hearing aids or cochlear implants for my 5 year old please advise

[rick48]

Cloggy,

Do you know or have you ever met anyone, other than those who oppose cochlear implants, who say that "It's great for EVERYONE, and EVERYONE eligable should get one!"? I know you have never said it nor I.

Richard,

Just to be 100% clear while the cochlear implant was the decision we made that was in the best interests for our child, I do not mean that you should make our decision for your child. Speak to others, get as much information as you can but at the end of the day you know your child better than anyone.

Again, good luck with your journey,
Rick

 

[jillio]

Richard,

Sorry, I just saw this thread as I have been busy the last few days. I am the hearing parent of a 21 year old daughter who recoeved her ci when she was 2. Like your daughter she is profoundly deaf but did not receive any benefits from HAs.With her cochlear implant, post-ci speech and language therapy and an active and involved family she has developed very good oral language skills, has always been mainstreamed and is on track to graduate college next year.

Honestly, the best advice I can give you is to go out and meet ci users and their families and talk to them about their experiences. It is up to you to weigh the risks involved with ci surgery and to speak to medical professionals about those risks.

As for post-ci therapy, it sounds as if your daughter is already getting S&L therapy and looking back after 21 plus years, the amount of time that my daughter received S&L therapy was insignificant and a very small part of her life. She lived then and still does now a very active social life and S&L therapy never got in the way of academics, sports or social activities.

The most important thing looking back is that as a result of all the time we spent talking to our daughter, today we have a close relationship where we talk about everything--just an additional benefit of S&L therapy

Good luck with your decision and if you are still interested in ci related forums there is already a thread started here and Vallee listed some very good ones such as the ci circle which is predomiantely parents of ci kids and no bashing is allowed.

Yes the external devices are upgradable, my daughter is on the 4th or 5th upgrade. Some people report still having residual hearing after the ci surgery but in the case of a profoundly deaf person, the real issue is the viability of that residual hearing in the first place.

Best wishes,
Rick

If you will check the OP, Richard said that his daughter actually "gets on very well with her HAs."

 

[jillio]

Cloggy,

Do you know or have you ever met anyone, other than those who oppose cochlear implants, who say that "It's great for EVERYONE, and EVERYONE eligable should get one!"? I know you have never said it nor I.

Richard,

Just to be 100% clear while the cochlear implant was the decision we made that was in the best interests for our child, I do not mean that you should make our decision for your child. Speak to others, get as much information as you can but at the end of the day you know your child better than anyone.

Again, good luck with your journey,
Rick

Why in the world would someone who is opposed to cochlear implants, and they are few and far between, say that a Ci is great for everyone?

 

[DeafPenPal]

hi im from london uk
i have recently been told my daughter of 5 may benefit from Ci rather than her Ha which she has had since the age of 2.

she is profoundly deaf and gets on withe her Ha very well, always has.
she learns bsl and also spoken english at school but is still missing many silent types of letters / words i.e sh, th, f.

most people find her hard to understand as she tends to rabbit on so much and struggles to pronounce words properly.

already she has been through surgery on her heart at 6 months old and has not had to good a time of it and im finding it hard to make a decission about what would be best for her.
i would like the views of your experience as i can see many of you may have been through this yourself.

im not quite sure what is involved in the surgery side of Ci or of any side affects and discomforts not to mention she is still at a school where possibly may get picked on for being different as the Ci seems to be more on display. are they able to hide device under hair and are they waterproof or irittating.
are there more benefits for Ci than Ha to make this an easy dessision. Ha are so advanced now as to even 3 years ago and im sure they will just get better in the future, but is just amplifying sound enough ?.

should i wait for her to get to an age where she can choose for herself or would i be depriving her of vital learning and language skills from her early years at school.

she is deaf in both ears so does this mean two devices on her head ? i just dont know. i have an appointment with the audioligist on 8/7/08 and will obviously stress my concerns.

please feel free to offer any advice i would appretiate it as i could list reasons for her not to or to have the Ci for hours.

thank you for your time

Richard

Hi Richard. You may want to vist my awesome HA Design for BTE here http://www.alldeaf.com/hearing-aids-cochlear-implants/54124-my-ha-3.html#post1025384

 

[deafskeptic]

Hi and welcome to AD!

I think people who are CI users would the ones who can give you a better idea. However, do not let any professionals push you into doing something you do not feel comfortable with. Research and talk with many individuals from deaf adults and parents of deaf children.

I was born profoundly deaf since birth and wore HAs all of my life. I rely on them to help with my speech reading skills but I will always need visual cues to communicate with others whether it is lipreading or ASL (American Sign Language).

Good luck!

Excellent advice.

Anyway, I don't think CIs are needed to learn to speak well though they're certainly useful in that dept. But then the same can go for HAs.

