Baby born deaf will get 'bionic ears' that could help him hear and talk

Beach girl said:
Sure, I don't disagree. I'm here myself because I wanted to get ideas from others with hearing loss. I came here because I was googling about "best cell-phone for hearing impaired" and up popped a link to a comment in one of the forums here. It's been interesting. (Although I still haven't bought a new cell-phone...)

My point is just that there seems to be this fear that Calum's mom won't provide that, when she has explicitly stated that she will, from the very beginning. (Sorry, "Calum's mom, to be talking about you in the 3rd person.) She has already thought about a lot of things, has Plan A already in operation, has a back-up Plan B in mind, has a family that is united in providing Calum both BSL and spoken language (assuming the CI will work).

And then Jillio gets on her high horse and wants to say Calum's mom is doing it wrong. Jillio raised her son without hearing aids and without a CI. If he's happy, I'm glad for him. Calum is going to be following a different path. Like everyone in life, there will come a time when he can decide for himself what he will do. Maybe he'll continue to use his CI, maybe he'll opt for something else, be it better technology or no technology.

In the meantime, looks to me like he has a loving family who is doing their very best by him, giving him the opportunity to be exposed to sound and to BSL both, and to eventually be equipped to make meaningful choices for himself.
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That's not true. Read the forum and know the history you are describing.
 
Calums mum said:
So what exactly am I doing wrong in your eyes? Please no psycho babble, just plain straight forward English please.
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I didn't say that you were doing anything wrong. You simply have the same perspective that the vast majority of hearing parents have in the beginning. However, because that perspective is based on replacing what is missing, there are many concerns that you simply are not including at this point in time.

That is what I, and many others on this forum, are trying to tell you. Nothing more. No judgement attached. No right or wrong involved. Just more information that will allow you to see things from a wider perspective. A wider perspective will benefit both you and your child.
 
Beach girl said:
Sure, I don't disagree. I'm here myself because I wanted to get ideas from others with hearing loss. I came here because I was googling about "best cell-phone for hearing impaired" and up popped a link to a comment in one of the forums here. It's been interesting. (Although I still haven't bought a new cell-phone...)

My point is just that there seems to be this fear that Calum's mom won't provide that, when she has explicitly stated that she will, from the very beginning. (Sorry, "Calum's mom, to be talking about you in the 3rd person.) She has already thought about a lot of things, has Plan A already in operation, has a back-up Plan B in mind, has a family that is united in providing Calum both BSL and spoken language (assuming the CI will work).

And then Jillio gets on her high horse and wants to say Calum's mom is doing it wrong. Jillio raised her son without hearing aids and without a CI. If he's happy, I'm glad for him. Calum is going to be following a different path. Like everyone in life, there will come a time when he can decide for himself what he will do. Maybe he'll continue to use his CI, maybe he'll opt for something else, be it better technology or no technology.

In the meantime, looks to me like he has a loving family who is doing their very best by him, giving him the opportunity to be exposed to sound and to BSL both, and to eventually be equipped to make meaningful choices for himself.
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If you are going to speak about how I raised my son, you need to make sure that you have your facts straight. You have made several statements here that are factually incorrect. Stop trying to hard to fulfill your personal grudge against me. It is blinding you to facts.
 
Hohtopics said:
It's you that's always saying that those that are not taking the Deaf route are the ones that's going to fail. So, where's yours?
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I never implied that. And I have offered solutions many times over. You are simply blinded by your defensiveness and fail to see them.
 
Calums mum said:
He will be like other deaf people in the fact that he will be deaf. However, he won't have the same education, or parents not taking note of what he wants, as the other peoples experiences on here, seem to be. That is what I meant, which was quite clear in my post. Please read my actual words not the words you wanted me to say so you could slate me.
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I KNOW my son's experience will be different

That is what you said, isnt it?
 
