Experiences with my daughter.

[Kaitin]

Actually, a new study in Norway has concluded that when learning speech is the goal, sign together with speech should be avoided......

I'm not the expert, but a quick search looks like there isn't agreement and needs more research on varied influence on speech and language development.


Children with a cochlear implant: characteristics and determinants of speech recognition, speech-recognition growth rate, and speech production.
Wie OB, Falkenberg ES, Tvete O, Tomblin B.

Department of Special Needs Education, Faculty of Education, University of Oslo, Norway. o.b.wie@isp.uio.no

The objectives of the study were to describe the characteristics of the first 79 prelingually deaf cochlear implant users in Norway and to investigate to what degree the variation in speech recognition, speech- recognition growth rate, and speech production could be explained by the characteristics of the child, the cochlear implant, the family, and the educational setting. Data gathered longitudinally were analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression, and growth-curve analysis. The results show that more than 50% of the variation could be explained by these characteristics. Daily user-time, non-verbal intelligence, mode of communication, length of CI experience, and educational placement had the highest effect on the outcome. The results also indicate that children educated in a bilingual approach to education have better speech perception and faster speech perception growth rate with increased focus on spoken language.

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Speech, vocabulary, and the education of children using cochlear implants: oral or total communication?
Connor CM, Hieber S, Arts HA, Zwolan TA.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA. cconnor@umich.edu

This study examines the relationship between the teaching method, oral or total communication, used at children's schools and children's consonant-production accuracy and vocabulary development over time. Children who participated in the study (N = 147) demonstrated profound sensorineural hearing loss and had used cochlear implants for between 6 months and 10 years. Educational programs that used an oral communication (OC) approach focused on the development of spoken language, whereas educational programs that used a total communication (TC) approach focused on the development of language using both signed and spoken language. - Controlling for all variables, children in OC programs demonstrated, on average, superior consonant-production accuracy, with significantly greater rates of improvement in consonant-production accuracy scores over time compared to children in TC programs. However, there was no significant difference between OC and TC groups in performance or rate of growth in consonant-production accuracy when children received their implants before the age of 5 years. There was no significant difference between the OC and TC groups in receptive spoken vocabulary scores or in rate of improvement over time. However, children in the TC group achieved significantly higher receptive spoken vocabulary scores than children in the OC group if they received their implant before the age of 5 years. The TC group demonstrated superior scores and rates of growth on the expressive vocabulary measure (spoken and/or signed) when compared to the OC group if they received their implants during their preschool or early elementary school years.

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Theory-of-mind development in oral deaf children with cochlear implants or conventional hearing aids.
Peterson CC.

School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. candi@psy.uq.edu.au

BACKGROUND: In the context of the established finding that theory-of-mind (ToM) growth is seriously delayed in late-signing deaf children, and some evidence of equivalent delays in those learning speech with conventional hearing aids, this study's novel contribution was to explore ToM development in deaf children with cochlear implants. Implants can substantially boost auditory acuity and rates of language growth. Despite the implant, there are often problems socialising with hearing peers and some language difficulties, lending special theoretical interest to the present comparative design. - CONCLUSIONS: The finding that deaf children with cochlear implants are as delayed in ToM development as children with autism and their deaf peers with hearing aids or late sign language highlights the likely significance of peer interaction and early fluent communication with peers and family, whether in sign or in speech, in order to optimally facilitate the growth of social cognition and language.

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Neurolinguistic development in deaf children: the effect of early language experience.
Leybaert J, D'Hondt M.

Université libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium. leybaert@ulb.ac.be

Recent investigations have indicated a relationship between the development of cerebral lateralization for processing language and the level of development of linguistic skills in hearing children. The research on cerebral lateralization for language processing in deaf persons is compatible with this view. We have argued that the absence of appropriate input during a critical time window creates a risk for deaf children that the initial bias for left-hemisphere specialization will be distorted or disappear. Two experiments were conducted to test this hypothesis The results of these investigations showed that children educated early and intensively with cued speech or with sign language display more evidence of left-hemisphere specialization for the processing of their native language than do those who have been exposed later and less intensively to those languages.

