As more toddlers get cochlear implants, they face a strange new world

Storme said:
I don't think the doctors were stupid to believe in this hogwash that cochlear implants cure deafness regardless of how the children became deaf. I think they were blinded by the medical benefits of cochlear implants to realize that these implants aren't for everybody. They probably were given money to promote these implants as the only choice for the parents who actually did choose them instead of looking into other alternatives.

CI requirements to become a candidate are moot points when it comes down to actually being able to use the implants once they're put in. I knew a deaf guy many years ago who went through a battery of tests and requirements to become a candidate for the cochlear implants when they first became available. I think in fact he was the first to become a candidate in the state I lived in at the time, but that's a long time ago. He got the implants and had them activated. He heard nothing. They didn't work despite the efforts to amp up the loudness and frequency in order for him to hear reasonably well.

It is the reason to ask if this is necessary for all deaf children (maybe not) to be given cochlear implants? $35,000 per implant (if not for two) isn't cheap, and if the implant doesn't work, that's $35,000 the insurance carrier has to eat.

CI requirements don't always determine whether the person will truly benefit from the implants until after they're put in and activated to see if the choice was worth the trouble or not.
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Well, that's the risks you have to take with CI's. All parents and all CI users(if appropriate) are informed of the risks of CI including it not working.

It's their and their parents choice to CI's. Money would be no object if they want their child to hear.
 
Storme said:
I don't think the doctors were stupid to believe in this hogwash that cochlear implants cure deafness regardless of how the children became deaf. I think they were blinded by the medical benefits of cochlear implants to realize that these implants aren't for everybody. They probably were given money to promote these implants as the only choice for the parents who actually did choose them instead of looking into other alternatives.

CI requirements to become a candidate are moot points when it comes down to actually being able to use the implants once they're put in. I knew a deaf guy many years ago who went through a battery of tests and requirements to become a candidate for the cochlear implants when they first became available. I think in fact he was the first to become a candidate in the state I lived in at the time, but that's a long time ago. He got the implants and had them activated. He heard nothing. They didn't work despite the efforts to amp up the loudness and frequency in order for him to hear reasonably well.

It is the reason to ask if this is necessary for all deaf children (maybe not) to be given cochlear implants? $35,000 per implant (if not for two) isn't cheap, and if the implant doesn't work, that's $35,000 the insurance carrier has to eat.

CI requirements don't always determine whether the person will truly benefit from the implants until after they're put in and activated to see if the choice was worth the trouble or not.
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Are you saying that you feel bad that the insurance has to pay for the device? I think the poor insurance companies are doing just fine.

I have never heard of a child who hears nothing with a CI. I do know that there are different levels of benefit, from hearing loud enviromental sounds all the way up to wonderful speech understanding and talking on the phone. These are all benefits though.

Also, "most" children don't get CI's. There are still only, maybe, 50,000 kids implanted worldwide.
 
faire_jour said:
Are you saying that you feel bad that the insurance has to pay for the device? I think the poor insurance companies are doing just fine.

I have never heard of a child who hears nothing with a CI. I do know that there are different levels of benefit, from hearing loud enviromental sounds all the way up to wonderful speech understanding and talking on the phone. These are all benefits though.

Also, "most" children don't get CI's. There are still only, maybe, 50,000 kids implanted worldwide.
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Insurance companies only have about 3 percent profit. It is not that great.

And I do know a person, (he used to be a child) who hears nothing with CI. He lost hearing at two from antibiotics.
 
Storme said:
I don't think the doctors were stupid to believe in this hogwash that cochlear implants cure deafness regardless of how the children became deaf. I think they were blinded by the medical benefits of cochlear implants to realize that these implants aren't for everybody. They probably were given money to promote these implants as the only choice for the parents who actually did choose them instead of looking into other alternatives.

CI requirements to become a candidate are moot points when it comes down to actually being able to use the implants once they're put in. I knew a deaf guy many years ago who went through a battery of tests and requirements to become a candidate for the cochlear implants when they first became available. I think in fact he was the first to become a candidate in the state I lived in at the time, but that's a long time ago. He got the implants and had them activated. He heard nothing. They didn't work despite the efforts to amp up the loudness and frequency in order for him to hear reasonably well.

It is the reason to ask if this is necessary for all deaf children (maybe not) to be given cochlear implants? $35,000 per implant (if not for two) isn't cheap, and if the implant doesn't work, that's $35,000 the insurance carrier has to eat.

CI requirements don't always determine whether the person will truly benefit from the implants until after they're put in and activated to see if the choice was worth the trouble or not.
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There still are not that many children with CI's , I know a lot of children who are unable to get CI's

I know a few children who could not benefit from CI's also. They only receive facial stimulation
 
Bottesini said:
Insurance companies only have about 3 percent profit. It is not that great.

And I do know a person, (he used to be a child) who hears nothing with CI. He lost hearing at two from antibiotics.
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He was implanted as a child? He heard nothing, starting at inital stim? Has it been investigated as to why it doesn't work?
 
Lissa said:
I guess it just does not work for some people. It happens
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But there are some technical reasons it could not be working (bad external, bad internal, bad mics, etc) and I wanted to know if those things had been investigated.

And for those that get facial stimulation, it is usually just one or two electrodes that cause the stimulation, so, often the audi can turn those off, and they can get benefit without the stimulation.
 
faire_jour said:
But there are some technical reasons it could not be working (bad external, bad internal, bad mics, etc) and I wanted to know if those things had been investigated.

