Do we have a challenge ahead of us to avoid becoming Hearing?

GrendelQ, what range was your child in before Cochlear implantation?
 
kokonut said:
And why not let hearing aids do its job instead of a CI?
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We trialed several different hearing aids for six months, we couldn't get access to sounds anywhere near the spoken language sounds, testing her in the booth and with an ABR. She didn't seem to like wearing them and expressed discomfort with the very loud sounds they did provide to her (car horn honking, smoke alarm, dog barking, plane engine).
 
GrendelQ said:
We trialed several different hearing aids for six months, we couldn't get access to sounds anywhere near the spoken language sounds, testing her in the booth and with an ABR. She didn't seem to like wearing them and expressed discomfort with the very loud sounds they did provide to her (car horn honking, smoke alarm, dog barking, plane engine).
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What are the dB differences are we talking about?
 
That's normal for all deaf kids! She could actually hear car horn honking, smoke alarms, dogs barking? but didn't like her hearing aids. Was she liking her cochlear implant post-surgery? I can't imagine that was more enjoyable than getting used to wearing hearing aids.

I was born prelingually deaf too. That's normal, I didn't have hearing to acquire speech till I got hearing aids.

Why did you think she wouldn't acquire speech with hearing aids that enabled her to hear dogs barking?

I had assumed you got her CIs because she wasn't getting any hearing at all from her hearing aids when in fact, she actually did. and from what you said, those sounds were "loud" to her.

Ok....I'm a bit a-taken back right now.
 
DeafCaroline said:
That's normal for all deaf kids! She could actually hear car horn honking, smoke alarms, dogs barking? but didn't like her hearing aids. Was she liking her cochlear implant post-surgery? I can't imagine that was more enjoyable than getting used to wearing hearing aids.

I was born prelingually deaf too. That's normal, I didn't have hearing to acquire speech till I got hearing aids.

Why did you think she wouldn't acquire speech with hearing aids that enabled her to hear dogs barking?

I had assumed you got her CIs because she wasn't getting any hearing at all from her hearing aids when in fact, she actually did. and from what you said, those sounds were "loud" to her.

Ok....I'm a bit a-taken back right now.
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For what it's worth, I could sure imagine that. It sounds like from her hearing aids, she only got the very loud sounds of a dog barking, etc., but she wasn't getting the sounds of human speech. That sounds like it would be scary. If CIs gave access to speech sounds and the HAs didn't, that sounds like an excellent reason to get CIs.

DC, you have said many times what a tiresome childhood you had since you had so many hours of speech therapy in order to get you to the place you are now, a person with good speech who can't hear speech very well (if I'm understanding you correctly). Grendel's child will be spared that, as she is picking up speech naturally. Doesn't that seem like a good thing to you?

It does to me.
 
DeafCaroline said:
That's normal for all deaf kids! She could actually hear car horn honking, smoke alarms, dogs barking? but didn't like her hearing aids. Was she liking her cochlear implant post-surgery? I can't imagine that was more enjoyable than getting used to wearing hearing aids.

I was born prelingually deaf too. That's normal, I didn't have hearing to acquire speech till I got hearing aids.

Why did you think she wouldn't acquire speech with hearing aids that enabled her to hear dogs barking?

I had assumed you got her CIs because she wasn't getting any hearing at all from her hearing aids when in fact, she actually did. and from what you said, those sounds were "loud" to her.

Ok....I'm a bit a-taken back right now.
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The dog barking and alarms she could access with hearing aids were at 70-80db. The sound was blasted to a level that was distorted and caused her pain. 80db is a far cry from speech sounds starting at 20db.

She laughed delightedly the moment she heard her dad's voice the day she was activated. She would hold her first one to her head and ask me to fix it. (put it on her) She insists on putting on her own CIs every day, I've never asked her to wear them if she chose not to.

At what age did you acquire the ability to hear spoken language with your HAs?
 