Babyblue said:
I am asking you then? If you think I am implying the wrong issues. What psycohosocial issues are you speaking of??
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Psychological and social developmental issues. None of which are dependent upon more sound perception.
 
shel90 said:
I dont know how it got started with Jillio but I suspect it got started with the wording used in the article that was misleading and things went downhill from there. The article didnt really help a lot of us who use ASL, dont have CIs, and have suffered at the expense of needing to be able to "hear" with our ears instead of our eyes.
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The article was about CI's! It was to raise awareness of CMV! I do agree with some of the wording used - I don't have any control over that. The article that appeared in the other paper was better worded and more focused on the CMV - have you seen that. The newspaper whose article started all this debate are going to be following up on Calum and I will speak to them about using better phrases about disability etc.

Someone asked me today if it was us in the paper. I told them yes it was. She looked at Calum, looked really sorry for him, and said 'ah bless'. I quickly said 'don't feel sorry for him, he's fine' then proceeded to reel off all the signs he's doing, that's he could sign milk at 7 months and told her that hearing babies don't do that, and that soon he will get implants to enable him to hear. She explained that people without signing experience don't know any of that. That's one more person who is better informed. Society is prejudice, and has a lack of knowledge about many disabilities and differences between people. In this country definately it is getting slowly better.
 
shel90 said:
I dont know how it got started with Jillio but I suspect it got started with the wording used in the article that was misleading and things went downhill from there. The article didnt really help a lot of us who use ASL, dont have CIs, and have suffered at the expense of needing to be able to "hear" with our ears instead of our eyes.
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Exactly. Speak out against audist language and messages, and the audists get overly defensive and start the attack, instead of paying attention to what is actually being said.
 
Calums mum said:
The article was about CI's! It was to raise awareness of CMV! I do agree with some of the wording used - I don't have any control over that. The article that appeared in the other paper was better worded and more focused on the CMV - have you seen that. The newspaper whose article started all this debate are going to be following up on Calum and I will speak to them about using better phrases about disability etc.

Someone asked me today if it was us in the paper. I told them yes it was. She looked at Calum, looked really sorry for him, and said 'ah bless'. I quickly said 'don't feel sorry for him, he's fine' then proceeded to reel off all the signs he's doing, that's he could sign milk at 7 months and told her that hearing babies don't do that, and that soon he will get implants to enable him to hear. She explained that people without signing experience don't know any of that. That's one more person who is better informed. Society is prejudice, and has a lack of knowledge about many disabilities and differences between people. In this country definately it is getting slowly better.
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Yes, that's typical of the media to twist things around without understanding the implications.
 
The problem with calling yourself hard of hearing is that hearing people *shout* at you. Seriously! :lol:
 
shel90 said:
Yes, that's typical of the media to twist things around without understanding the implications.
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Of course. And I am certain that calum'smum will become ever more aware of that as she grows in the experience of raising a deaf child.
 
sallylou said:
The problem with calling yourself hard of hearing is that hearing people *shout* at you. Seriously! :lol:
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Well, I really think it doesnt matter because I have told people that I am deaf and still get shouted at. :dunno:
 
shel90 said:
Well, I really think it doesnt matter because I have told people that I am deaf and still get shouted at. :dunno:
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This is true. And a perfect example of the belief, however unconscious, that hearing people have that it is simply a matter of increasing the sound. Hearing parents certainly are not immune from that belief.
 
jillio said:
If you are going to speak about how I raised my son, you need to make sure that you have your facts straight. You have made several statements here that are factually incorrect. Stop trying to hard to fulfill your personal grudge against me. It is blinding you to facts.
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Which "several statements" are factually incorrect?

I recall reading that you tried hearing aids with your son, he didn't like them, and at an early age (8 is what I recall - am I wrong about that?) he discarded them and/or you mutually agreed to discard them. Whatever the details, he basically grew up after that without them. Am I wrong about that? If so, my apologies. What are the facts, if I'm wrong there?

I don't have a personal grudge against you. I think you never (or perhaps very, very rarely) listen to any viewpoint other than your own, and I think you try to bully other people by vehemently insisting that your way is the only way.

That doesn't seem like a very well-adjusted perspective on life to me, but it's not a personal grudge.
 
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