CI users and the Deaf community

[JanatheShort]

As a hearing person, I've been reading on here and learning a lot. I really appreciate being allowed to sort of join your world.

Today I saw a post that disturbed me... from what I understood, it was a hearing mom of a child with a CI. She talked about her child learning speech more naturally, and how her child would get to interact with the Deaf community... eventually.

Eventually?

This made me curious about how the Deaf community is responding to children with CIs. Are they included in the Deaf community, if the parents expose them to it?

Yes, I know a lot of parents won't... but I'm asking about the parents who do. Like, if a child had a CI today and was raised to be bilingual in ASL and English... and was exposed to the Deaf community at events... how will the Deaf community react? Would the reaction be different if the child didn't learn ASL?

 

[shel90]

The Deaf community would be accepting of the child if the parent doesnt have audist attitudes. If a parent tells the community that their child doesnt need them right now but will later, that will not be taken very well. It is offensive..like we are 2nd class. If the parents say that they want their deaf child learn ASL and be involved with the Deaf community so the child can have exposure to both world, I dont think many members will have a problem with that.

 

[Frisky Feline]

I am with shel.

What I like is to see any small kids with CIs have good social network with other Deaf kids or Deaf Kids with CI who knows both world. so they would not be too isolate themseve from each other at a much earlier the better.

 

[DeafCaroline]

In my town, there are many CI wearers in the Deaf community. Most of them went to the Oral school then eventually learned sign while still in high school or after graduation. They get along very well with the Deaf and are very tight-knit with them.

 

[green427]

This made me curious about how the Deaf community is responding to children with CIs. Are they included in the Deaf community, if the parents expose them to it?

Yes, I know a lot of parents won't... but I'm asking about the parents who do. Like, if a child had a CI today and was raised to be bilingual in ASL and English... and was exposed to the Deaf community at events... how will the Deaf community react? Would the reaction be different if the child didn't learn ASL?

1) If you read all the posts in the CI section from 1-4 years ago, you will see that many, if not most of the responses to these kind of questions have been negative.

2) It all depends on who you are talking to. Some deaf folks are open and accepting of any child with CI's....others are not.

3) The brand new Delaware School for the Deaf has an entire wing dedicated to deaf children with CI's. These children are free to interact with the rest of the community. There will always be conflict, though.

I was raised in the hearing world with oral skills only, and shunned by the ASL deaf community because I did not have ASL skills, and since I got my CI's, some deaf folks shunned me just because I have CI's. If I use ASL only and remove my CI's, some deaf folks will assume I am "one of them" and accept me.

So, bottom line is, it all depends on who you are interacting with. As a parent, do what you think is best for your child, and always, always try to put yourself in your child's shoes.

 

[flip]

As a hearing person, I've been reading on here and learning a lot. I really appreciate being allowed to sort of join your world.

Today I saw a post that disturbed me... from what I understood, it was a hearing mom of a child with a CI. She talked about her child learning speech more naturally, and how her child would get to interact with the Deaf community... eventually.

Eventually?

This made me curious about how the Deaf community is responding to children with CIs. Are they included in the Deaf community, if the parents expose them to it?

Yes, I know a lot of parents won't... but I'm asking about the parents who do. Like, if a child had a CI today and was raised to be bilingual in ASL and English... and was exposed to the Deaf community at events... how will the Deaf community react? Would the reaction be different if the child didn't learn ASL?

Not sure what you ask about. Doubt deaf community have all the answers. A question is also how parents react to the deaf community. What do they want from exposure? Do they have their own ideas how a community should react to this or that? Think you have to ask everyone involved, included the child.

 

[eggyman]

If a child born with no hearing so how do they hear ? if Hearing aids is not helping her to learn sound & speak and CI maybe help her if she respond to sound and speak .That is a improvement for child life .CI is amazing piece technology
I don't care what deaf community got to say because i was born deaf with 2 powerfully hearing aids luckily i know exactly what they say through my hearing aids as i got older my hearing got worse so is either go being silent hearing for rest my life NO THANK YOU ,So i am considering CI
Depend on child if CHILD will to listen or speak if they cannot do that then child will have to learn ASL ,Child will communication with ASL and be part deaf community

 

[AlleyCat]

That's totally fine. We respect your decision as an adult to be considering getting one. There are a number of people on this board that got CIs as adults.