I was first outfitted with hearing aids when I was nearly 4. I'm in the 90-110 range. My mother told me the day I got them, when my father came home from work and said "Hello, I'm home!" I recognized his voice from the kitchen and ran running to the front door where he was coming in. She and my father would tear up every time they told the story. I said my first words on my own, uncoached about six months later, when we were leaving the hospital and I remembered we left my ballerina books in the cafeteria. My first words were "my books." My mother nearly crashed the car.
 
GrendelQ said:
We trialed several different hearing aids for six months, we couldn't get access to sounds anywhere near the spoken language sounds, testing her in the booth and with an ABR. She didn't seem to like wearing them and expressed discomfort with the very loud sounds they did provide to her (car horn honking, smoke alarm, dog barking, plane engine).
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I'm curious, has your daughter tried the phone with her CI?
 
DeafCaroline said:
I was first outfitted with hearing aids when I was nearly 4. I'm in the 90-110 range. My mother told me the day I got them, when my father came home from work and said "Hello, I'm home!" I recognized his voice from the kitchen and ran running to the front door where he was coming in. She and my father would tear up every time they told the story. I said my first words on my own, uncoached about six months later, when we were leaving the hospital and I remembered we left my ballerina books in the cafeteria. My first words were "my books." My mother nearly crashed the car.
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That's great that your deafness was such that you could easily understand what your father said from across the house. My daughter's isn't anything like that. She could not hear unaided, and when aided, she could hear a 70-80db dog barking directly in her ear. Those amplified vibrations caused her pain. I'm assuming the aids she had access to 4 years ago were even more advanced than yours were when you were 4. The doctors said that further amplification wasn't recommended and would cause pain. I would not have attempted to blast even more sound into her ear to try to bring her down another 60 dbs to hear speech sounds that you were able to hear.

Back to the point, though, if you can easily understand spoken language -- if your HAs provide you access to the sounds that fall between 20 - 50 db -- you would not be eligible for a CI. The kids who are getting CIs don't have the ability to hear at the level you can.
 
kokonut said:
I'm curious, has your daughter tried the phone with her CI?
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She uses the phone everyday. She can hear just fine on an iPhone, but on our home phone, we often switch it to speakerphone. Otherwise she mimics us by putting it up against her ear when talking and that blocks the sound -- her CI mic is up on top of her head :) .

We haven't really tried using the telecoil setting with a phone, which would deliver the sound more directly, but I've heard really good things about it. Do you use telecoil with your HAs, Koko?
 
GrendelQ said:
She uses the phone everyday. She can hear just fine on an iPhone, but on our home phone, we often switch it to speakerphone. Otherwise she mimics us by putting it up against her ear when talking and that blocks the sound -- her CI mic is up on top of her head :) .

We haven't really tried using the telecoil setting with a phone, which would deliver the sound more directly, but I've heard really good things about it. Do you use telecoil with your HAs, Koko?
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Everyday! Wow. How old is she now and when did start using the phone? I mean does she struggle with it all?

As for me, no. I don't use the telecoil but just my HA when I use the phone either the phone itself or the speaker phone. I can use my cell phone without my hearing aid using the speaker phone as the amplifier. No problem. In fact, I was a manager of Domino's Pizza where I had to man the phone daily and run the store as well. Only once did I use the telecoil only because I was outdoors on a sidewalk with all the loud and heavy traffic. That happened earlier this year when I was in Portland. I forgot that I wasn't in Kansas anymore.
 
Beach Girl, my tiresome childhood was because of an experiment to assimilate me into the hearing world that in part failed. Their focus was on my hearing, and my deaf self was neglected.
GrendelQ is making sure her child, both hearing and deaf sides are being looked after. her child is incredibly lucky to have a mother like that because many parents of CI kids prefer to keep them apart from the Deaf and Deaf community like mine did and that's wrong.
I know someone who grew up oral deaf like me, went to Gaulladet, eventually got CIs and is now teaching at Gaulladet. He said his upbringing in the hearing world makes him feel he could never quite fit in the hearing world nor the deaf.
GrendelQ's child will never feel that way because she's growing up in both.