And for those that get facial stimulation, it is usually just one or two electrodes that cause the stimulation, so, often the audi can turn those off, and they can get benefit without the stimulation.
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This person I know, had her implanted switched on aged six, she is now 19 years old and unable to hear since she experienced no auditory stimulation whatsoever.
 
faire_jour said:
I agree with you. There is a variety of ways to benefit, but some people get little or even no benefit.

But I don't think it is fair to say that successful CI users struggle to hear.
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I don't know that I agree with you on the struggling issue. From what I have personally witnessed and heard from other CI users it is a struggle and does take time and therapy to gain benefit. That said I am also sure that some people get through that quicker than others. It's not like you flip a switch and natural hearing is attained. Now imagine someone that was pre-lingualy deaf and what they would have to go through before gaining benefit.
 
rockdrummer said:
I don't know that I agree with you on the struggling issue. From what I have personally witnessed and heard from other CI users it is a struggle and does take time and therapy to gain benefit. That said I am also sure that some people get through that quicker than others. It's not like you flip a switch and natural hearing is attained. Now imagine someone that was pre-lingualy deaf and what they would have to go through before gaining benefit.
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I got the impression that "struggling to hear" would mean that they were not able to understand speech, and were still functionally profoundly deaf. People who have at 20-30 db do not "struggle to hear", they hear at "near normal levels", which includes whispers and understanding speech from another room, and "overhearing".
 
faire_jour said:
I got the impression that "struggling to hear" would mean that they were not able to understand speech, and were still functionally profoundly deaf. People who have at 20-30 db do not "struggle to hear", they hear at "near normal levels", which includes whispers and understanding speech from another room, and "overhearing".
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I think it is a struggle to make use of the sounds that are being heard. Again, there is much more to gaining benefit from a CI than just flipping the switch. To me, gaining benefit would include the ability to make use of the sounds.
 
I know cochlear implant can hear a lot of environmental sounds. Even my old hearing aids can pick up alot of environmental sounds (especially if I stand close to it) But electronic is electronic. a microphone on a processor can't do half of the things that natural hearing can do.

or like artificial leg, people who have it still need help to get around to make it little easier on them. It can not do half of the things that a real leg can do, but it does help people get around better.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
I know cochlear implant can hear a lot of environmental sounds. Even my old hearing aids can pick up alot of environmental sounds (especially if I stand close to it) But electronic is electronic. a microphone on a processor can't do half of the things that natural hearing can do.

or like artificial leg, people who have it still need help to get around to make it little easier on them. It can not do half of the things that a real leg can do, but it does help people get around better.
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But understanding flowing speech is NOT struggling. It may take time, but that doesn't mean it is a struggle. (Not all people, but those who do) They understand speech, they can communicate through listening alone. They are HEARING (signed by your ear, not your mouth) and understanding.
 
faire_jour said:
But understanding flowing speech is NOT struggling. It may take time, but that doesn't mean it is a struggle. (Not all people, but those who do) They understand speech, they can communicate through listening alone. They are HEARING (signed by your ear, not your mouth) and understanding.
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taking time is always a struggle. A man on a wheelchair have to take his time to take a shower every morning to get ready for work. For his case, he have to to get up twice as early than the average person. It's is frustrating and overwhelming just to perform one little task that everyone else take for granted. Now if he had accommodations, it will make it a little easier on him so he can finish taking a shower as fast as his peers.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
taking time is always a struggle. A man on a wheelchair have to take his time to take a shower every morning to get ready for work. For his case, he have to to get up twice as early than the average person. It's is frustrating and overwhelming just to perform one little task. Now if he had accommodations, it will make it a little easier on him so he can finish taking a shower as fast as his peers.
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I mean that understanding speech may not happen on day one after activation, it can take a year or so (if it ever happens). Not that it takes a long time, in the moment, to understand.
 
even though I understand that what you meant when you mention time. That it take awhile to get used to it.I wasn't really talking about upon on activation anyway. But talking about the quality compare to natural hearing.

I believe many CODAs grew up the few few years without spoken languages, and I think they were able to keep up with their peers.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
even though I understand that what you meant when you mention time. That it take awhile to get used to it.I wasn't really talking about upon on activation anyway. But talking about the quality compare to natural hearing.

I believe many CODAs grew up the few few years without spoken languages, and I think they were able to keep up with their peers.
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No, CODAs have fluent visual language from the moment they are born. And most ften, they are also surrounded by other friends and family who are hearing, so they also have access to spoken language.

I believe that people who were hearing and then get CI's say it sounds just like their natural hearing did. And my daughter says that she loves her CI (better than her hearing aid) because she can hear more, and it "sounds better".
 
not always, most deaf people do not usually hang out with hearing relatives or come from generation of deaf family. These kids learn to speak when they start playing with other children which is way past 3 years old.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
not always, most deaf people do not usually hang out with hearing relatives or come from generation of deaf family. These kids learn to speak when they start playing with other children which is way past 3 years old.
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But they do have language, and they have had the ability to hear from the start.

I don't understand the point you are trying to make...
 
my point is CI is not perfect from natural hearing.

CODA can pick up a language easily even though they were never taught.

But CI child have to keep on working her listening skills. It is ridiculous for anyone to think it is just as good as natural hearing.
 
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