Cochlear Implants in fiction.

Hi Hear Again.

You've got it slightly wrong. Chaitra WANTS the CI. In her case it's her family who don't since it didn't work for her cousin Nadia.

Chaitra's great grandmother Myra is the only one that could afford to buy her a CI but she wouldn't. She doesn't believe in changing the way a person is born. Malaz (her grandson and another central character) gets told off by her when he takes his daughter abroad to have her cateracts removed so it's not just CI's with her.

What role does the magnet play in getting a CI to work?

I'm asking as magnets near (or in this case inside the head) the head have a detramental affect on a witches ability to do spells. Chaitra is a deafblind witch so her family would rather she keep her magic rather then regain her hearing.
 
Hear Again said:
I don't know about Med-El or Advanced Bionics, but Cochlear has a mapping program that automatically sets T (the softest sound that can be heard) and C (the loudest sound that can heard without experiencing discomfort) levels for those who are unable to give feedback about what they are hearing.
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I don't know what happened in Kerry's case. When I first knew her she was really laid back. Then she got her CI and she seemed to have developed sound phobia. CI's did not work for her. I don't know if she still wears it or not but if someone gets really upset about noise like she was doing their is obviously something wrong. It really put me off CI's although I think it could be the mapping.

We'll probably always disagree here but I think a child SHOULD have a means to commuinicate discomfort or wether the devise actually works at all BEFORE they are implanted. They say the eariler the better but I disagree. I think signing should be done first so a child can express themselves and say if something is wrong with their machine or even wether they want it put there in the first place.
 
dreama said:
I don't know what happened in Kerry's case. When I first knew her she was really laid back. Then she got her CI and she seemed to have developed sound phobia. CI's did not work for her. I don't know if she still wears it or not but if someone gets really upset about noise like she was doing their is obviously something wrong. It really put me off CI's although I think it could be the mapping.

We'll probably always disagree here but I think a child SHOULD have a means to commuinicate discomfort or wether the devise actually works at all BEFORE they are implanted. They say the eariler the better but I disagree. I think signing should be done first so a child can express themselves and say if something is wrong with their machine or even wether they want it put there in the first place.
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dreama,

As for children being implanted, just because they receive a CI doesn't mean that sign language needs to be stopped. Even if a child is implanted at a very young age, they can continue to use oral and signed communication simutaneously.

In regards to children having the right to decide whether or not they want an implant, that's a different debate entirely. Personally, I think it should be up to each parent to decide what is right for their deaf child *but* I also think that child should have a say as to whether or not they wish to have a CI.

I've often thought about what I would do if I had a deaf child. Would I have them implanted? I don't know. One thing I do know is that I would start them off with ASL and oral communication. However, if they are struggling with speech therapy, I would place full emphasis on ASL.
 
dreama said:
Hi Hear Again.

You've got it slightly wrong. Chaitra WANTS the CI. In her case it's her family who don't since it didn't work for her cousin Nadia.

Chaitra's great grandmother Myra is the only one that could afford to buy her a CI but she wouldn't. She doesn't believe in changing the way a person is born. Malaz (her grandson and another central character) gets told off by her when he takes his daughter abroad to have her cateracts removed so it's not just CI's with her.

What role does the magnet play in getting a CI to work?

I'm asking as magnets near (or in this case inside the head) the head have a detramental affect on a witches ability to do spells. Chaitra is a deafblind witch so her family would rather she keep her magic rather then regain her hearing.
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dreama,

The outer magnet simply holds the speech processor in place. Sounds are transmitted from the speech processor to the cable (that connects the speech processor to the magnet) and finally to the outer magnet. Sound signals pass through the skin to the internal CI magnet.
 
Hear Again said:
dreama,

The outer magnet simply holds the speech processor in place. Sounds are transmitted from the speech processor to the cable (that connects the speech processor to the magnet) and finally to the outer magnet. Sound signals pass through the skin to the internal CI magnet.
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So a CI processor would work even if no magnet if it was attached by other methods such as a band of some kind round head?
 
Hear Again said:
dreama,

As for children being implanted, just because they receive a CI doesn't mean that sign language needs to be stopped. Even if a child is implanted at a very young age, they can continue to use oral and signed communication simutaneously.

