HAs FOR BABY BEFORE CI

kat05 said:
Another question: how did you figure that your daughter needs a CI when she was one year old? I read contradictory information, it's useful they say to implant the earlier the better and on the other hand, leave time just in case the HAs can work... I am afraid that we could be leaving time pass...
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Don't panic. You do know that until very recently kids weren't even fitted with aids or identified until we were toddlers.
Heck my generation of implanted kids didn't get implanted until we were toddlers.
 
I never got implanted and I am doing good.
 
Is your loss as severe as this baby's? I had the impression you use HAs, is that right? And that your loss has been progressive? Maybe I'm not remembering your situation correctly.

I'm not implanted either, and I'm doing well, but it's different for a late-deafened person vs. an infant with absolutely no hearing. It's not a comparable situation.
 
kat05 said:
Is it common to have a practically deaf baby wear HAs before being implanted? I mean for the months until the surgery. Because this is what the doctor told us about my son, however while speaking with other parents, they asked me what's the point in HAs ("would you put eye-glasses to a blind person" they ask me), also leaving hints that the doctor had something to gain from us getting the HAs. Do they really help? I am a little puzzled since I have seen no difference in my son, at the noises he turns at. He has been wearing them since the beginning of NOvember, 2011.
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I agree with another poster. Don't panic. Giving HAs a try first sounds like a good idea. If you have concerns as to whether the Dr has other motives I would suggest seeking a second opinion. Good luck to you!
 
And I do have to add....if there's NO response with HAs.....don't feel bad about opting for implantation. I think a lot of the being against CIs nowadays has to do with the fact that it is very hard to tell exactly how well a baby can hear with hearing aids. There are deep profound/unaidable kids who cannot and do not get any benifit from HA (not even enviromental sounds) But, if it's clear and obvious that your kid doesn't benifit from HA......implant.
I do have to say that I think that a lot of the good CI users (meaning functionally HOH) may have a lot of advantages and variables that may not be present in your case. I know it's still pretty much a fact that benifit from CI varies a lot. It's changed from when kids could only get a handful of words with the CI, yes.....but say a kid who lost their hearing at 5 months or a kid who had really good access to therapy or a kid who had access to good oral school resources and so on. heck there are even kids who may have had some decent residual hearing, in which case for them it was like turning up the volumne.
 
Frisky Feline said:
baseballboy may have more experiences of telling you about CI.


I am more comfortable with HAs and ASL.

My hub got a CI at late 30's and has seriously issues about finanical that he cant afford to buy another CI when his CI was lost. Insurance does not provide very well for adult people than children. My hub can afford hearing aids but his natural hearing level is destroyed by fixing it for CI. He is very upset about it. If CI stuff are affordable then my hub would continue to use CI. He said he will never go for another surgery agian. ONE surgery for CI is suffieicent for him.
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I know in my city, New York, some deaf people have complained that strangers think their CIs are bluetooth headsets for cell phones and they try to steal them. One man I know did get his CI stolen. Luckily it was still under warrenty which also covered theft and he was able to get it replaced. He will not wear it outdoors though because he doesn't want to have to replace it because of theft. And that is a shame because obviously he could benefit from hearing outdoors also, not just indoors.

I don't think that is a reason NOT to get them but it is something to keep in mind. Beause CIs are much larger than HAs are not worn with ear molds they are more noticeable and easier to steal.
 
I doubt that anyone is going to steal them off a baby! I'd sure hope not.

Later, as the child grows up and is out and about, I suppose it's a risk he should be made aware of. What a world we live in, when we have to worry about things like that...
 
HA's are generally used for a while before CI's, in case the child is able to hear with them. I wore HA's from 1 year old until the age of 10 when hearing aids no longer worked for me. But while you're tryin decide on the implant or not stuff, give him language, teach him to sign!!
 
It is common for anyone who is on CI assessment to go through hearing aids trials, I for one had been deaf since birth, i had trialled 3 different hearing aids (all did not benefit me even my hearing loss had not changed all my life) Before getting a CI at 30, and I don't regret it.

It is possible for your child to hear but it may not be possible for him to hear like a hearing child. At the end of the day CI or not, the child is still deaf and may require accomodations. Paitence and lots of it is important aswell.
 
Beach girl said:
I doubt that anyone is going to steal them off a baby! I'd sure hope not.

Later, as the child grows up and is out and about, I suppose it's a risk he should be made aware of. What a world we live in, when we have to worry about things like that...
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Surprise! The world is far worse than you think, and there has been more than on incident in the news of desparate parents begging for the return of a CI that was grabbed by teens who didn't know what it was.
 
