Yeah, you do make a good point. But, if the soup was being sold in a resturant and the waiteress said it was good and told me what was in it, I'd probably try it.. But then, again, when you said 1/40 people who try it get sick, that made me think twice about trying it..
I've been interested in a CI for about 4 years now and when I saw "Sound and Fury" It made me think twice again because I (at that time) wasn't involved with the deaf community and didn't have any clue about what was adversized about the Deaf in the movie..
I am profoundly-severely deaf since i was 4 months old.
When I started high school, I met this one girl who was a senior and she was a former student of a school for the deaf but eventually dropped out and became mainstreamed. She taught me ASL and taught me about the deaf world and the school for the deaf. She invited me over to her house and I saw that her entire family signs. I was amazed and I felt so comfortable there. I didn't have to speak anymore. At home, my mom signs SEE but can't really "read" sign very well, so I always have to speak. My sister used to sign all the time and talk to me and I didn't have to speak to her.. but now, she refuses to sign and always wants me to talk to her and she discourages me socalizing with deaf people. My step father does not know how to sign at all nor gesture either but he is slowly learning as I am bringing more deaf peers home..
After meeting my deaf friend, I started meeting new students at the nearby school for the deaf and talked to them and eventually hung out with them as well. My signing skills changed from SEE to PSE (in my opinion, my friends say i can be ASL sometimes, which surprises me).. I do not have any strong bonds with the deaf community because I do not live close (30 minutes) and I am fully mainstreamed at my neighbor highschool with interpreters and approx. 30 other deaf students. I have never been in a deaf class before (with the exception of when i was 6-18 months old learning TC (total communication)).. I really enjoy my deaf peers and they're so much fun and easier to hang out with.. their culture is totally different than the hearing culture but i do understand and accept both cultures. (altho it is hard to live in both cultures, swinging back and forth)
Anyways.... I got a digital hearingaid about a year ago and I am so in love with it. It has improved my speech and I am able to read lips better because I can now hear the air flow through the speakers mouth. I can tell the difference between the same lip forms but different letters. Two days ago, I was over at my friends house who is deaf (she has a deaf sister and a hearing sister and her mom is an interpreter) and so, I was facing my friend, and her mom was behind me signing and speaking as well and I could not see her mom, but I was actually ABLE to understand what she spoke. It was just sooo cool! It totally motivated me to want to hear some more and learn new speech sounds and be able to hear more.
so now, I'm really interested in a coclear implant because my other bestfriend since birth, got a CI 2 years ago and she really loves it, she can hear so many things which she was never able to hear before.. my other friend also got a CI last summer and he has really dramatically improved a lot especially in understanding speech and his own speech. It's just so awesome..
I am considering implanting my left ear since I can not hear anything even when someone screams in my ear. (well yeah i can feel the vibration but literally HEAR the sounds process in my brain, nope). I don't know what the impact of an implant in my stonedeaf ear will be like, i probably will be scared and dislike it at first because I've never heard anything from that ear in a damn long time.........