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Examining multiple sources of influence on the reading comprehension skills of children who use cochlear implants.
Connor CM, Zwolan TA.

Departmen of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, USA. cconnor@umich.edu

Children with profound deafness are at risk for serious reading difficulties. Multiple factors affect their development of reading skills, including use of cochlear implants. Further, multiple factors influence the overall success that children experience with their cochlear implants. These factors include the age at which they receive an implant, method of communication, vocabulary skills, preoperative residual hearing, and socioeconomic status. Ninety-one children with prelingual and profound hearing impairments who received cochlear implants at varying ages participated in the study. - Children who used total communication prior to implantation tended to have stronger pre-implant vocabulary scores, but the total effect of pre-implant communication method on children's reading skills was negligible. Research and educational implications are discussed.

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Language skills of children with early cochlear implantation.
Geers AE, Nicholas JG, Sedey AL.

Central Institute for the Deaf, St Louis, Missouri, USA. ageers@earthlink.net

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated factors contributing to the comprehension and production of English language by children with prelingual deafness after 4 to 7 yr of multichannel cochlear implant use. The analysis controlled for the effects of child and family characteristics so that educational factors most conducive to maximum implant benefit could be identified. - Use of a visual (i.e., sign) language system did not provide the linguistic advantage that had been anticipated. Children educated without use of sign exhibited a significant advantage in their use of narratives, the breadth of their vocabulary, in their use of bound morphemes, in the length of their utterances and in the complexity of the syntax used in their spontaneous language. An oral educational focus provided a significant advantage for both spoken and total language skills.

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Factors associated with development of speech production skills in children implanted by age five.
Tobey EA, Geers AE, Brenner C, Altuna D, Gabbert G.

Callier Advanced Hearing Research Center, University of Texas at Dallas, Texas, USA. etobey@utdallas.edu

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated speech production outcomes and the factors influencing the outcomes in children who had 4 to 6 yr of experience with a multichannel cochlear implant. Production variables examined included speech intelligibility, accuracy of consonant and vowel production, percentage of plosives and fricatives produced, duration of sentences, percentage of time involved in communication breakdowns during a communication sample, and responses to a speech usage questionnaire. DESIGN: 181 children between the ages of 8 and 9 yr who received a multichannel cochlear implant before age 5 yr participated as subjects. - CONCLUSIONS: Speech production performance in children with cochlear implants is influenced by nonverbal intelligence, gender, implant characteristics including the length of time using the newest speech processing strategies, and educational programs emphasizing oral-aural communication. Factors previously thought to be major contributors to speech production performance, such as age of onset of deafness and age of implantation, did not appear to play significant roles in predicting levels of speech production performance.

 

[jazzy]

Why would she not accept who she is? She is fully aware who she is, there's nothing to accept...
And "her own kind - deaf kids".... that's a misconception. She will find her peers. That will probably be hearing children. What's wrong with that..
How is she going to relate to a deaf child that cannot hear.? What do they have in common?

There is no misconception about deaf children who perfer to be with other deaf children instead of being with hearing children. Do u perfer her not to be around them just alike many hearing parents of their deaf oralist children who forbid them to be around us, the signers. I have not read recently updates of your daughter's progress with her CIs but now I wonder about this, will u let your daughter to be with deaf kids without CI and who use only sign language? Now she is in hearing classroom and will she feel left out? Feeling isolate from rest of her classmates?

What do they have in common? We all share one common, deafness. We all deal with it everyday for rest of life whether we wear CI, HA or none. We understand eachother. Heairing people can try and understand but they will never truly understand us deeply. Only us understand.

