Hello Alldeaf, it has been a while since I last logged in!
Some of you might remember me from the thread I posted nearly a year ago about the cochlear implants. I'll brief everything up before starting to discuss about bilateral cochlear implantation.
I grew up as a proud deaf person who proudly use sign-language as a native language, and I view deafness as something shouldn't be treated as a disability or "different". I involved heavily in deaf communities, and am very happy with myself. I grew up with bilateral hearing aides, and I am able to communicate orally however I wasn't too confident to use my voice with hearing aides.
Around mid-2011 when I first had a thought that I actually need cochlear implant to provide me a long-term benefit for the future, employment reasons and ease of communication barrier in the real world. After going through the harsh reaction from the deaf community, criticising me for being ashamed of being deaf, and you get the idea. I still went ahead and got myself a left cochlear implant in November 2011, and I am very proud of the decision because it was a significant life-changing decision which it turned out to be a positive thing for me.
A few months passed after my cochlear implant surgery, deaf community started to settle down and move on, and which it was a great relief for me. I began to attend weekly speech therapies to improve my speech and hearing skills even more with an implant. I had a strong family and (some) friends support, encouraging me to envision even more achievements and goals with an implant. I had a few goals that I wanted to achieve, in a realistic terms without trying to have a high expectations to interfere my aim to reach that goal. Within 9 months, I have achieved the goal.
I am now able to speak and hear even though I still have a minor deaf accent that still need to be polished and adjusted. But in an overall idea, I am really proud of the progress I have achieved so far with left cochlear implant. My brain was really flexible, thankfully, despite of my age of being seventeen. I learnt so many new sounds, and learnt how to adjust them. My experience with cochlear implant have been very positive. I don't need to book a sign-language interpreters for my appointments, because I find them unnecessary based on my situation. I got a part-time job while studying Year 12 and to me, this was a significant milestone in my life. Everything is going very well with an implant.
However, there is always one side of deaf community who still view cochlear implant as an invasive method of genocide. Just a month or two ago, I first told my mother that I wanted second cochlear implant to benefit me even more. My mother and father was very supportive, even though they have their own inklings of what will happen during surgery and post-operation, which it is very normal for parents to worry for their child.
After few appointments with a private cochlear implant centre, my doctor has passed my request for bilateral cochlear implant and tentatively booked the operation date, which it is scheduled on November the 29th, only 8 days after the 1st birthday for my left cochlear implant. I decided to keep it as a big secret and I wouldn't tell anyone that I am getting second cochlear implant because I knew that I would be attacked by deaf community once again.
Somehow some people within the deaf community knew that I am getting second cochlear implant and attacked me significantly with comments like "Your life are too self-centred with CI's" and "You just wanted an attention.", "I have lost my respect on you since your operation" and general comments like that. But it is just not that all, there are so many more negative remarks of their extreme perspectives against cochlear implants. A few of my good friends left me, and wouldn't talk with me any more. Some of other good friends are really awkward around me. After bringing it up to them, all of them pointed out that I am getting second cochlear implant has cited as a contributing factor of why I have "changed". Some members of the deaf community have attacked me stating that I influence more and more deaf people to get cochlear implant, which it is obviously untrue knowing that these deaf people actually decide to get an implant themselves.
When I was a little boy, I had an extremist perspective about cochlear implants, but now I am exactly the opposite. Some of you may just say that don't worry about these specific people in the deaf community, but it is extremely hard because I grew up in a strong deaf community. But fortunately that I still have some friends who are still in my side, and encouraged me to go ahead with bilateral cochlear implantation. But I always look at these people who left me, as my good friends because we grew up together. It is just so confusingly sad, especially the fact that some of them have cochlear implant themselves.
Now on all deaf, I would be getting a responses from deaf and hearing impaired persons with a variety of perspectives, experiences, situations and lifestyle - with CI, or without CI, and/or with hearing aides, or without hearing aides. Signing or oral, or both. I wanted to know your specific perspective on this, and how to deal with it.
But in the end, I still consider myself a proud Deaf person who proudly use sign-language.
I have a some questions I'd like to add, that will contribute toward my consideration for bilateral cochlear implantation.
1. I have zero interest in future advances of medical solution on deafness. I do not want to have a new hearing technologies such as fully-implantable cochlear implant or a long-term cure for deafness because these kind of technologies are actually too extreme for me. I just want to have a simple hearing technology such as cochlear implant, that all. But what worry me the most is that what will happen in the future, for example, will my cochlear implants continue to work well throughout into 2050s?
2. Bilateral cochlear implant have its own risks, but is it worth it to get second implant knowing that there are more risks having two implants as compared to one implant.
3. What will deaf community view me if I got myself second implant?
Thank you so much for your time reading this. Much appreciated!
