It it really the deaf/Deaf community?

found it, bit dissapointed though, its typical of american internet, everything is on pay-per-view basis, not really helping blah...
 
thanks, just move on, stick to the thread's topics, babies's language issues is really about the domination of the medical paradigm which is sad but true. Like others, Im more interested in the dynamics in between communities and its reactions to CIs and so forth
 
Buffalo said:
Real screwy. I often used Martha's Vineyard in 18th and 19th centuries as a good example of how deaf and hearing people can co-exist better. I feel that too many of hearing people aren't listening to this.

I have seen a cartoon of two babies - hearing baby was signing and looks happy while the deaf baby is about to cry because of the handcuffs on his/her wrists.
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Now that just want to make me cry! I wish the medical community and many parents would really listen to us and understand the implications of this.
 
shel90 said:
Now that just want to make me cry! I wish the medical community and many parents would really listen to us and understand the implications of this.
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i wouldnt say 'community' they're an industry ! hell bent on profiteering
 
jillio said:
Well said, Buffalo. It is the exclusion of the hearing that led to the need for a deaf community.
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Then perhaps this is another reason hearing parents do not choose to have their child be a part of the Deaf community? They don't want them to be excluded from the hearing community?
 
Buffalo said:
This is from the link you just provided: "A survey of parents of cochlear implanted children showed nearly half of them did not know whether their child had been fully vaccinated.

This Advice for Patients is to remind you of the increased and life-threatening risk of bacterial meningitis in cochlear implant patients and the importance of their being fully vaccinated."

And it is scary to read that nearly half of the parents don't know about their child's vaccinations.

Could you please provide me a link where it says that CI implantees have the same risk as non-implantees? I haven't seen that and all I have seen are the ones where the CI implantees have higher risk.

I wonder about the insurance. Does your insurance goes up after your implant? I suspect it would go up because of the meningitis risk and the need to replace whatever got broken. I 'd like to know about that.
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I was told that the reason that the risk is higher for *some* CI people is because they have other physiological abnormalities, related to their deafness. They could have malformations in their ears or been exposed to an illness that made them deaf and made them at higher risk for other illnesses, etc. My daughter's doctor told me that not all CI patients are high risk, including my daughter.

P.S. CI patients can take off their processos if they want to focus and get more work done, or if there is a sound they don't like, just like hearing aid users!
 
faire_jour said:
Then perhaps this is another reason hearing parents do not choose to have their child be a part of the Deaf community? They don't want them to be excluded from the hearing community?
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Are you saying that hearing parents are fearful that the rest of society will shun their children if they associate with the deaf community?
 
faire_jour said:
I was told that the reason that the risk is higher for *some* CI people is because they have other physiological abnormalities, related to their deafness. They could have malformations in their ears or been exposed to an illness that made them deaf and made them at higher risk for other illnesses, etc. My daughter's doctor told me that not all CI patients are high risk, including my daughter.

P.S. CI patients can take off their processos if they want to focus and get more work done, or if there is a sound they don't like, just like hearing aid users!
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Again....this is not about CI, even though we can't seem to keep it out of the discussion. Since it is a part of the discussion by choice, let's keep it limited to the cultural implications, and not the surgical implications.

But to put it to rest once and for all, the FDA lists bacterial meningitis as one of the risks of cochlear implant sugery.

Now, let's get back on track, and keep this discussion limited to emotional responses to deafness and the cultural implications of such.
 
jillio said:
Are you saying that hearing parents are fearful that the rest of society will shun their children if they associate with the deaf community?
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I think it could be a reason. Or maybe they think that being part of the Deaf community will shut them off from hearing people. Or maybe that it will make them "act Deaf" (whatever that means) and then they won't be "normal" or then they will looked down on by other people or discrimated against.

But really I think a major reason is because parents think that being deaf is just aspect of their child. They don't feel like it defines them.
 
faire_jour said:
I think it could be a reason. Or maybe they think that being part of the Deaf communityy will shut them off from hearing people.
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Well, since we are attempting to keep from using the word "they" and instead using "I" statements about feelings and reasons, was this a factor for you?