 

[eggyman]

That's totally fine. We respect your decision as an adult to be considering getting one. There are a number of people on this board that got CIs as adults.

Thank ,yeah i was searching about CI ,Blogs etc etc they r doing well with CI,It is was interesting story & yeah i noticed it ,I want to add em


Hearing loss

 

[JanatheShort]

The Deaf community would be accepting of the child if the parent doesnt have audist attitudes. If a parent tells the community that their child doesnt need them right now but will later, that will not be taken very well. It is offensive..like we are 2nd class. If the parents say that they want their deaf child learn ASL and be involved with the Deaf community so the child can have exposure to both world, I dont think many members will have a problem with that.

That makes sense. No community wants to accept a parent who insults them!!! And yeah, of course the Deaf community could only accept the child if he/she is taught ASL.

I am with shel.

What I like is to see any small kids with CIs have good social network with other Deaf kids or Deaf Kids with CI who knows both world. so they would not be too isolate themseve from each other at a much earlier the better.

That also makes sense... I think it would be really scary to be a child with a CI and not know ASL. What if the CI breaks? The child would be so scared if he didn't know ASL! Plus, if the child knows kids who are Deaf or Deaf with CI, the child can learn about both worlds... and when they are older, they can choose to live in one world or both.

In my town, there are many CI wearers in the Deaf community. Most of them went to the Oral school then eventually learned sign while still in high school or after graduation. They get along very well with the Deaf and are very tight-knit with them.

Wow!!! That's very awesome! I'm happy to hear that if a parent makes the decision for the child to be oral, the child can still choose later to join the Deaf community.

all for your answers. I'm learning a lot, and I'm sure when I have clients with a deaf child, I will be able to give answers that are a little more educated now. But I'll continue to read and learn here.

 

[JanatheShort]

1) If you read all the posts in the CI section from 1-4 years ago, you will see that many, if not most of the responses to these kind of questions have been negative.

2) It all depends on who you are talking to. Some deaf folks are open and accepting of any child with CI's....others are not.

3) The brand new Delaware School for the Deaf has an entire wing dedicated to deaf children with CI's. These children are free to interact with the rest of the community. There will always be conflict, though.

I was raised in the hearing world with oral skills only, and shunned by the ASL deaf community because I did not have ASL skills, and since I got my CI's, some deaf folks shunned me just because I have CI's. If I use ASL only and remove my CI's, some deaf folks will assume I am "one of them" and accept me.

So, bottom line is, it all depends on who you are interacting with. As a parent, do what you think is best for your child, and always, always try to put yourself in your child's shoes.

You have really interesting things to say. I wonder why the CI wing is seperate from the other children? Perhaps because oral skills are emphasized more than ASL? I tried to look at the school's website but didn't find anything about the CI program.

I wonder if your experience is common of adults getting CIs?

 

[Banjo]

I was raised in the hearing world with oral skills only, and shunned by the ASL deaf community because I did not have ASL skills, and since I got my CI's, some deaf folks shunned me just because I have CI's. If I use ASL only and remove my CI's, some deaf folks will assume I am "one of them" and accept me.

What a delirious observation you have made here. You are not the first, nor will be the last to pin the blame on the Deaf community for your problems. More likely than not, you are in denial. If you continue to choose to blame someone else for your problems and that approach is not going to get you anywhere in life.

A change in attitude is what you need. Otherwise, you will continue to feel the burning sting of rejection.

 

[Banjo]

I wonder if your experience is common of adults getting CIs?

We have plenty of adults with CIs here and they get along with us just fine. It's the attitude that makes all the difference in the world.

 

[DeafCaroline]

What a delirious observation you have made here. You are not the first, nor will be the last to pin the blame on the Deaf community for your problems. More likely than not, you are in denial. If you continue to choose to blame someone else for your problems and that approach is not going to get you anywhere in life.

A change in attitude is what you need. Otherwise, you will continue to feel the burning sting of rejection.

I too grew up Oral and mainstreamed and was badly treated by the deaf community when I got a job as a day camp counselor for the deaf.

