Parents' Opinion On Hearing Aids & CI

[gnulinuxman]

I hate to see people choosing a CI in desperation without considering all of the options, it's more like an easy way out, a child is not good enough with hearing aids or good enough for being who he/she is. We don't know who's right for a CI and who isn't. For me as a parent, I would seek in other options beside CI, which meaning hearing aids, Cued Speech in the spoken language, verbal skills, ASL. I do know it takes a lot of patience, and I do have it. If it doesn't work for a period of time which years, I would consider getting CI, for my child, but I would discuss this with my child too, if she/he wanted it. I do believe as a parent for myself would want my child to be participle in any change decision made.

Don't bash me, This is my opinion. Thank-you.

I agree with you. Many parents do make the mistake of going straight for the CI because the doctors and implant corporations push them into it.

 

[gnulinuxman]

Why do CI's hurt deaf identity but hearing aids don't? A child is still deaf either way! Why are those who can benefit from hearing aids allowed to have them young but those who cannot benefit from hearing aids must wait until they are adults before they can have a CI? If some children are going to have access to technology to help them hear it's only fair that they all should.

I feel that those who are against both hearing aids and CIs are more consistent.

Also for the sake of 2kids1hoh all the scientific studies that have been conducted in this area have shown that the earlier a child is exposed to sounds the better they do with it. I can tell you from my own personal experience is that I got a hearing aid in one year at the age of 2.5 years and a hearing aid in the other ear not until the age of 10. Guess which one is the better ear? And the better ear has a bigger hearing loss than the one that didn't get a hearing aid until the age of 10!

Because hearing aids can be removed if they don't work or if they're not desired. Cochlear implants, on the other hand, are embedded into the skull and nerve tissue.

I'm not against either DEVICE necessarily. I am against parents making quick decisions to go straight to the implant to make their kids "normal" and not thinking about long-term effects. (This happens too often.)

 

[R2D2]

Because hearing aids can be removed if they don't work or if they're not desired. Cochlear implants, on the other hand, are embedded into the skull and nerve tissue.

I'm not against either DEVICE necessarily. I am against parents making quick decisions to go straight to the implant to make their kids "normal" and not thinking about long-term effects. (This happens too often.)

I have a friend who was one of the first people in Australia to get implanted. He was a deaf adult who had never heard any sound ever, so the prognosis for him was bad but he wanted to do it anyway out of curiosity. It didn't work out for him, because his brain couldn't handle sound. He just put the processor away and got on with life. He still has the implant in but isn't worried about it.

I understand your concerns about the motives of some parents who implant, who just want a "normal" child without addressing their needs as deaf people. But I've seen this emphasis on normality happen with hearing aids as well. My mother was a teacher of deaf children so I saw some of the parents and listened to their thoughts. CIs are no different in this regard. The problem lies with the attitude of the parents themselves, not with the devices.

 

[Cloggy]

I agree with you. Many parents do make the mistake of going straight for the CI because the doctors and implant corporations push them into it.

"because the doctors and implant corporations push them into it" is one viewpoint. My viewpoint is that they give the information as soon as possible. And I am very grateful for that.
When deaf organisations have good connections to the health departments, they can also give information regarding Deaf culture quick.

For me, it's great that the info is given as soon as possible.

 

[Cloggy]

Because hearing aids can be removed if they don't work or if they're not desired. Cochlear implants, on the other hand, are embedded into the skull and nerve tissue.

I'm not against either DEVICE necessarily. I am against parents making quick decisions to go straight to the implant to make their kids "normal" and not thinking about long-term effects. (This happens too often.)

It's not embedded in the nerve tissue. There's no nerve tissue in the cochlea. The cochlea is wound around the auditory nerve. The electrode is in the cochlea.

 

[deafdyke]

2kids1hoh, my best advice would be to keep an open mind regarding CI. If your daughter really doesn't respond well to conventional aiding, go for the CI. BUT also, see if other technology can help first! Like, sometimes, a body worn aid can give more power then the traditional BTE aids...and there's also high frequncy transponder things which can help when BTEs don't. Is your daughter seeing an experianced pediatric audi?

 

[Fragmenter]

My five year old son is profoundly deaf and has been training to understand speech with hearing aids for more than 3 years. He has benefitted little from HA's so cochlear implant is now a real option for my son. I used to be against CI growing up but I never had a real excuse why I thought they were the wrong option for deaf people.

I can't be selfish when it comes to my son so I'm debating on giving my son the green light... I'm having extreme emotions right now but I want the best for my son's future. Even his 3 year old deaf sister understands speech better with hearing aids than him. She also speaks very well for a deaf girl with hearing aids. I can't hold my son back and stunt his speech and hearing development. I will still remind him and her of their deaf roots and raise them in the deaf community.

I think CI will help greatly if hearing aids is limiting your child's development. I think the deaf culture is now ready to welcome deaf people with CI... right?

 

[Fragmenter]

Because hearing aids can be removed if they don't work or if they're not desired. Cochlear implants, on the other hand, are embedded into the skull and nerve tissue.

