CI's for under 1 ???

[rick48]

......as a sociologist I wonder exactly how much oral and listening achievement is due to the CI or due to the possibilty of families who encourage overachieving or hyperprograming, just really melding with oral techniques? Parental involvement is vital for oral techniques to work.......

As a parent, that is absurd. You cite a reason to be against the ci and/or the oral method is because they actually encourage parental involvement with their children!

Yes, why encourage spending time with your child? Parents bonding with their children? Parents becoming actively involved in their child's life? It might actually lead to closer relationships between parents and their children, parents and children who actually communicate with each other!

As a sociologist you would not want that!

My wife and I are proud of the time we spent with our daughter and think that there is nothing more worthwhile then all the time we spent with her. As a result, today she has a very close relationship with my wife and they talk about everything. We would not trade the time spent with our daughter for anything.

Rick

 

[believer]

Kynnedi

I have not had a chnce to get on and read through posts after I was on and posted my feelings of why I went for the implant. I believe that everyone comes to this earth for a reason and the way that they come here, can or can not be changed. I feel that the implant would be a first step for us since the ha's were of no stimulation. I do not expect my child to be NORMAL as some state it. I believe that everyone is normal and just has a little bit of different things go on with them that noone else can explain. As her parent we are following through with the implants and she will be getting bilateral. We will take all the steps we need to and whether it helps with her speech or not, she will still be the same little girl to me that she was before trying all these new ideas. People should not get defensive of other peoples opinions, everyone has their right to speak up. I really enjoy reading the posts and seeing what a conflict the implants are to the deaf community. I was unaware that this topic would bring up a stir. We all want what is best for ourselves and our loved ones. She is young and I would want to implant her now than wait until later. How much of your childhood, baby days do you remember. Why do it when she is older and knows what pain is.

 

[deafdyke]

You cite a reason to be against the ci and/or the oral method is because they actually encourage parental involvement with their children!

Um no. What I am against is the extensiveness of the parental invovlment.
There are some oral kids who do very decently with minmal involvment, but it almost seems like the oral method encourages HYPERINVOLVEMENT. Like there's nothing wrong with some involvement, but why should a kid have to live an eternal speech therapy session?

 

[kayla123]

I have not had a chnce to get on and read through posts after I was on and posted my feelings of why I went for the implant. I believe that everyone comes to this earth for a reason and the way that they come here, can or can not be changed. I feel that the implant would be a first step for us since the ha's were of no stimulation. I do not expect my child to be NORMAL as some state it. I believe that everyone is normal and just has a little bit of different things go on with them that noone else can explain. As her parent we are following through with the implants and she will be getting bilateral. We will take all the steps we need to and whether it helps with her speech or not, she will still be the same little girl to me that she was before trying all these new ideas. People should not get defensive of other peoples opinions, everyone has their right to speak up. I really enjoy reading the posts and seeing what a conflict the implants are to the deaf community. I was unaware that this topic would bring up a stir. We all want what is best for ourselves and our loved ones. She is young and I would want to implant her now than wait until later. How much of your childhood, baby days do you remember. Why do it when she is older and knows what pain is.

Whatever decision you make is the right one. Your her parent and nobody loves that little girl more than you do. Best of luck to you and your family.

 

[rick48]

Um no. What I am against is the extensiveness of the parental invovlment. There are some oral kids who do very decently with minmal involvment, but it almost seems like the oral method encourages HYPERINVOLVEMENT. Like there's nothing wrong with some involvement, but why should a kid have to live an eternal speech therapy session?

It seems that, similar to what you did at HE, you take the extreme and present it as the generalized norm and in the case of the oral method, usually negatively. Yes, there are some kids who have done well with "minimum" parental involvment, but they are few and far between. Likewise, there are some parents engaging in "hyperinvolvement" (what ever that actually means, I guess they are buying those never identified SAT improving toys). Most families fall somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

However, do not attempt to distort the fact that any thereapist/instructor, be it oral, ASL, TC, AVI, etc, worth his or her salt advises the parents to take what is done in a session and expand on it during the day. Since most formal therapy consists of only a few hours a week, the reason to encourage parental participation is so they can take the points in therapy and seemlessly incorporate them into everyday life situations.

Thus, we were encouraged and did talk to our daughter as much as possible and used descriptive and expressive language whenever possible. That is a far cry from "eternal speech therapy lessons" and other terms you so often apply to anyone raising a child orally.