Some of you might remember me from the thread I posted nearly a year ago about the cochlear implants. I'll brief everything up before starting to discuss about bilateral cochlear implantation.
I grew up as a proud deaf person who proudly use sign-language as a native language, and I view deafness as something shouldn't be treated as a disability or "different". I involved heavily in deaf communities, and am very happy with myself. I grew up with bilateral hearing aides, and I am able to communicate orally however I wasn't too confident to use my voice with hearing aides.
Around mid-2011 when I first had a thought that I actually need cochlear implant to provide me a long-term benefit for the future, employment reasons and ease of communication barrier in the real world. After going through the harsh reaction from the deaf community, criticising me for being ashamed of being deaf, and you get the idea. I still went ahead and got myself a left cochlear implant in November 2011, and I am very proud of the decision because it was a significant life-changing decision which it turned out to be a positive thing for me.
A few months passed after my cochlear implant surgery, deaf community started to settle down and move on, and which it was a great relief for me. I began to attend weekly speech therapies to improve my speech and hearing skills even more with an implant. I had a strong family and (some) friends support, encouraging me to envision even more achievements and goals with an implant. I had a few goals that I wanted to achieve, in a realistic terms without trying to have a high expectations to interfere my aim to reach that goal. Within 9 months, I have achieved the goal.
I am now able to speak and hear even though I still have a minor deaf accent that still need to be polished and adjusted. But in an overall idea, I am really proud of the progress I have achieved so far with left cochlear implant. My brain was really flexible, thankfully, despite of my age of being seventeen. I learnt so many new sounds, and learnt how to adjust them. My experience with cochlear implant have been very positive. I don't need to book a sign-language interpreters for my appointments, because I find them unnecessary based on my situation. I got a part-time job while studying Year 12 and to me, this was a significant milestone in my life. Everything is going very well with an implant.
However, there is always one side of deaf community who still view cochlear implant as an invasive method of genocide. Just a month or two ago, I first told my mother that I wanted second cochlear implant to benefit me even more. My mother and father was very supportive, even though they have their own inklings of what will happen during surgery and post-operation, which it is very normal for parents to worry for their child.
After few appointments with a private cochlear implant centre, my doctor has passed my request for bilateral cochlear implant and tentatively booked the operation date, which it is scheduled on November the 29th, only 8 days after the 1st birthday for my left cochlear implant. I decided to keep it as a big secret and I wouldn't tell anyone that I am getting second cochlear implant because I knew that I would be attacked by deaf community once again.
Somehow some people within the deaf community knew that I am getting second cochlear implant and attacked me significantly with comments like "Your life are too self-centred with CI's" and "You just wanted an attention.", "I have lost my respect on you since your operation" and general comments like that. But it is just not that all, there are so many more negative remarks of their extreme perspectives against cochlear implants. A few of my good friends left me, and wouldn't talk with me any more. Some of other good friends are really awkward around me. After bringing it up to them, all of them pointed out that I am getting second cochlear implant has cited as a contributing factor of why I have "changed". Some members of the deaf community have attacked me stating that I influence more and more deaf people to get cochlear implant, which it is obviously untrue knowing that these deaf people actually decide to get an implant themselves.
When I was a little boy, I had an extremist perspective about cochlear implants, but now I am exactly the opposite. Some of you may just say that don't worry about these specific people in the deaf community, but it is extremely hard because I grew up in a strong deaf community. But fortunately that I still have some friends who are still in my side, and encouraged me to go ahead with bilateral cochlear implantation. But I always look at these people who left me, as my good friends because we grew up together. It is just so confusingly sad, especially the fact that some of them have cochlear implant themselves.
Now on all deaf, I would be getting a responses from deaf and hearing impaired persons with a variety of perspectives, experiences, situations and lifestyle - with CI, or without CI, and/or with hearing aides, or without hearing aides. Signing or oral, or both. I wanted to know your specific perspective on this, and how to deal with it.
But in the end, I still consider myself a proud Deaf person who proudly use sign-language.
I have a some questions I'd like to add, that will contribute toward my consideration for bilateral cochlear implantation.
1. I have zero interest in future advances of medical solution on deafness. I do not want to have a new hearing technologies such as fully-implantable cochlear implant or a long-term cure for deafness because these kind of technologies are actually too extreme for me. I just want to have a simple hearing technology such as cochlear implant, that all. But what worry me the most is that what will happen in the future, for example, will my cochlear implants continue to work well throughout into 2050s?
2. Bilateral cochlear implant have its own risks, but is it worth it to get second implant knowing that there are more risks having two implants as compared to one implant.
3. What will deaf community view me if I got myself second implant?
Thank you so much for your time reading this. Much appreciated!
But regardless of deaf community's perspective regarding cochlear implants, my decision to get CI is still quite personal and my decision wasn't influenced by deaf community, audiologists or whoever.