I'm not against either DEVICE necessarily. I am against parents making quick decisions to go straight to the implant to make their kids "normal" and not thinking about long-term effects. (This happens too often.)

Please don't be selfish because when it comes to your child, don't you want the best for him/her? If hearing aids has a ceiling and is limiting your child's development, wouldn't you look at alternative options to open that ceiling and promote hearing and speech development?

If you told me I'd be defending CI a year ago, I'd laugh at you but now here I am, defending CI...

 

[deafdyke]

Fragmenter, why not? I think that the Deaf community is moving more towards being healthily skeptical of CIs. A few years ago, EVERYONE bashed CI! Even I did! It's baby steps, but I bet within five years most Deafies will be OK with CIs.

 

[deafdyke]

Oh and Cloggy, trust me.....some of the experts and CI companies are almost selling it. We have more of this in America b/c in other countries medically related advertising is VERY heavily regulated!

 

[Cloggy]

Please don't be selfish because when it comes to your child, don't you want the best for him/her? If hearing aids has a ceiling and is limiting your child's development, wouldn't you look at alternative options to open that ceiling and promote hearing and speech development?

If you told me I'd be defending CI a year ago, I'd laugh at you but now here I am, defending CI...

We all want the best for our child. The idea is to accept the decision that the parent makes.
I think you did well to try so long with HA's. YOu have done exactly what many "anti-CI for little children" want from parents with a deaf child.

What's your background? I gather that your daughter is HOH. How about the rest of the family?

 

[Cloggy]

Oh and Cloggy, trust me.....some of the experts and CI companies are almost selling it. We have more of this in America b/c in other countries medically related advertising is VERY heavily regulated!

I don't know about th USA situation.
But in Norway I had to find the information myself after the option was presented. Also, I had to look for contact with deaf people myself.

The d/Deaf world could also be more active and look for contact with parents that have a deaf child. If they don't know where to look, they might take the first available option.
It should not be like that. All options should be considered, but not everyone is as eager to search for information. We are all different.

So, information in hospitals and clinics should help parents..

 

[gnulinuxman]

Please don't be selfish because when it comes to your child, don't you want the best for him/her? If hearing aids has a ceiling and is limiting your child's development, wouldn't you look at alternative options to open that ceiling and promote hearing and speech development?

If you told me I'd be defending CI a year ago, I'd laugh at you but now here I am, defending CI...

This is what I just can't understand--Why do people assume deaf children aren't good ehough unless they can HEAR oral speech? My fiancee and my friend Sweetmind, as well as Sue Thomas, learned to LIPREAD, and they do it quite well. In fact, wasn't it lipreading that got Sue Thomas her job in the FBI??? She lipread surveillance videos where the audio equipment was broken and would NOT have been able to do so if she had a cochlear implant or hearing aids! She is part of both worlds and uses neither cochlear implants nor hearing aids but instead uses her EYES. Lipreading does have its advantages.

You don't need to be hearing to enjoy the benefits of both worlds. That's why Deaf extremists are against cochlear implants--because it is possible to use your eyes and LIPREAD. My fiancee can lipread almost anyone (and in fact we used oral communication almost exclusively for about the first 6 months because she was teaching me to sign and I wasn't fluent yet).

Just something to think about.

 

[gnulinuxman]

I don't know about th USA situation.
But in Norway I had to find the information myself after the option was presented. Also, I had to look for contact with deaf people myself.

The d/Deaf world could also be more active and look for contact with parents that have a deaf child. If they don't know where to look, they might take the first available option.
It should not be like that. All options should be considered, but not everyone is as eager to search for information. We are all different.

So, information in hospitals and clinics should help parents..

Well, Cloggy, here's what happens in the USA. After a kid is diagnosed as being deaf, doctors typically hand out advertisements from Cochlear Corporation and other CI manufacturers, and tell parents that this will make the kid hear. The parents see the deceptive marketing on the brochures and like what they see, and then send their kids off to implant surgery. Then they often expect their kids to be normal hearing children because of what the doctor told them and the educational system, and then these kids sometimes have language development problems. The schools and doctors say "Don't you DARE sign with your kid or they will NEVER learn to use the implant and they will NEVER be normal. You want them to be normal, right?" This will more often than not make the parents and implantee keep paying for the implant (maintenance, repairs, and upgrades).

Health care in the US is driven by marketing, not by public health concerns.

And that's why I am about parents implanting their kids in the US.

 

[deafmedicalpoet]

lipreading is good

This is what I just can't understand--Why do people assume deaf children aren't good ehough unless they can HEAR oral speech? My fiancee and my friend Sweetmind, as well as Sue Thomas, learned to LIPREAD, and they do it quite well. In fact, wasn't it lipreading that got Sue Thomas her job in the FBI??? She lipread surveillance videos where the audio equipment was broken and would NOT have been able to do so if she had a cochlear implant or hearing aids! She is part of both worlds and uses neither cochlear implants nor hearing aids but instead uses her EYES. Lipreading does have its advantages.

