but by being a 15 year old boy.

Someone PM today and told that she hopes I do not hold what Jillo said about my son against all members of the Deaf culture. I would not do that, what I will do is have children avoid people like Jillo and I will warn them that there are people like her around.

I would also like to tell other members if you are trying to talk to parents of deaf children not knowing what approach to take with their children do not follow Jillo lead. This is one of tha main reason we chose the oral approach, we wanted our children to feel accepted. When my children were diagnosis, I was not told that they could be oral, I was told they would never talk or read above a 3rd grade level. I did my own research and encountered how some members of Deaf culture feel about oral deaf.
 
shel90 said:
blah blah blah

What are u doing to help change deaf ed for all deaf children not just your daughter only?
Click to expand...

I know that I am doing everything in my power to help inform parent of all the choices they have including CI's, oral only TC, ASL.
 
shel90 said:
Good point Kaitin.

Cloggy, by using such words like this to describe the CIs, some parents who come across this forum who may read that comment may take your words literally so what happens if the CIs doesnt turn out to be the "miracle" they envisioned? What then?

U want to quelch all the misinformation about CIs? I have no problem with that. What I have a problem is when Jillo or others try to quelch misinformation about Deaf culure and ASL, you or others make belittling comments about us and falsely label us as this or that. Expect Jillo and I or others to quelch misinformation about calling CIs a miracle or ASL as not being needed. U cant expect to have it your way only.
Click to expand...


SO LET ME SAY THIS FOR ALL PARENTS WHO ARE READING THIS THREAD WHO ARE THINKING ABOUT GETTING A COCHLEAR IMPLANT FOR THEIR CHILD. A COCHLEAR IMPLANT IS NOT A MIRACLE. IT CAN BE A VERY USEFUL TOOL WHEN USED CORRECTLY AND WHEN ALL THE SUPPORT SERVICES ARE THERE AND THE KEY THING IS THAT YOU AS A PARENT HAS TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON EVERYTHING. IT IS NOT AN EASY PATH. I AM TELLING THIS AS A PARENT TO 2 ORAL DEAF TEENAGERS THAT HAVE COCHLEAR IMPLANTS, NOT ONLY AM I A PARENT BUT I AM ALSO AN ORAL TEACHER OF DEAF AND AN AUDITORY VERBAL THERAPIST.

Now having said that the cochlear implant has been almost like a miracle in my family with my 2 deaf implanted teenagers. It has not been easy, it has been a lot of work and I wouldn't change a thing nor would my children.
 
Cheri said:
I disagree because in many researches shows that cochlear implant is no where near to be a miracle. I think it'll be a miracle if God gave us hearing without the needed of a device to help us hear. ;)

All who receive cochlear implants are still deaf. They are totally deaf when their implants are turned off. This isn't much different from what anyone experienced wearing a hearing aid, without the use of hearing aid they're totally deaf.

It's wrong to spread out to the world about a possibility of a miracle with cochlear implants when not everyone receive the same amount of hearing from their cochlear implants. It's bad advertisement.
Click to expand...

One thing I agree with you is that the cochlear implant is not a miracle. My children are still deaf. That is important for me that my children understand they are deaf. Actually people who are deaf tell my chldren they are Hard of hearing because they speak so well. I always tell them no they are deaf. Several times in their IEPs they try to classify them as Hard of Hearing I say no you need to change this because they are deaf.

CI has been amazing for my children because we understood what it could do and what it couldn't do.
 
jackiesolorzano said:
You are so right Shel CI are not miracles but they do a lot more then hearing aides especially if you have a straight profound hearing loss. Yes, some people respond better to them then others. In young children which is my area of focus the biggest determining factor is parent follow through.
Click to expand...

I beg to differ with you on this one, jackie. When parental involvement is the variable controlled for, the largest influence on CI success was seen in children with speech and sign together environments. That is not to say that level of parental involvement is not important, but that it does not have as big an influence as speech and sign.
 
jackiesolorzano said:
I know you think oral deaf mainstreamed kids are just passed through and you have insulted my son's writing samples, I would be more then happy to post his TRI, he just had one about 6 months ago very through. He had the Brigance which he topped out, wood-cock johnson, and several IQs, verbal and non-verbal. Verbal IQ was at 108 and non verbal 115.
Click to expand...

Once again, jackie, I did not insult your son's writing. I simply stated that I had seen examples of his writing skills. Do you have a problem with reading things into posts that are not there?

Secondly, I have seen numerous deaf oral students who were simply passed through the system. I work with them onb a daily basis to bring their reading and writing skills up to a college level so that they will be able to read the textbooks and write the papers required at the college level.

Thirdly, this is not about your son. It is about deaf children as a population.

Fourthly, posting your son's TRI is not necessary, because, despite your numerous attempts to make it so, this has nothing to do with your or your son personally. If you would care to post some research stating that oral deaf kids with CI have higher literacy rates, are consistently employed in relation to their capabilities, and are scoring on par with hearing students on the SAT and Compass Placement Tests, then by all means, do so. But for God's sake, stop trying to make your children the poster children for CI.
 
Back
Top