Beach girl said:
Is your loss as severe as this baby's? I had the impression you use HAs, is that right? And that your loss has been progressive? Maybe I'm not remembering your situation correctly.

I'm not implanted either, and I'm doing well, but it's different for a late-deafened person vs. an infant with absolutely no hearing. It's not a comparable situation.
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I don't have a hearing loss. Our son's deafness has not been explained, there is no such record in our families, I had a normal pregnancy, no high fever, no meningitis etc.
What scares me is the possibility that his not hearing will affect his future and make him unhappy... It is this that I would like to prevent, no matter what.
 
kat05 said:
I don't have a hearing loss. Our son's deafness has not been explained, there is no such record in our families, I had a normal pregnancy, no high fever, no meningitis etc.
What scares me is the possibility that his not hearing will affect his future and make him unhappy... It is this that I would like to prevent, no matter what.
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By exposing him to the Deaf community and Deaf culture, he will not feel like a "broken" hearing person. Many of us were raised thinking we were defective because we weren't exposed to ASL, the Deaf community, or Deaf culture and that made many of us miserable as children. Since learning ASL and getting involved with the Deaf community, I have come to love myself and find true happiness for the first time in my life.
 
Beach girl said:
I doubt that anyone is going to steal them off a baby! I'd sure hope not.

Later, as the child grows up and is out and about, I suppose it's a risk he should be made aware of. What a world we live in, when we have to worry about things like that...
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unfortunately for my hub that he lost it at mcdonald and no one claimed that they have seen it. obviously someone else took it.
 
shel90 said:
By exposing him to the Deaf community and Deaf culture, he will not feel like a "broken" hearing person. Many of us were raised thinking we were defective because we weren't exposed to ASL, the Deaf community, or Deaf culture and that made many of us miserable as children. Since learning ASL and getting involved with the Deaf community, I have come to love myself and find true happiness for the first time in my life.
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TRUE TRUE TRUE


All my life is that I got involved with deaf community and i have never been felt so broken at all. guess what I can socialize with hearing people with no problem and i am an ASL user. The whole point is that i use ASL to understand what is going on and understand how hearing people are. i do figure out how to communicate with hearing people becasue i don't feel lost because of ASL.

I dont like to use someone elses name but true that someone else who i am very close with, not just one too many people i know who they have talents at speaking very well and didn't learn ASL in their earlier ages. The result that they have social skill issues or self esteem issues or any relates with self confident that they have been struggling with. so i feel for them. :( Having ASL is the key to communicate and understand and be invloved with someone else who are in deaf community then GREAT.
 
Frisky Feline said:
unfortunately for my hub that he lost it at mcdonald and no one claimed that they have seen it. obviously someone else took it.
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Not necessarily. It could have fallen where it landed on the floor and gotten swept up without anyone noticing there was something valuable there.
 
Jane B. said:
Not necessarily. It could have fallen where it landed on the floor and gotten swept up without anyone noticing there was something valuable there.
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That is an interesting thought. And perhaps my friend was wrong and his CI just slipped off his ear. NYC is so crowded he could have gotten joustled while crossing the street and it may have slipped off without anyone helping themself to it.

But ... I have had 3 people tell me how when they are in the subway or at the mall sometimes people will just reach over and touched their CIs -- most of the time without even talking to them or otherwise acknowledging their presence. Really creepy.
 
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Jane B. said:
Not necessarily. It could have fallen where it landed on the floor and gotten swept up without anyone noticing there was something valuable there.
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its possible. our local mcdonald is not very busy and very noticeable anything on the floor because mcdonald isnt very fithly. ci is pretty big that can be noticeable. its wire and processor is pretty big. :hmm:
 
Frisky Feline said:
its possible. our local mcdonald is not very busy and very noticeable anything on the floor because mcdonald isnt very fithly. ci is pretty big that can be noticeable. its wire and processor is pretty big. :hmm:
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I was thinking in terms of someone cleaning up that had never seen one and maybe never even heard of one.
 
Beach girl said:
I doubt that anyone is going to steal them off a baby! I'd sure hope not.

Later, as the child grows up and is out and about, I suppose it's a risk he should be made aware of. What a world we live in, when we have to worry about things like that...
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There was an article posted here on AD about 4 years ago about theives breaking into a house to steal a child`s implant because they saw him wearing it and thought it was a Bluetooth headpiece (back when bluetooths were new).

The article stated that the child was unable to go to school due not not having his implant processor and that he became withdrawn due not being able to communicate which sent an uproar in the Deaf community about children becoming too dependent on CIs.
 
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