You don't need to be hearing to enjoy the benefits of both worlds. That's why Deaf extremists are against cochlear implants--because it is possible to use your eyes and LIPREAD. My fiancee can lipread almost anyone (and in fact we used oral communication almost exclusively for about the first 6 months because she was teaching me to sign and I wasn't fluent yet).

Just something to think about.

I do enjoy lipreading, but its not always easy. Lipreading is part of the best thing a deaf person has in their lives. And yeah, he is right about Sue Thomas her lipreading skills made her perfect for the FBI. Lipreading is something that we dont need to pay for just to help us. WE HAVE OUR EYES FOR LIPREADING, USE THEM PEOPLE!!!! I am telling the truth there is no cost in learning to lipread except for patience and asking people to face you when they talk. Dan is trying to learn how difficult lipreading is, but he is making sure he learns signing first incase he is confused then we can switch to that instead. I may wear a HA but I depend on my eyes, signing skills, and lipreading skills to help me. My HA as sweetmind stated in other threads about HA only amplifying sounds and certain things is true and still it doesn't do much at all. I am enjoying my lipreading skills it took me about 4-6 years to master but it's worth the years for what I learned to understand. Trust me its worth its weight in gold anyday to lipread a person.

Deaflinuxgeek :fly2:

 

[deafmedicalpoet]

gnulinuxman is right with his point on CI surgery

He has a good point so I would say if you arent fully reading the posts, well read them rather than skim a glance at them and reply, Think!!

I agree 100% with gnulinuxman, but not because I love him but because he really does have a strong good point here. Trust me he researches a lot, and so do I. Research the posts if you need to to understand, because you all have eyes. Now I am not trying to be rude but I am telling truth sadly.

Deaflinuxgeek

 

[Fragmenter]

We all want the best for our child. The idea is to accept the decision that the parent makes.
I think you did well to try so long with HA's. YOu have done exactly what many "anti-CI for little children" want from parents with a deaf child.

What's your background? I gather that your daughter is HOH. How about the rest of the family?

My daughter is borderline HOH but test results shows she has more hearing loss than the average HOH. For some reason she can pick up clarity very well through her hearing aids. Her brother does not respond to a range of sounds that he should with hearing aids. My daughter has no problem understanding speech and can hang with her peers in the speech department.

My children are healthy and does not have any health issues other than hearing loss. They are a third generation deaf children with Deaf parents so I can only hope my parents, family and friends will understand and respect our decision. It's a very difficult decision, no doubt, but they will have the same opportunies that the hearing people has. That is our main concern.

We also are making sure our children know where they came from and embrace their Deaf roots.

 

[Fragmenter]

And that's why I am about parents implanting their kids in the US.

I wholeheartedly understand your concerns. We wanted to stick with hearing aids for as long as we can before switching to CI. We need to switch to CI asap so he will not be delayed in his speech, hearing and language development. We're just trying to make the learning curve as flat as possible and as short as possible.

 

[Fragmenter]

This is what I just can't understand--Why do people assume deaf children aren't good ehough unless they can HEAR oral speech? My fiancee and my friend Sweetmind, as well as Sue Thomas, learned to LIPREAD, and they do it quite well. In fact, wasn't it lipreading that got Sue Thomas her job in the FBI??? She lipread surveillance videos where the audio equipment was broken and would NOT have been able to do so if she had a cochlear implant or hearing aids! She is part of both worlds and uses neither cochlear implants nor hearing aids but instead uses her EYES. Lipreading does have its advantages.

You don't need to be hearing to enjoy the benefits of both worlds. That's why Deaf extremists are against cochlear implants--because it is possible to use your eyes and LIPREAD. My fiancee can lipread almost anyone (and in fact we used oral communication almost exclusively for about the first 6 months because she was teaching me to sign and I wasn't fluent yet).

Just something to think about.

I agree that you don't need hearing to have a full and enjoyable life. My wife is oral and she relies on lipreading as well as on her hearing aids. Believe me, she has it much easier than I do in the world. She can have conversations on a cellphone, she can communicate with hearing people without awkward moments, she simply has a wider range of job opportunies than I do.

For example, I applied for a position in military engineering and when they realized I was deaf, I was denied because I had to go through boot camp and et cetera first. So I'm working with a private engineering company when I really wanted a job with the military. I mean, it's that simple: you gotta be able to talk and comprehend speech clearly if you want a job that requires communication amongst groups. I know I'd be in a completely different field if I could hear and speak... for example, I would love to be in the Navy and see the world. I would probably go through business school and try find a job with an advertisement company in NYC where I interact with new people everyday.

The bottomline? The hearing owns this world. Don't get me wrong, we should never forget our deaf roots but we gotta adapt to this world! I mean, take african americans for example, they adapted to society in the 1970s... why can't we adapt either?

I love the Deaf culture and will always cherish it and I expect our children to pass it on to their children and on and on.

 

[Fragmenter]

Fragmenter, why not? I think that the Deaf community is moving more towards being healthily skeptical of CIs. A few years ago, EVERYONE bashed CI! Even I did! It's baby steps, but I bet within five years most Deafies will be OK with CIs.

I'm defending CI, not bashing it like I used to. I only support it for the right candidates.