 

[shel90]

Why would she not accept who she is? She is fully aware who she is, there's nothing to accept...
And "her own kind - deaf kids".... that's a misconception. She will find her peers. That will probably be hearing children. What's wrong with that..
How is she going to relate to a deaf child that cannot hear.? What do they have in common?[/QUOTE]

Why would u say something like that? You are reminding me of those parents who want their implanted children not to interact with deaf signers. Already u are predicting that Lotte will not be friends with signers and that is sad cuz deaf signers are real people with real feelings. :roll:

 

[shel90]

There is no misconception about deaf children who perfer to be with other deaf children instead of being with hearing children. Do u perfer her not to be around them just alike many hearing parents of their deaf oralist children who forbid them to be around us, the signers. I have not read recently updates of your daughter's progress with her CIs but now I wonder about this, will u let your daughter to be with deaf kids without CI and who use only sign language? Now she is in hearing classroom and will she feel left out? Feeling isolate from rest of her classmates?

What do they have in common? We all share one common, deafness. We all deal with it everyday for rest of life whether we wear CI, HA or none. We understand eachother. Heairing people can try and understand but they will never truly understand us deeply. Only us understand.

Agreed!

 

[Grummer]

Bear (half unintended - i am not sure) and Cloggy have done a superb job to portray audist parents as Very caring, While Bear (and Cloggy did as well) maintained that it is 'exceptional for parents to be 'caring' to go at lengths to help the child. What its clear though that the commitment is enshrined in phonocentric beliefs and value which collude with those of most hearing parents. Understandably though that there is a problem facnig a deaf child, a dilemma to be Deaf AND be 'like' my hearing parents whom I love? that is a cruel paradox.
I can see why parents (when I put myself in THEIR (parents) shoes) that they wish their child to be INCLUDED in the family to avoid this alienation situation. However I still find this highly questionable, as there is no doubt it is the the self-justifying 'parents' rather than an expression of deaf childrens rights. Often a form of mesermising take place so shiftly that a parent could 'say' it wasn't my choice, it was my child's own choosing to this direction of life. All I can say you'd doing a great job as parent yes, but as a parent of a deaf child, is entirely another story.
Oh, that research you're talking about is nothing 'new' it's just a recent addition to the old oralist methodology.

 

[IslandGal]

There is no misconception about deaf children who perfer to be with other deaf children instead of being with hearing children. Do u perfer her not to be around them just alike many hearing parents of their deaf oralist children who forbid them to be around us, the signers. I have not read recently updates of your daughter's progress with her CIs but now I wonder about this, will u let your daughter to be with deaf kids without CI and who use only sign language? Now she is in hearing classroom and will she feel left out? Feeling isolate from rest of her classmates?

What do they have in common? We all share one common, deafness. We all deal with it everyday for rest of life whether we wear CI, HA or none. We understand eachother. Heairing people can try and understand but they will never truly understand us deeply. Only us understand.

I agree too!!

 

[shel90]

Bear (half unintended - i am not sure) and Cloggy have done a superb job to portray audist parents as Very caring, While Bear (and Cloggy did as well) maintained that it is 'exceptional for parents to be 'caring' to go at lengths to help the child. What its clear though that the commitment is enshrined in phonocentric beliefs and value which collude with those of most hearing parents. Understandably though that there is a problem facnig a deaf child, a dilemma to be Deaf AND be 'like' my hearing parents whom I love? that is a cruel paradox.
I can see why parents (when I put myself in THEIR (parents) shoes) that they wish their child to be INCLUDED in the family to avoid this alienation situation. However I still find this highly questionable, as there is no doubt it is the the self-justifying 'parents' rather than an expression of deaf childrens rights. Often a form of mesermising take place so shiftly that a parent could 'say' it wasn't my choice, it was my child's own choosing to this direction of life. All I can say you'd doing a great job as parent yes, but as a parent of a deaf child, is entirely another story.
Oh, that research you're talking about is nothing 'new' it's just a recent addition to the old oralist methodology.

