Ci's For My Baby

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I could see the point of view of a hearing mother wanting the best and for her child to have everything that she will need, but try not thinking of being deaf as having a disability or holder her back. Also some cI users said that learning asl side by side with the ci, even when implanted at birth, helped more. But it is a 2 way street.
 
ecp said:
Check out and study this chart
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/84378947/CochlearImplantShoppingGuide.pdf

As for the militants pro and con sign, I grew up with both and have a MSc in medicine and am applying to medical school.
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Thanks, I looked at that chart before and it has helped and confused me both.
The only reason AB was off the table was the size of the internal component and it being too big for her. It seems like a lot of people on this forum are really happy with their AB implants.
How do you feel it compares to when you wore hearing aids?
 
DeafNerdMommy said:
I could see the point of view of a hearing mother wanting the best and for her child to have everything that she will need, but try not thinking of being deaf as having a disability or holder her back. Also some cI users said that learning asl side by side with the ci, even when implanted at birth, helped more. But it is a 2 way street.
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You're right in everything your'e saying, but it's very hard not to be scared of the unknown when I have no idea what it may entail. This is my first experience with a deaf person, and she happens to be my daughter.
Yes we are definitely working on asl as well as speech.
how do you mean its a two way street?
 
You should contact your local Deaf community..check out some events...get to know us..
If you want her to really leRn sign
Have you looked at Deafie schools for when the time comes.


Just a heads up
Tsk tsk
 
MAG said:
You're right in everything your'e saying, but it's very hard not to be scared of the unknown when I have no idea what it may entail. This is my first experience with a deaf person, and she happens to be my daughter.
Yes we are definitely working on asl as well as speech.
how do you mean its a two way street?
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MAG, you've got the right idea. I know it's scary facing the unknown. It's common to want a " crystal ball" There's a LOT of great resources out there.....You're doing the right thing by adding ASL. That will give her a safety net.... Be cautious about how well the CI works. There's some really good results, and then there's some not so good results, and then there's everything in between. I think it's a good idea to take an "everything is possible but nothing is promised" approach with giving everything to your dhh kid. There are many many different pieces to the puzzle..... A good idea is to contact your state's Deaf School. They can give you SO much info and resources!!!! Also contact http://deafchildren.org/ and http://www.handsandvoices.org/ Hope this helps!
 
Bottesini said:
5 months old at age of implantation? Is this a trolling post? Where are you that you found a surgeon willing to implant a five month old? Who is this doctor?
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There have been infants who have been implanted under 12 months of age. 5 months of age is not that unusual... not common, but it does happen.
 
MAG, I would suggest you go onto facebook and find some CI groups. You would get much better input/feedback from folks there. Here is one page for parents of children with cochlear implants, which I think may be the best support/resource for you: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2339174952/

I personally chose AB for myself. I felt AB has the better technology out of the 3. But you really cannot go wrong with any of them... they all will allow your child to hear and that's the important part.
 
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I just meant that your daughter should learn asl and you and your husband should too. I didn't mean it to sound rude (I don't know if you thought it was rude but I re-read it and thought it did) I have just know some patents and having lived next to the Oregon deaf school, who just drop their kids off and don't learn as well. I can see that by you coming to a deaf form that you want to do everything and anything for your daughter. :)
 
This is the first time I have run across anything that says the AB internal component is larger. I have been unable to find anything that refers to that and would like to know more. There are things like their t-mic that have me interested.
 
MAG said:
Thanks, I looked at that chart before and it has helped and confused me both.
The only reason AB was off the table was the size of the internal component and it being too big for her. It seems like a lot of people on this forum are really happy with their AB implants.
How do you feel it compares to when you wore hearing aids?
Click to expand...

I'm currently wearing a hearing aid in my left ear and cochlear implant in my right. The hearing aid ONLY lets me know that there is sound around. I can't understand speech. I'm only wearing it to get my ear used to sound again in the hopes that I can get an implant on that side as well.
With my cochlear implant, I was able to understand speech immediately without lipreading. It wasn't perfect but I could understand voices.