Looking back on it now, I completely understand why that happened. I had the wrong attitude and they didn't react well to that. I was friendly but when i think about it now, I know I had the belief that I was more privileged than them because I was oral and they definitely picked up on that even if I never expressed that belief outwardly. Also, I was young and insecure and so were they.

My second foray into the deaf community was a completely opposite experience. They knew all about my background but warmly welcomed me because I have changed and no longer have this belief that I'm better off than them or smarter because I grew up oral.

It's all about attitude.

I've been to a few events at the deaf org and have to say that I closely observed the interaction between signing deaf and speaking CI kids - the CI kids who did succeed in integrating into the deaf community were the ones who didn't act snobby and were very open to learning and using sign - they didn't make faces when they didn't understand the signing but instead were eager to learn what those signs meant. The CI kids who didn't integrate, they were reflecting their parents' behaviour. Their parents didn't try very hard to speak or socialize with the signing deaf but instead kept to themselves and stuck to their own kind.

 

[green427]

What a delirious observation you have made here. You are not the first, nor will be the last to pin the blame on the Deaf community for your problems. More likely than not, you are in denial. If you continue to choose to blame someone else for your problems and that approach is not going to get you anywhere in life.

A change in attitude is what you need. Otherwise, you will continue to feel the burning sting of rejection.

Not blaming anyone here. Just my point of view. I did eventually learn ASL and can now communicate with other deaf people. So, I did have the right attitude.

 

[green427]

I wonder if your experience is common of adults getting CIs?

Nope, everyone has a different experience.

 

[deafdyke]

That also makes sense... I think it would be really scary to be a child with a CI and not know ASL. What if the CI breaks? The child would be so scared if he didn't know ASL! Plus, if the child knows kids who are Deaf or Deaf with CI, the child can learn about both worlds... and when they are older, they can choose to live in one world or both.



Wow!!! That's very awesome! I'm happy to hear that if a parent makes the decision for the child to be oral, the child can still choose later to join the Deaf community.

)

Exactly. Oral, meaning both auditory verbal and auditory oral kids cannot function without their CI or hearing aid. If it breaks or the kid isn't in optimum listening conditions, they're up shit creek.
And yes, kids can join the Deaf Comunity later, but on the other hand....I think that dhh kids should have the right to learn ASL and take advantage of Deaf Ed programs, instead of being solotaire.

 

[deafdyke]

Looking back on it now, I completely understand why that happened. I had the wrong attitude and they didn't react well to that. I was friendly but when i think about it now, I know I had the belief that I was more privileged than them because I was oral and they definitely picked up on that even if I never expressed that belief outwardly. Also, I was young and insecure and so were they.

My second foray into the deaf community was a completely opposite experience. They knew all about my background but warmly welcomed me because I have changed and no longer have this belief that I'm better off than them or smarter because I grew up oral.

It's all about attitude.

.

Exactly! The root cause of discrimination against oral only tends to orgionate in their ATTITUDE! I have a friend who claims that the local signing community discrimates against her....but the thing is she's SO high and mighty (in general too so I'm guessing that the local deaf community picked up on that) about thinking that she got a better education or has more ops b/c she's oral (and she has really hard to understand speech and her writing and reading abilty is HORRIBLE)

 

[deafdyke]

The brand new Delaware School for the Deaf has an entire wing dedicated to deaf children with CI's. These children are free to interact with the rest of the community. There will always be conflict, though.

I was raised in the hearing world with oral skills only, and shunned by the ASL deaf community because I did not have ASL skills, and since I got my CI's, some deaf folks shunned me just because I have CI's. If I use ASL only and remove my CI's, some deaf folks will assume I am "one of them" and accept me.

.

That's GOOD that there's a wing for them. That way they can benifit from stuff specificly for CIs...Is it also for kids who are oral and have HA?
and yeah, there are anti CI folks in the community. So what? Twenty or thirty years ago you would have seen anti HA folks in the community!

 

[Bottesini]

Exactly! The root cause of discrimination against oral only tends to orgionate in their ATTITUDE! I have a friend who claims that the local signing community discrimates against her....but the thing is she's SO high and mighty (in general too so I'm guessing that the local deaf community picked up on that) about thinking that she got a better education or has more ops b/c she's oral (and she has really hard to understand speech and her writing and reading abilty is HORRIBLE)

You seem to be judging your friend in exactly the way you say she judges the local signing community!