Do you feel lucky you did not get a CI when a child?

[flip]

Flip - you did not provide more choices, because I was gonna click on "I wish I had gotten a CI when I was younger". Because I do wish I had gotten one. I wonder if my speech and listening abilities might have been better had I gotten a CI at a younger age than when I was 26 years old? I have a lot of "what if's". Of course I would continue the ASL but I wanted the CI so I would not feel left out when one of my hearing friends or hearing relatives or my parents or whoever turns on the radio in the car or whatever and I can't get involved in enjoying the music or participate in conversations with a friend or whatever. I've always felt limited communication-wise growing up without a CI. I always hated being left out and having to depend on paper and pen or on a friend or whatever when I try to communicate with hearing people like when I want to order a meal from a fast food restaurant or something like that. I finally got my CI at 26 years old and I do love it and do not regret it at all and I use it for music and environmental sounds and I enjoy it a lot but I do wish I had gotten my CI as a child before my window had closed so I would have benefited from it more, I would have gotten appropriate speech therapy and stuff. I did have some speech therapy after I was implanted in 2006 but the speech therapist was not a CI-focused speech therapist...she normally works with patients who have had been in accidents that rendered them unable to speak and they have to re-learn how to speak all over again - inappropriate speech therapist for me and a total waste of my time and energy, I want to work with someone who knows how a CI works and how we hear differently than those who hear with a HA or are completely hearing. We do not have speech therapists for adults with CIs here in San Antonio, only for children with CIs. I'm not the oralist type nor an audist, I just simply believe in a full toolbox approach, even ASL included, that's all. I even think ASL is the most important tool in the entire toolbox. This is the way I am, I guess. I don't want to be hearing, I just want to be a part of whatever my friends are doing, regardless of my friends being deaf or being hearing. I want to participate. I don't want to be left out anymore. You know what I mean? Sorry if it sounds like a whine story or a pity story but it's not. It's just my honest feeling and that's all. I do embrace the Deaf culture and I am proud of being Deaf, I've never been ashamed of being Deaf. I just hate being limited, that's all.

Thanks for the input. It's interesting to read WHY you wish you had a CI. I agree that this poll lacks two questions, like:"I wish I had gotten CI when too young to make a choice myself" and "I wish I did not get a CI when too young to make a choice myself". This was quickly pulled up when it hit me that I am curious about what deaf people themselves think, not parents or outsiders with strong opinions, etc.

I understand what you mean, and I look at them as valid and valuable as my viewpoint, even if I or another deafie don't feel the same way. It's cool to see that most of us handle and fit to deafness different ways, and still are ganging up at deaf parties and having great times togheter, lol.

 

[overthepond]

I feel same as Lucia.
Since i am strong oralist (i also do SSE), I wished i had the CI when i was young too so i can be more involved with my family (my father has 5 brothers and sisters) countless of cousins of similar age as me i often feel very left out in communication because I cannot hear them or understand them well, they don't sign so there is no middle ground for commuication.
There's work too, Hearing friends forgetting that i am deaf because i speak well. Confidence in meeting new people, Different accents.
There were struggles while i was growing up.

But at end of day I am happy that I am deaf in a way and love my deaf friends. I often goes camping with them and be myself. Most of my deaf friends are culturally deaf and would not dream of having CI for themselves, it's their choice but they supported my decision. I don't hype about it at all. I never told them I have CI, the news went round the deaf commuity and they know that I have CI, I let them ask me if they wanted to but they hardly question it.
Our lifestyles are different, our ways of being brought up is different. But there is some postition where they need me to talk to people (they can speak well but understanding people is another story) on their behalf like the reception at camp site, People coming over to our site and asking questions that they don't understand... that kind of thing.

So it's kind of give and take suitation....

I am a TA at deaf school where 50% of kids are CI users and they are no different to HA kids. Although an Oral School I SSE to them if they sign so they feel at ease with new teaching assistant but it will be reduced over time, The 5 year olds gets full tool box and the 11 year olds mostly Oral but will sign if they get into difficulty. We had 4 kids moved to this school from BSL school because they want to learn to speak but is acedemically gifted so we are giving them what they need, a small classroom for their schooling (they also get to go to other classes for other subjects) which also encouraged them to speak along with speech therapist in the classroom to keep records of their speech and would give them tweaks when they get their speech therapy.
I believe that Kids should be able to speak but also have the language where they are comfortable in (signs or spoken)

Unfortuately In UK all deaf kids are being pushed straight into Mainstream without full support and we have "drive bys" I believe NOT all deaf kids can be fully mainstreamed and do need help in some areas. Although I was fully mainstreamed when i was little but i was grateful for my TOD for being there, she made sure i am sitting in the right place, my FM system is working etc and made sure i understood the teacher ok. if I don't understand I go over to her table (with 4 or 5 deaf kids who needs full support).

 

[Pinky]

Thanks for the input. It's interesting to read WHY you wish you had a CI. I agree that this poll lacks two questions, like:"I wish I had gotten CI when too young to make a choice myself" and "I wish I did not get a CI when too young to make a choice myself". This was quickly pulled up when it hit me that I am curious about what deaf people themselves think, not parents or outsiders with strong opinions, etc.

I understand what you mean, and I look at them as valid and valuable as my viewpoint, even if I or another deafie don't feel the same way. It's cool to see that most of us handle and fit to deafness different ways, and still are ganging up at deaf parties and having great times togheter, lol.