In regards to children having the right to decide whether or not they want an implant, that's a different debate entirely. Personally, I think it should be up to each parent to decide what is right for their deaf child *but* I also think that child should have a say as to whether or not they wish to have a CI.

I've often thought about what I would do if I had a deaf child. Would I have them implanted? I don't know. One thing I do know is that I would start them off with ASL and oral communication. However, if they are struggling with speech therapy, I would place full emphasis on ASL.
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That's good to know.

I'm aware that there are some parents who allow their child to sign and also give them an implant. That's not so bad.

It's cases where a deaf child is deprived of sign language that really concern me. It does happen. I want to make it clear in my book that Nadia's failure is her mother's audist aproach rather then the CI itself and CI's don't cure the deaf child. I think there are still some people who think it does.
 
Here is an a short extract from my book directly relating to CI's.

* Madrella is the name of Nadia's mother.
** Modern tecnology of any kind is forbidden in Nazdonia although people still use it in secret.


Nadia’s Cochlear implant was in good working order and she could hear enough to eventually understand speech with the help of lip reading. Although she much preferred sign language. However Madrella* had been bitterly disappointed by the results. Her children’s blindness had been cured by the removal of cataracts. It had been much cheaper, even though the cost of each operation had to be multiplied by ten. Madrella had expected the same sort of thing to happen when Nadia went for her cochlear implant. To have spent all that money only to require further training was a total let down.
The Darthrilan Audiologists could have told Nadia’s parents that Cochlear implants did not in fact cure deafness. That they were only a devise that mimicked sound. That device would need additional mapping plus hours spent in further training.
They could also have told them that it ran on batteries which were difficult to obtain in Nazdonia. Nadia would need to wear a receiver to be able to hear which would need to be concealed at all times since such gadgets are totally forbidden**. Not to mention the fact that most of Nazdonia is in the desert where there is a lot of dust around so such equipment would have needed a dust repellent charm too. Even when she was using the device, Nadia would still be hard of hearing.
Since there was already a great deal of hostility between Darthillians and Nazdonians, particularly witches like Madrella, they did not feel it necessary to inform her about anything.
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dreama said:
So a CI processor would work even if no magnet if it was attached by other methods such as a band of some kind round head?
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No. The outer magnet is required because it is where sounds pass through. Without an outer magnet, there is nothing to hold the speech processor in place nor is there a means of transmitting sounds through the skin.
 
I always explain the outer magnet as the device to turn on the speech processor. Like plug it in.

Good luck with the book.
 
No the outer magnet is for holding the coil into place..If you don't have magnets you wore headbands or something like that..

The coil transmits wirelessly at around 3 to 5 cms to the implant inside.I've tried it loads ot times..remove the coil and keep it over the internal implant ..you can still hear..try it without magnet! still hearing..the magnets are just for simply having the coil into place.
 
Vivie said:
No the outer magnet is for holding the coil into place..If you don't have magnets you wore headbands or something like that..

The coil transmits wirelessly at around 3 to 5 cms to the implant inside.I've tried it loads ot times..remove the coil and keep it over the internal implant ..you can still hear..try it without magnet! still hearing..the magnets are just for simply having the coil into place.
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I just tried holding the coil of my left CI a few inches from the internal magnet and I could still hear. I didn't know that was possible. Then again, since sound is transmitted through the coil via radio waves, it makes perfect sense.
 
Hear Again said:
I just tried holding the coil of my left CI a few inches from the internal magnet and I could still hear. I didn't know that was possible. Then again, since sound is transmitted through the coil via radio waves, it makes perfect sense.
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I have to have my magnets connected to hear.
 
Thanks very much for everyone who replied to this thread. It seems to vary on make as wether one needs magnet or not.
 
overthepond said:
Cochlear and still can hear without magnets
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can you go without your magnet and hear the same?

I don't know why ab is like this. I will find out. Either way I feel comfortable with the magnet since I worry about the processor coming off.
 
I will ask my friend who has AB if she can hear without magnets, I am afriad it's very late In Uk she's probably in her warm bed! will ask in the morning. OK.