In that sense, this is a case where CIs is not death to the Deaf Community, it's a member of it. The question for me is how many parents are like GrendelQ? And how many are strictly oralism only?

You know what, it's oralism. That's really what it comes down to. We're worried CI implantation will mean oralism only and based on personal experience, that's a bad bad idea.

As Berry said, we attach meaning to something. GrendelQ's right, cochlear implants are an auditory device, just like aids but involves surgery, always a risk. When Cochlear Implants professionals began promoting it as a miracle, we groaned. Here we go again, that's what they said about hearing aids.

We know deaf children have deaf needs and that those deaf needs must be met, and not just by giving mechanical hearing. CI Industry is not helping by refusing to acknowledge them and insisting CIs along with oralism is all the child needs. This is wrong.

I am not against wanting a child to have hearing, I'm against the message CI professionals send that deaf culture and community is a moot point to an implanted Deaf child. It really pisses me off when I hear stories from others saying how the CI implant kid was doing so well that she didn't need "special education", she's fine without all that stuff. Isn't that wonderful?

I'm sick of hearing that. A CI implanted child is still deaf. An undeniable truth. We worry that child would grow up so intensely dependent on CIs that should it break down one day at school or at work, s/he would find it very difficult. I've actually read about that happening in a few blogs. Malfunctions happened and they were truly stressed out and felt almost unable to manage.

Deaf people don't panic about being deaf in any situation. My hearing aid batteries have died so many times in public that it's not a big deal to go deaf for the day. Rather peaceful actually at work. I'm more focused and less stressed without sound.

So, back to my point. CIs is not the real threat here, it's emblematic of it, which is oralism. And all that that entails.

It's oralism that's death to the deaf community.
 
I liked van halen does anyone does??

wrong post oops
 
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drphil said:
Hard to believe. I am bilateral deaf since December 20,2006. I became "suitable for consideration" of getting a Cochlear Implant which OHIP ( Ontario Health Insurance Plan) covered the entire cost. Hospital care, surgeon fees, audi services/mapping, Internal/external "hardware". Cost then-2007 was $55,000.00 CDN.

I have mentioned before Sunnybrook/Toronto has implanted 850 persons over a 19 year period with the rejection rate for one reason or other at 60%. I am one of the 850.

The fact remains- I am deaf with a Cochlear Implant-why this is a problem is beyond me.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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It is a problem because you can't seem to talk about anything except your implantation. Other people here have them and very seldom mention them.


drphil said:
Berry: as your ideological supposition re: society bifurcated into 2 discrete "entities" termed- hearing & deaf overlooks all persons who became deaf after birth.

Whether anyone agrees with Harlan Lane et al consider what the Ontario Deaf Community in the book" You and Your Deaf Child" 4th revised edition- January 2000- page 25 said. "Comprehensive presentation of the latest findings and insights into the world of signing Deaf individuals-their language and thought.education. employment,culture and society." I have the book from Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf. Toronto Ontario.
I have read the entire book-A Journey into the DEAF-WORLD and am unpersuasive of parts of it-especially Cochlear:wave: Implants.

It has been noted before-- what does every person consider when re getting a Cochlear Implant ( if suitable)?

This is just a forum of various thoughts re Hearing Aid/Cochlear Implants /ASL not an exercise in "dogmatic Sociology-culture".

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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The bolded part:

Wrong. This is a forum of people who discuss anything and everything whether it has to do with deafness, Deaf, or not. Most of the people here are somehow involved with, and/or love, the Deaf community and many love sign language (not just ASL).

Many here use and love ASL. Not all.

Because people here are D/deaf, oriented subjects relating to D/deaf people comes up a lot more than it might in other forums.

Try talking about something else. Do you have a pet? Do you love it? Can you post a picture of it?
 
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