I got my CI because I no longer was able to hear things with my HA without awful ringing in my ears. Lipreading was exhausting because I had to focus so much on lipreading.

As wonderful as CIa can be for when the surgery goes well, the clarity of sound is much greater than HAs; know this - your daughter will always have some degree of deafness because even having CIs isn't the same as having normal hearing even with children implanted at an early age who often do better than prelingual adults with implants. There always will be gaps with the spoken word hence why I don't recommend dropping sign.

Another reason why I don't recommend dropping sign is that CIs can fail. Odds are that the surgery will be a success but I prefer not to risk language delays for those are very difficult to overcome. Language delays will have a profound impact on the child's academic success. Good speech =/= good language skills.

 

[jillio]

Excellent advice.

Anyway, I don't think CIs are needed to learn to speak well though they're certainly useful in that dept. But then the same can go for HAs.

I got my CI because I no longer was able to hear things with my HA without awful ringing in my ears. Lipreading was exhausting because I had to focus so much on lipreading.

As wonderful as CIa can be for when the surgery goes well, the clarity of sound is much greater than HAs; know this - your daughter will always have some degree of deafness because even having CIs isn't the same as having normal hearing even with children implanted at an early age who often do better than prelingual adults with implants. There always will be gaps with the spoken word hence why I don't recommend dropping sign.

Another reason why I don't recommend dropping sign is that CIs can fail. Odds are that the surgery will be a success but I prefer not to risk language delays for those are very difficult to overcome. Language delays will have a profound impact on the child's academic success. Good speech =/= good language skills.

 

[Miss-Delectable]

Excellent advice.

Anyway, I don't think CIs are needed to learn to speak well though they're certainly useful in that dept. But then the same can go for HAs.

I got my CI because I no longer was able to hear things with my HA without awful ringing in my ears. Lipreading was exhausting because I had to focus so much on lipreading.

As wonderful as CIa can be for when the surgery goes well, the clarity of sound is much greater than HAs; know this - your daughter will always have some degree of deafness because even having CIs isn't the same as having normal hearing even with children implanted at an early age who often do better than prelingual adults with implants. There always will be gaps with the spoken word hence why I don't recommend dropping sign.

Another reason why I don't recommend dropping sign is that CIs can fail. Odds are that the surgery will be a success but I prefer not to risk language delays for those are very difficult to overcome. Language delays will have a profound impact on the child's academic success. Good speech =/= good language skills.

Right on!

Richard,
My speech took off big time after I first learned to sign at the age of 4 and I'm profoundly deaf. Also it helps that I had a family who learned to sign, and that had helped me heaps by bounds.

However, it takes years to try and develop good speech skill. Have her keep going to speech therapy.

In my opinion, she's at the age where it is more important to help her develop reading and writing skills. Speech, in hindsight, is a small part of her education. Not sure how to articulate on that point.

If she had an CI, that's up to you, but if she finds HA's very useful and wants to keep sign language and speech then perhaps just let her be until the timing's right to bring up the discussion.

Just be confident in making the right decision. Although, I feel you've already made up your mind. All the best of luck on her development in years to come.

 

[jasin]

If the hearing aids work why would you go with a CI? The CI requires surgery and destruction of residual hearing. It's also very expensive and whether your insurance covers it is anyone's guess. Maybe an upgrade is due? Hearing Aid technology has improved over the years.

 

[shel90]

Excellent advice.

Anyway, I don't think CIs are needed to learn to speak well though they're certainly useful in that dept. But then the same can go for HAs.

I got my CI because I no longer was able to hear things with my HA without awful ringing in my ears. Lipreading was exhausting because I had to focus so much on lipreading.

As wonderful as CIa can be for when the surgery goes well, the clarity of sound is much greater than HAs; know this - your daughter will always have some degree of deafness because even having CIs isn't the same as having normal hearing even with children implanted at an early age who often do better than prelingual adults with implants. There always will be gaps with the spoken word hence why I don't recommend dropping sign.

Another reason why I don't recommend dropping sign is that CIs can fail. Odds are that the surgery will be a success but I prefer not to risk language delays for those are very difficult to overcome. Language delays will have a profound impact on the child's academic success. Good speech =/= good language skills.

I agree with u on every points!

 

[shel90]

Right on!

Richard,
My speech took off big time after I first learned to sign at the age of 4 and I'm profoundly deaf. Also it helps that I had a family who learned to sign, and that had helped me heaps by bounds.

However, it takes years to try and develop good speech skill. Have her keep going to speech therapy.

In my opinion, she's at the age where it is more important to help her develop reading and writing skills. Speech, in hindsight, is a small part of her education. Not sure how to articulate on that point.