I couldnt believe that when focusing on speech, avoid signing. That is sooo old and it was used on my mom 35 years ago. :roll:

 

[IslandGal]

Why would she not accept who she is? She is fully aware who she is, there's nothing to accept...
And "her own kind - deaf kids".... that's a misconception. She will find her peers. That will probably be hearing children. What's wrong with that..
How is she going to relate to a deaf child that cannot hear.? What do they have in common?[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by shel90 Why would u say something like that? You are reminding me of those parents who want their implanted children not to interact with deaf signers. Already u are predicting that Lotte will not be friends with signers and that is sad cuz deaf signers are real people with real feelings. :roll:

Yes, indeed sad!!

Cloggy, you asked how is Lotte going to relate to a deaf child who cannot hear.....they BOTH do have something in common and that is DEAFNESS. Oh yes, Lotte is deaf and she will always be deaf even though she can hear with her CI. Don't deny that Lotte is deaf.

When my parents first found out that I was deaf, the doctor told them to put me in a boarding oral school where sign language was forbidden. My parents and I were miserable for the whole 5 years I was in that school because we missed each other so much. Finally my parents decided to withdraw me from that school (Thank God they did) and put me in a local school where sign language was allowed. You have no idea what I have been through with thinking that I am "hearing" and believing that sign language was not needed for me. Know what? After I learnt to sign I was a much better and happier person. Being with other children who were deaf just like me changed my world for better.

 

[Grummer]

Why would she not accept who she is? She is fully aware who she is, there's nothing to accept...
And "her own kind - deaf kids".... that's a misconception. She will find her peers. That will probably be hearing children. What's wrong with that..
How is she going to relate to a deaf child that cannot hear.? What do they have in common?[/QUOTE]

Why would u say something like that? You are reminding me of those parents who want their implanted children not to interact with deaf signers. Already u are predicting that Lotte will not be friends with signers and that is sad cuz deaf signers are real people with real feelings. :roll:

Agree, deaf child will , CI or not, will somehow find that connection by magical means, and there's no way a hearing parent or hearing world is going to prevent that

 

[shel90]

Yes, indeed sad!!

Cloggy, you asked how is Lotte going to relate to a deaf child who cannot hear.....they BOTH do have something in common and that is DEAFNESS. Oh yes, Lotte is deaf and she will always be deaf even though she can hear with her CI. Don't deny that Lotte is deaf.

When my parents first found out that I was deaf, the doctor told them to put me in a boarding oral school where sign language was forbidden. My parents and I were miserable for the whole 5 years I was in that school because we missed each other so much. Finally my parents decided to withdraw me from that school (Thank God they did) and put me in a local school where sign language was allowed. You have no idea what I have been through with thinking that I am "hearing" and believing that sign language was not needed for me. Know what? After I learnt to sign I was a much better and happier person. Being with other children who were deaf just like me changed my world for better.

Same here for me.

 

[jillio]

There is no misconception about deaf children who perfer to be with other deaf children instead of being with hearing children. Do u perfer her not to be around them just alike many hearing parents of their deaf oralist children who forbid them to be around us, the signers. I have not read recently updates of your daughter's progress with her CIs but now I wonder about this, will u let your daughter to be with deaf kids without CI and who use only sign language? Now she is in hearing classroom and will she feel left out? Feeling isolate from rest of her classmates?

What do they have in common? We all share one common, deafness. We all deal with it everyday for rest of life whether we wear CI, HA or none. We understand eachother. Heairing people can try and understand but they will never truly understand us deeply. Only us understand.

Excellent post, jazzy. And it has been my experience in the deaf students I work with, and the deaf adults I have been friends with, that the deaf child, when prevented from havign contact with other deaf children and adults, will seek out that contact when they are an adult. And it is only when they do that they begin to experience the feeling of being a whole, connected person. It is a shame that so many deaf adults are put int he position of having to experience at an older age what they should have experienced early in life to achieve optimal development.

 

[shel90]

Excellent post, jazzy. And it has been my experience in the deaf students I work with, and the deaf adults I have been friends with, that the deaf child, when prevented from havign contact with other deaf children and adults, will seek out that contact when they are an adult. And it is only when they do that they begin to experience the feeling of being a whole, connected person. It is a shame that so many deaf adults are put int he position of having to experience at an older age what they should have experienced early in life to achieve optimal development.