The internal size really isn't bigger since AB requires a recess to be drilled to keep the internal component in place. Other companies don't do these recesses and are finding that the internal component moves over time and can cause failures.
You can barely feel the "bump" where my implant is.

Each electrode has its own power source (for AB) which makes sounds sound natural and allows for the "virtual" channels.

Aside from size, look at programming strategies, battery options (rechargeable! Ye
Any not killing the planet!), and microphone placement.

Any implant processor that relies to T-coil (which is 70 year old technology and filled with interference) to connect to a phone or fm system is not worth it.

The more natural the microphone placement is, the better users are able to use the design of our ears to pick up sounds.

For ASL, it is great. It isn't the only signed language and not the only way to do things. It has a totally different language structure from English which can make it hard to do simultaneous signing and speaking.
I'm biased, I grew up with TC (total communication) which is ASL in English word order so that one input can clarify the other.
 
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I think what a lot of people are trying to communicate about you and your husband learning ASL is that the burden to communicate should never rest solely on your daughter.
If you decide to use ASL or TC with cochlear implants, mom, dad, siblings, and extended family and community should ideally be fluent in whatever method you choose for your kid.

Your kid shouldn't be the one doing all the work in any conversation.
 
cdmeggers said:
There have been infants who have been implanted under 12 months of age. 5 months of age is not that unusual... not common, but it does happen.
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The one I'm most familiar with is Mayo Clinic, who won't touch anyone under six months, and that is rare.
 
I never hear it as TC, just SEE, signed exact English. Kind of cool. I am glad someone with CI joined so she could talk to someone that has them and not just HA users
 
MAG said:
AB is out of the picture because of the size of the internal component. So it's really between Medel and Cochlear.
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ecp said:
The internal size really isn't bigger since AB requires a recess to be drilled to keep the internal component in place. Other companies don't do these recesses and are finding that the internal component moves over time and can cause failures.
You can barely feel the "bump" where my implant is.

Each electrode has its own power source (for AB) which makes sounds sound natural and allows for the "virtual" channels.

Aside from size, look at programming strategies, battery options (rechargeable! Ye
Any not killing the planet!), and microphone placement.

Any implant processor that relies to T-coil (which is 70 year old technology and filled with interference) to connect to a phone or fm system is not worth it.

The more natural the microphone placement is, the better users are able to use the design of our ears to pick up sounds.

For ASL, it is great. It isn't the only signed language and not the only way to do things. It has a totally different language structure from English which can make it hard to do simultaneous signing and speaking.
I'm biased, I grew up with TC (total communication) which is ASL in English word order so that one input can clarify the other.
Click to expand...

Could the recess referred to in the paragraph I have added the bold to be what the OP means by the AB one being too large?
 
DeafNerdMommy said:
I never hear it as TC, just SEE, signed exact English. Kind of cool. I am glad someone with CI joined so she could talk to someone that has them and not just HA users
Click to expand...

I'm not HA user....
I'm just an asshole, but a charmer too
 
Jane B. said:
Could the recess referred to in the paragraph I have added the bold to be what the OP means by the AB one being too large?
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Could be. The baby is too small (and young) to be creating any kind of recess and if I recall from earlier they didn't want to do that anyway.
 
DeafDucky said:
Could be. The baby is too small (and young) to be creating any kind of recess and if I recall from earlier they didn't want to do that anyway.
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You are right that a deeper recess isn't possible for babies which is why some babies have seemingly "strange" magnet positions esp those who get one implant as an infant and a second as a toddler. Some parents FREAK OUT that the implants aren't perfectly semetrical but the surgeon chooses the strongest bone.

Some bones are thick enough for a full recess in 6-8 month olds.
If a recess isn't used, some way to secure the implant is absolutely necessary as we are finding w/new research.

I'm not only a HA and CI user but also have a master's degree in medicine and keep up with surgical approaches. Had a convo with a very good CI surgeon in the hall of the hospital where we both work about the necessary of securing the internal component.
 
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