 

[believer]

Thanks for all the post and all the concerns and support. I have not been on for awhile, so I wanted to update. Kynnedi had her surgery on December
11th and her turn-on date was December 27th. Since then she has made so much progress. We have had so many people in and out of our house since she was born......and she has not progressed in her development so much as she did when she had this surgery. Not saying that it was just the surgery, because I know people will post differently. In my eyes it has helped her alot. I do not drill her and I am not always in her face forcing her to only speak. We do Sign Language with her and are also helping her with sounds and words. She does sign to some items when she wants them and she is saying da and mama, she has been doing this since end of January and I think that is very good progress. It was so amazing to see her a week after her surgery sign for the first time back to us. She wanted more to eat and she had never repeated our signs before and did it. She started playing with her toys more and likes to have her alone time. She still watches our hands and lips very closely and I want her to continue to do that. We still have a Sign Language Teacher that comes into our home weekly and also have a teacher from the Omaha Hearing School that comes weekly as well. I let her be as independent as she wants to be and I do not feel that we force her to do anything. The speech therapist that comes and sees her is really good with her and I think we have a great group working with her. I just wanted to say, "Implants or not she is still the same child, She is not treated differently and was not treated differently before her surgery". We knew the day she left the hospital that she was profoundly deaf in both ears and I could live with her being either way. Because either way anyone I see on the street is just like the rest of the individuals whether they are in a wheelchair, blind, deaf, etc. I still consider my child to be a part of the deaf community and I have seen many people from the deaf community associate and bond with the hearing community because WE ARE ALL THE SAME PEOPLE! Noone, or at least I, does not classify people as NORMAL or NOT. Everyone is NORMAL, we just have or differences. We were created that way for a reason, why be exactly like the other people around you. Personalities, beliefs, interests, the same???? That would be a pretty plain world we would be living in.
So thanks again to everyone for their comments and support. I really appreciate the posts. Helps me to remember what a great decision we made for our daughter that I really think she will be grateful for. And again, if she is not satisfied all she has to do is remove the device and continue with the signing she already is doing!!!!!

 

[rick48]

believer,

That is truly great news about your daughter and the progress she is making. Your other comments show how grounded you are and that will only help your daughter even more as time goes on. Please keep us updated from time to time.
Best wishes,
Rick

 

[GILLYOB]

As Abt 70 Years Ago, There Is No Ci.... Deaf Parent Had Son, He Really Act Like Deaf ..they Thought He Is Deaf..until 2 Years Old, Found That He Is Really Hearing, He Ignored To Hear For 2 Years.
Other Friend's Baby, Thought Shes Deaf But Found That She Had Full Of Waxes..

Sometime I Heard That Doctors Just Want Your Monies! Sometime I Heard There Are Successfully..sometime It Dont Work..

For My Opinion..i Feel..wow They Abused The Babies..also Feel Like They Put Some Of Robot Inside..
I Cant Take It...
I Want To Be As I Am ...that God Created Me Who I Am.

As I Concerned: Few Kids Dont Want Ci, Removed It But The Part Still Inside Their Head That Cant Removed..

You Can Test Your Babies By Using The Pan/wood Spoon..bang On Pan Behind The Babies To See If They Scared & Jump..so You Know They Are Hearing..

I Hope Your Daughter Is Happy With Ci When She Get Older..
Some People Do Happy With Ci...they Are Lucky..
As Long As They Are Happy So I Cant Do Nothing..its Their Decision.
But For Babies, No Way!! Abused Them.. (thats What I Feel).
Babies Are So Beautiful Who They Are! No Matter What They Are!
Hearing Or Deaf Or Blind Or Normal Or Handicapped But Still Always Beautiful Who They Are!!

 

[believer]

"Babies Are So Beautiful Who They Are! No Matter What They Are!"

This is what you stated and then you try to state differently. I know there is a lot of fuss about the way things are done in this world, but everyone has to make their own decision.

I just wanted to let everyone know that Kynnedi is making amazing progress. We do not see a speech therapist as often as they like, but I dont feel that she needs to be hounded with speech therapy every day. Kynnedi is signing and also saying, Bye, Hi, and Boo. She is doing very well. She points and tries to say what she wants all the time. I think that it is great that she is making progress, the dr said it would take up to a year before speaking and only a month after having CI turned on, she was saying ma....ma......ma. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and opinions, for I read and thought about what everyone was saying before going further with the CI and I also still get on and read through the different forums on other topics as well. I think that I made the right decision for my child and hope that when she is older she will be comfortable with that decision. We have some other individuals in the community that have the CI's and also that do not and I think it is great that she can be involved with both. She is still seeing a sign language teacher and we are doing great with not only the sign but with progress on the speech. When she gets older she will always have those traits. Sign or Speech both to me are ways to communicate and to know both is to me just like knowing another language. I wish I knew a lot more sign then what I am learning now, I think that all individuals should be taught that as another form of communication. We have daycares that are starting to sign with their kids and I am so amazed as to how much and how fast they pick up.

 

[jillio]

Take children with the same capabilities, starting point etc. One with CI at 1 and 1 with CI at 9 years old and the 9-year old will not reach the same level as the 1-year old.. The brain isn't made for it.
Apart from seeing it around me, there have been studies about it showing clear benefit regarding early implantation.
I'll try to find the study and show the results here....

The brain remains plastic until the mean age of 22 years. I don't know where you get your information, but it is icorrect.

 

[jillio]

Then, why do you always dwell on the negative? You're not very diplomatic when a parent has decided to implant their child. You want to do your level best to tell them they're wrong for their decision, and then steer them towards a more appropriate solution in your eyes.

Deafdyke, it's like this... No matter how much you dislike it, once a person has made up their mind to implant their child, there's not a whole lot you're gonna do about it.