Yeah i Just tried again... still works without magnets, The magnets are very easy to remove. But as every day thing i would need the magnet to hold my coil in place! Wouldn't want to go shopping with my hand holding the coil, i would get the strange looks.
 
overthepond said:
Hope you are writing hard on that book and i would be very interested to read the completed story if you don't mind... ;-)
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Are you still interested? If I can add your email address to the list of people who are also interested.

There has been a lot of changes in this book since I last wrote. Nadia stops wearing her CI eventually. However their is another Character called Liza Bronze who is Nadia's aunt. She also has an implanted and her CI is a success. Whilst Nadia is in Liza's care her implant works well too but then her mother reclaims her and she gets enrolled in this very strict oral school which she hates.
 
dreama said:
I am writing a fantasy novel at the moment. One of the characters has a Cochlear implant. Only there is quite enough myths about the CI so I want to get my facts straight first. I would very much apreciate any CI wearers or anyone who work closly with those wearing CI's to answer my questions?

How would working in intense heat affect the CI? Would attaching icepacks to the side of the head help?

No - the parts in the CI would melt from intense heat and the ice packs would "sweat" and the water from that would get into the CIs even though the Nucleus Freedoms and the Advanced Bionics CIs claims to be pretty water resistant. I would not take the term "water resistant" so lightly, you still have to be very damn careful with the CIs.

What about fast jolty movement? Would that affect the CI?

It can fly off. I have turned my head and had my CI fly off sometimes if I turn too fast. I also have had my CI suddenly fly off of my head and stick to a metal object such as an umbrella stem.

What about dust? The story is set in the desert. So there will be a lot of dust around.

Dust would clog up the microphones in the CI speech processors.

If the external part of a coclear implant was to go missing how easy/difficult would it be to get it replaced. Would you need to go through your whole mapping again? How much would it likely to cost?

In my case all I have to do is call the Cochlear company and tell them it is either missing or needs to be replaced (if something is not working right) and they send me a replacement - they used to send the replacement to my CI clinic and have the CI audiologist load the maps right onto the new replacement and then the CI clinic fed-exs it to my house but now the maps are sent to Cochlear so now all I have to do is call them up and tell them I need a replacement and they immediately load the current maps onto the replacement and send it out via fed ex within 24 hours and I often get them within a couple days. It's usually quite quick...most of the time I get it by the second day because of the changes that have been made with the whole mapping of the replacement CI process and also because I am only a couple states away.

If the internal CI componant needed removing in an emergency would it be possible for an unspecialized surgeon to do the job or would they need someone specifically aware of CI's? What would the survival rate be if an unspecialized surgeon tried removing it? Say if they were in a country that simply didn't have CI specialists when the accident happened?

No, in the USA only a certified CI surgeon is qualified to do the internal CI implant explantation/re-implantation surgery, in my opinion no one else is qualified due to the complicated nature of the surgery. I would never trust nor allow someone who is NOT a very experienced and certified CI surgeon to do my explantation/re-implantation in the case that I need to be re-implanted - I don't want all kinds of unnecessary shit happening as a result of an unqualified and unexperienced person doing the surgery on me. As for the survival rate if done by an unspecialized surgeon, I suggest that you ask a qualified CI surgeon that question as I do not really know this kind of information. If I were in another country and had such an accident where I would need the implant replaced I would simply have to wait until I can get to a country where I can be re-implanted or just go back to my home country where I was originally implanted. If the person has a hell of a lot of money, that person can probably fly to the USA and arrange to have the explantation/re-implantation done pretty quickly. I don't know how it is in other countries such as England and Australia due to their national health services or whatever it is that they have over there, though. As for other countries, I have absolutely no idea.
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.
 
dreama said:
Are you still interested? If I can add your email address to the list of people who are also interested.

There has been a lot of changes in this book since I last wrote. Nadia stops wearing her CI eventually. However their is another Character called Liza Bronze who is Nadia's aunt. She also has an implanted and her CI is a success. Whilst Nadia is in Liza's care her implant works well too but then her mother reclaims her and she gets enrolled in this very strict oral school which she hates.
Click to expand...

I am interested in this story too. PM me if you are willing to let me read the story.
 
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