Yea, I know...it is like making hearing kids have no contact with other hearing kids which many deaf parents dont do to their hearing kids anyway. Imagine the uproar it would cause if deaf parents completely isolate their hearing kids from other hearing people. Heck social services may even come and take their kids away but of course for hearing parents to do that to their deaf children, it is ok cuz being deaf is not "normal" anyway. :roll:

 

[jillio]

Bear (half unintended - i am not sure) and Cloggy have done a superb job to portray audist parents as Very caring, While Bear (and Cloggy did as well) maintained that it is 'exceptional for parents to be 'caring' to go at lengths to help the child. What its clear though that the commitment is enshrined in phonocentric beliefs and value which collude with those of most hearing parents. Understandably though that there is a problem facnig a deaf child, a dilemma to be Deaf AND be 'like' my hearing parents whom I love? that is a cruel paradox.
I can see why parents (when I put myself in THEIR (parents) shoes) that they wish their child to be INCLUDED in the family to avoid this alienation situation. However I still find this highly questionable, as there is no doubt it is the the self-justifying 'parents' rather than an expression of deaf childrens rights. Often a form of mesermising take place so shiftly that a parent could 'say' it wasn't my choice, it was my child's own choosing to this direction of life. All I can say you'd doing a great job as parent yes, but as a parent of a deaf child, is entirely another story.
Oh, that research you're talking about is nothing 'new' it's just a recent addition to the old oralist methodology.

If inclusion in the family experience is the goal, the way to achieve that goal is through accomodating and adapting to the child's needs, not having the child adapt to the parent's needs.

 

[shel90]

What will your daughter have in common with hearing children who dont have CIs?

 

[jillio]

Why would she not accept who she is? She is fully aware who she is, there's nothing to accept...
And "her own kind - deaf kids".... that's a misconception. She will find her peers. That will probably be hearing children. What's wrong with that..
How is she going to relate to a deaf child that cannot hear.? What do they have in common?

She has more in common with a deaf child that cannot hear than she does with a hearing child who does not rely on a CI to hear.
What exactly is it that she has in common with a hearing child without a CI, cloggy?

 

[loml]

If inclusion in the family experience is the goal, the way to achieve that goal is through accomodating and adapting to the child's needs, not having the child adapt to the parent's needs.

Inclusion in the family experience is one of the goals of Cued Speech, accomodating and meeting the needs of the child through a visual and tactile system.

 

[jillio]

Agree, deaf child will , CI or not, will somehow find that connection by magical means, and there's no way a hearing parent or hearing world is going to prevent that

Exactly, Grummer. It is an innate human drive. When it goes unfulfilled, problems are created that would never have been manifest otherwise. And it it gets fulfilled in adulthood, the reaction is one of resentment over being denied that experience as a child. One only has to listen to the same stroy told over and over again.

 

[shel90]

Exactly, Grummer. It is an innate human drive. When it goes unfulfilled, problems are created that would never have been manifest otherwise. And it it gets fulfilled in adulthood, the reaction is one of resentment over being denied that experience as a child. One only has to listen to the same stroy told over and over again.[/QUOTE]

Right, nothing new and the problems will still continue. Oh well.

 

[Grummer]

Inclusion in the family experience is one of the goals of Cued Speech, accomodating and meeting the needs of the child through a visual and tactile system.

Ah ha!, but only you assume that, I noticed you used the words 'family experience', the reality is though that the eagerness of a deaf child duped into believing they are 'knowing what is going on' in tbe family activity is quite different from actually Involved in the activity. Second-hand or delayed repeats to the update of recounted events is NOT inclusion - it is a pitiful situation to be in, like staring through some sort of ethereal anti-linguistic glass barrier all day.

The myth of inclusion is actually painful. Not Only the child suffers the strain and frustration, the family too.

 

[Kaitin]

If inclusion in the family experience is the goal, the way to achieve that goal is through accomodating and adapting to the child's needs, not having the child adapt to the parent's needs.