You can ask MOD to add the choices on poll.

 

[dreama]

I think the problem with the CI is not the CI itself. It's the oralism that tends to go with it.

 

[deafdyke]

I wonder if my speech and listening abilities might have been better had I gotten a CI at a younger age than when I was 26 years old? I have a lot of "what if's". Of course I would continue the ASL but I wanted the CI so I would not feel left out when one of my hearing friends or hearing relatives or my parents or whoever turns on the radio in the car or whatever and I can't get involved in enjoying the music or participate in conversations with a friend or whatever. I've always felt limited communication-wise growing up without a CI.

Lucia.....great post!!!!! That is why I 100% support a full toolbox.....including ASL, speech training AND CI or HA. I simply am kind of uncomfortable with how "flexiable" canidacy for CI has gotten in the past few years.
Although, your speech abilty might have been the same....Do you have any speech abilty? I can't remember.....anyway, almost all oral sucesses either went to oral schools or were from the really high overachiever families. That's actually still pretty much true......it's more the "private school effect"

 

[flip]

You can ask MOD to add the choices on poll.

Making a poll with 5 choices and below twenty partipicants is not so very interesting to me, but it's a good question, how many who regret CI versus those who wish they had. I suspect it would look about the same as HA, like the poll Koknut pulled up, but no one knows for sure yeah.

What about three choices like:

I am a deaf adult, and I think CI on ME prior an age I can make a choice is

1. YEAH!

2. NAY!

3. Does not matter, anything interesting on TV tonight by the way?


A poll like this would include those who wish they had a CI and those who feel damned they got a CI? Perhaps we need a poll on this first, a 3 question poll or a 5 question poll, lol.

Is the grammar correct in the poll question by the way? "on ME prior an age.."?

 

[flip]

I think the problem with the CI is not the CI itself. It's the oralism that tends to go with it.

I think that's the reason number one I am happy I did not have a CI. Even if parents promise a full toolbox, as if they allways know what it means, other people around can easily fuck up.

 

[deafskeptic]

Hmm. This is a difficult question for me. If CIs had been around when I was born, I have no doubt that I would have been implanted.

However, my oral upbringing was anything but ideal. I remember posting about it in another thread and another ADer said it was the worst mainstreaming he ever heard of.

When I started to have trouble, my parents would not relent on me and they started to call me lazy and to this day I'm the "lazy one" in the family and they both set great store by hard work. I think hard work is fine as long as you keep it in balance. I still have scars from my oral upbringing and I think the CI would have made it even worse for me..

I love my CI though.. It's the attidudes some have about the CI that bothers me.

 

[shel90]

Hmm. This is a difficult question for me. If CIs had been around when I was born, I have no doubt that I would have been implanted.

However, my oral upbringing was anything but ideal. I remember posting about it in another thread and another ADer said it was the worst mainstreaming he ever heard of.

When I started to have trouble, my parents would not relent on me and they started to call me lazy and to this day I'm the "lazy one" in the family and they both set great store by hard work. I think hard work is fine as long as you keep it in balance. I still have scars from my oral upbringing and I think the CI would have made it even worse for me..

I love my CI though.. It's the attidudes some have about the CI that bothers me.

U and me both!

Very good posting!

 

[dreama]

It's the attidudes some have about the CI that bothers me.

Shel:

U and me both!!

Me as well!

 

[somedeafdudefromPNW]

Hmm. This is a difficult question for me. If CIs had been around when I was born, I have no doubt that I would have been implanted.

However, my oral upbringing was anything but ideal. I remember posting about it in another thread and another ADer said it was the worst mainstreaming he ever heard of.

When I started to have trouble, my parents would not relent on me and they started to call me lazy and to this day I'm the "lazy one" in the family and they both set great store by hard work. I think hard work is fine as long as you keep it in balance. I still have scars from my oral upbringing and I think the CI would have made it even worse for me..

I love my CI though.. It's the attidudes some have about the CI that bothers me.

U and me both!

Very good posting!

I third that.

 

[Frisky Feline]

Ditto, deafskeptic.

 

[dreama]

I third that.

fourth that you mean, since I was the one to third it since I posted first.

 

[Pinky]

Making a poll with 5 choices and below twenty partipicants is not so very interesting to me, but it's a good question, how many who regret CI versus those who wish they had. I suspect it would look about the same as HA, like the poll Koknut pulled up, but no one knows for sure yeah.

What about three choices like:

I am a deaf adult, and I think CI on ME prior an age I can make a choice is

1. YEAH!

2. NAY!

3. Does not matter, anything interesting on TV tonight by the way?


A poll like this would include those who wish they had a CI and those who feel damned they got a CI? Perhaps we need a poll on this first, a 3 question poll or a 5 question poll, lol.

Is the grammar correct in the poll question by the way? "on ME prior an age.."?

I will never regret about my decision for CI. I wish I would get one when I was kid. I have 3 friends whom stopped wear CI because it was not their decide. It from the parents forced them to be an oral.

And 2 friends changed their mind and want to get CI again. But their electrodes are old. They wanted to update a new cochlear implants.

 

[DogLover]

This kind of discussion can lead a huge conservatory about CI issue. I'd like to avoid this kind so I would not vote anything.

I do not have CI but I would want to stay neutral on what my opinion about deaf person who gets it.