We're getting closer, however. We are beginning to get some clues into the thought patterns and emotional reactions of hearing parents. The reasoning is not based so much on rejection by the deaf community, but on fear of the deaf community, or in short, fear of loosing their child to the deaf community. If, indeed, that is a fear of the hearing parent, wouldn't it make sense to share that with their child and make it a part of all their lives rather than to deny access to the child?
 
jillio said:
Well, since we are attempting to keep from using the word "they" and instead using "I" statements about feelings and reasons, was this a factor for you?
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Nope. My child is a part of the Deaf community. We went to a Halloween party at our local Deaf Center Wednesday and this afternoon we will be meeting a group of Deaf kids and making scarecrows. I can not speak to my experience because my child IS in the Deaf community.

I can only speak to what parents tell me, sorry.
 
faire_jour said:
Nope. My child is a part of the Deaf community. We went to a Halloween party at our local Deaf Center Wednesday and this afternoon we will be meeting a group of Deaf kids and making scarecrows. I can not speak to my experience because my child IS in the Deaf community.

I can only speak to what parents tell me, sorry.
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But I thought you spoke of rejection by the deaf community?

Well, lets allow the other parents to speak for themselves. That way there will be no confusion or misinterpretation of what they say.

I appreciate you sharing the circumstances surrounding Miss Kat's deafness earlier in this thread. Would you like to share some of the emotions you experienced as a result?
 
jillio said:
I appreciate you sharing the circumstances surrounding Miss Kat's deafness earlier in this thread. Would you like to share some of the emotions you experienced as a result?
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We weren't really surprised. It made sense. Because she had been so sick, we were just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and find out what the lingering problems would be. We were very lucky it was deafness, there are much more crushing things that we could have had to deal with (HIV from one of the hundreds of transfusions for example). When we got the diagnosis it made sense with her behavior, so it clicked.
There have only been a few times where I have been very upset by it and ny level headed husband usually snaps me back to reality. For example the night before we got her hearing aids I was crying and asking what her future would hold and he said "She will probably never be a phone operator but other than that her future is wide open".
Honestly, the only thing I ever wanted was information and a job to do. I need to be working to make her life better every single day. If you don't have a goal, or a job, I think that is when you wallow in self-pity and saddness. I'm too busy for wallowing.
 
faire_jour said:
We weren't really surprised. It made sense. Because she had been so sick, we were just waiting for the other shoe to drop, and find out what the lingering problems would be. We were very lucky it was deafness, there are much more crushing things that we could have had to deal with (HIV from one of the hundreds of transfusions for example). When we got the diagnosis it made sense with her behavior, so it clicked.
There have only been a few times where I have been very upset by it and ny level headed husband usually snaps me back to reality. For example the night before we got her hearing aids I was crying and asking what her future would hold and he said "She will probably never be a phone operator but other than that her future is wide open".
Honestly, the only thing I ever wanted was information and a job to do. I need to be working to make her life better every single day. If you don't have a goal, or a job, I think that is when you wallow in self-pity and saddness. I'm too busy for wallowing.
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Having a goal and working toward that goal are certainly admirable qualities in any parent. I think we all share the desire to make our children's lives better. However, we all also have to be careful that we don't become so involved with that one desire that we cease to see that we are using it to assuage our own guilty feelings over our child being deaf, and deafness being something we can't fix, but only deal with.
 
jillio said:
Having a goal and working toward that goal are certainly admirable qualities in any parent. I think we all share the desire to make our children's lives better. However, we all also have to be careful that we don't become so involved with that one desire that we cease to see that we are using it to assuage our own guilty feelings over our child being deaf, and deafness being something we can't fix, but only deal with.
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I feel no guilt. My child was deafened by a medication that saved her life. I would take a deaf child over a dead one any day.
 
faire_jour said:
I feel no guilt. My child was deafened by a medication that saved her life. I would take a deaf child over a dead one any day.
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I couldn't agree with you more. I felt no guilt over my son's deafness, either, but some parents do. I did, however, suffer from the regret (associated very closely to guilt, especially when it contains self blame) of not being able to kiss this boo-boo and make it go away. After all, mothers are "supposed" to have all the answers, and make everything all better.
 
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