If she had an CI, that's up to you, but if she finds HA's very useful and wants to keep sign language and speech then perhaps just let her be until the timing's right to bring up the discussion.

Just be confident in making the right decision. Although, I feel you've already made up your mind. All the best of luck on her development in years to come.

Again, another

 

[dreama]

I think that it would be best just to use the HA. There are risks to the CI. It would be best to wait a few more years until she is old enough to express what she wants.

I'm glad she is signing.

Whatever you decide. Please don't let anyone perswade you to drop Sign language.

I was HOH. I always wish I had been exposed to sign language even though my hearing loss wasn't too severe.

 

[SouthFella]

Cloggy,

That is the post of the year!

YEP I vote YEA post of the year lol

That was a good one Rick

 

[SouthFella]

Richard my two cents,

As Father to Father , I would wait till all else fails before going the CI route. I just had a CI and I am in my 40s and it was a painful trip and relearning sounds on that side of my head. Getting a hole drilled in my head was no cakewalk !!! Not to mention being able to communicate to the audie what I hear and don't hear with the CI for adjustments. I would not put my child through that till all else fails.

I got the MedEl CI ( yes it is water resisitant) because I only had 16 percent speech recognition on the side of my head. ( that's what I get for marrying a hearie wife lol )
. And yes keep using sign language and written language as much as possible. When she turns 18, she can decide if she want't the CI or not and the technology will have improved by then. ( asking a 5 year old such important questions don't go well in my book ). As long as she is happy and learning, why mess with it . Good luck and my prayers over the pond.

 

[DeafPenPal]

Where do I get to see picture of many different hearing aids wear by Deaf? Picture of hearing aids without person wearing it would be helpful.

 

[LadySekhmet]

there are 3 types of cochlear implants, Advanced Bionics, Cochlear, and Medel

She will loose rest of her resusial hearing if she gets the implant as the coil that goes round the cochlear will "flatten" and destroys the cochlear hairs.

That is not always the case. I had two surgeries, and I *still* have residual hearing in both ears. I may have lost a couple of dbs, but not much. When I do put in my hearing aids in just for the heck of it...it's a HUGE difference of how much I was missing. So, it's nice to enjoy the comparison.

There are several people that did not lose their residual hearing. It may have to do with how the doctors insert the array. IF the doctor do it too fast, it will scrape the delicate hairs (which is why lots of surgeries are 1 to 2 hours long), others take their time...like mine which took about 3 to 4 hours each ear.

 

[jillio]

That is not always the case. I had two surgeries, and I *still* have residual hearing in both ears. I may have lost a couple of dbs, but not much. When I do put in my hearing aids in just for the heck of it...it's a HUGE difference of how much I was missing. So, it's nice to enjoy the comparison.

There are several people that did not lose their residual hearing. It may have to do with how the doctors insert the array. IF the doctor do it too fast, it will scrape the delicate hairs (which is why lots of surgeries are 1 to 2 hours long), others take their time...like mine which took about 3 to 4 hours each ear.

Also, the short array is less likely to destroy residual hearing in the lower frequencies, but that particular technique is more often used on adults.

 

[richard.henman]

id like to thank everone of you for your input and experience of both ha and ci.
we have been to the audioligist now and he has refered her to great ormand street hospital to disguss it further in more detail,
we are gonna take our time to decide as i dont want to destroy her chance of ever being able to use ha again if she "like some" does lose her residual hearing not to mention how much work is involved at the start as she is just settling in nice at school,
i have been told the only way she will get the implants is if she meets certain criteria anyway, so if she dosnt as she is doing so well the choice would be made for us but either way i would like to involve her in deciding weather she wants them when she is a little older.
once again thank you to all without this site i would only be reading statements or articals, you are a nice friendly and helpfull bunch and i hope you keep it up. i will post again once been to G.O.S.H
thank you

 

[ClearSky]

Good luck. I wish the very best for you and your daughter!

 

[jillio]

id like to thank everone of you for your input and experience of both ha and ci.
we have been to the audioligist now and he has refered her to great ormand street hospital to disguss it further in more detail,
we are gonna take our time to decide as i dont want to destroy her chance of ever being able to use ha again if she "like some" does lose her residual hearing not to mention how much work is involved at the start as she is just settling in nice at school,
i have been told the only way she will get the implants is if she meets certain criteria anyway, so if she dosnt as she is doing so well the choice would be made for us but either way i would like to involve her in deciding weather she wants them when she is a little older.
once again thank you to all without this site i would only be reading statements or articals, you are a nice friendly and helpfull bunch and i hope you keep it up. i will post again once been to G.O.S.H
thank you

Yes, good luck to you and your family. I look forward to reading your future posts.

 

[rick48]

Good luck and best wishes to you and your family.
Rick