Now about implanting babies, here's some facts based on common sense.

It's proven fact that CI success is subjective. I DO NOT dispute that, but in young child the likelihood of success is great. This is due to the fact that the child's brain is pliable. The earlier you are able to stimulate the auditory nerve and map the CI, the better the child may do.
That's common sense.

As I said, I don't like putting a baby through any kind of surgery, but if my child was profoundly deafened, and wouldn't get benefit from a HA, I would probably follow up with CI candidacy. I think it's a parents duty to do what is best for their child, and in my opinion, I could not/would not deny my child the chance to hear; even if it's just environmental sounds and the child still had to use sign to communicate.

To me, being able to hear something is better than not being able to hear anything!

Again, the brain remains very plastic until the mean age of 22 or 23.

 

[jillio]

But you're missing the point. It is one of five senses. People has eyeglasses to aid their vision, why not CI when hearing aid can't help?

Plus children with pigeon toed feet or bowed legs are put in braces to help fix the problem. Why not CI to help fix hearing loss? Plus it's not as invasive as you think. I was from the same school of thought until I saw my son go through everything.

If it were invasive, my son wouldn't want a second CI operation... but he wants the second one.

You can think whatever you want to think but my son is going to communicate with the world on his own. That is 100% freedom, my fishing friend.

Anytime there is a surgical incision that opens the skin, it is an invasive procedure.

 

[jillio]

Again, missing the point. My son would not have the ability to learn to comprehend speech nor speak intelligibily if it were up to him at an older age (at 18 years old). I am his parent and parents have the God given right to make a decision for their children.

God doesn't give you that--the law does.

 

[shel90]

Aha!!! This is the thread where many people say it is their right to implant their children but Spanish speaking families who wont learn English dont have the same rights. HMMM...something wrong with the picture?

 

[jillio]

Aha!!! This is the thread where many people say it is their right to implant their children but Spanish speaking families who wont learn English dont have the same rights. HMMM...something wrong with the picture?

Yep, I saw that, too.

 

[shel90]

Yep, I saw that, too.

I think I just opened a Pandora's box here...

I just cant get that out of my head about this issue with people who dont speak English in their homes and their children being turned down for a CI unless they learn English. It really bothers me and I dont know why.

 

[jillio]

I think I just opened a Pandora's box here...

I just cant get that out of my head about this issue with people who dont speak English in their homes and their children being turned down for a CI unless they learn English. It really bothers me and I dont know why.

Oh, well....we'll just have to wait and see what comes out of that box!

Yeah, it bothers me too, because the implication is that deaf children whose families are of another ethnicity are not as deserving as those who are white and Western/European. Do I hear echos of the Halocaust and the KKK in the background?

 

[shel90]

Oh, well....we'll just have to wait and see what comes out of that box!

Yeah, it bothers me too, because the implication is that deaf children whose families are of another ethnicity are not as deserving as those who are white and Western/European. Do I hear echos of the Halocaust and the KKK in the background?

I guess in my head, I am trying to see a justifcation for that but I still dont see it. Spanish or other speaking languages are auditory languages and they can promote language development just as much as English can.

Maybe if that is so true that English must be the language spoken at home for the CI centers to qualify deaf children , then no wonder that sign language strongly discouraged as well?

 

[jillio]

I guess in my head, I am trying to see a justifcation for that but I still dont see it. Spanish or other speaking languages are auditory languages and they can promote language development just as much as English can.

Maybe if that is so true that English must be the language spoken at home for the CI centers to qualify deaf children , then no wonder that sign language strongly discouraged as well?

Exactly. Any language other than spoken English.

 

[R2D2]

"Babies Are So Beautiful Who They Are! No Matter What They Are!"

This is what you stated and then you try to state differently. I know there is a lot of fuss about the way things are done in this world, but everyone has to make their own decision.

I just wanted to let everyone know that Kynnedi is making amazing progress. We do not see a speech therapist as often as they like, but I dont feel that she needs to be hounded with speech therapy every day. Kynnedi is signing and also saying, Bye, Hi, and Boo. She is doing very well. She points and tries to say what she wants all the time. I think that it is great that she is making progress, the dr said it would take up to a year before speaking and only a month after having CI turned on, she was saying ma....ma......ma. I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and opinions, for I read and thought about what everyone was saying before going further with the CI and I also still get on and read through the different forums on other topics as well. I think that I made the right decision for my child and hope that when she is older she will be comfortable with that decision. We have some other individuals in the community that have the CI's and also that do not and I think it is great that she can be involved with both. She is still seeing a sign language teacher and we are doing great with not only the sign but with progress on the speech. When she gets older she will always have those traits. Sign or Speech both to me are ways to communicate and to know both is to me just like knowing another language. I wish I knew a lot more sign then what I am learning now, I think that all individuals should be taught that as another form of communication. We have daycares that are starting to sign with their kids and I am so amazed as to how much and how fast they pick up.

That's great! It sounds like you are really trying to be sensitive to your daughter's possible feelings (which might range widely) as she grows up. Good on you.