Some News, CI journey

[CreatedNat]

Ok, so my BrideGroom and I went in to see the Surgeon this Morning, and the good news, he believes that the CI will benefit me well, and I believe that we will be going with AB, but we also have a long journey in-front of us before I can get the surgery so we have more time to figure out if we want AB or another brand, and I need to go in to see my regular family doctor quite soon.

On another note, I won't be able to have the surgery to get my CI for, we are estimating 10 months, the past few days I have been feeling rather ill, and we have found out, our princesses will be big sisters soon! I took the test this morning, and shared the news with Dr. Kelsall. He told me that he did not feel comfortable operating on a pregnant woman, and I agreed. I am not risking my little peas health for anything. So, although I have been told yes, I am a wonderful candidate for a CI (even with my slightly odd shaped cochleas), I will have to wait until after I have healed from the birth of our next little one!

My BrideGroom David and I have also decided that we will wait until after I have healed from my surgery, and know how the surgery affects me, before we continue on the CI journey with Ally. She is making wonderful progress with ASL, and the speech therapist comes over once a week to work with her on trying to listen and speak (but she is still a baby). We are continuing this, and understand that although research has shown the earlier we implant the better her results with the CI will be, we know she is and will be fine even if we never get her a CI, or wait for her to decide (after reading some of the threads here, we have looked and thought maybe we should let her decide on her own).

 

[green427]

Congrats!

Take your time with the CI process.

 

[Frisky Feline]

Congrats.

 

[CreatedNat]

Thank you, we are very excited. Soon we will be a family of five! Going to my regular doctor this after noon to confirm my pregnancy!

 

[Tikra]

congrats! that a great news and yes it good idea to postpone the CI surgery until you completely recovered.

 

[GrendelQ]

Ooooh ! Now there's some happy news! Enjoy!

 

[cdmeggers]

oohh exciting news! congrats!

 

[deafdyke]

My BrideGroom David and I have also decided that we will wait until after I have healed from my surgery, and know how the surgery affects me, before we continue on the CI journey with Ally. She is making wonderful progress with ASL, and the speech therapist comes over once a week to work with her on trying to listen and speak (but she is still a baby). We are continuing this, and understand that although research has shown the earlier we implant the better her results with the CI will be, we know she is and will be fine even if we never get her a CI, or wait for her to decide (after reading some of the threads here, we have looked and thought maybe we should let her decide on her own).

On the other hand, does Ally have residual hearing? Unless a kid has a deep profound unaidable loss, it is very hard to tell how well a deaf kid can hear.
There is a reason why a lot of us were identified when we were toddlers or even first graders. Kids still developed oral skills/abilties when they were implanted at 2 or aided at three. The window for learning oral skills is STILL very much open.

 

[Sarfarigirl2011]

OMG congrats on the pregancy!!!!!!!!

 

[CreatedNat]

thank you all for your encouragement! We are very excited, and are actually looking to move into a larger home. Our two bedroom home will not work very well for a family of 5.

On the other hand, does Ally have residual hearing? Unless a kid has a deep profound unaidable loss, it is very hard to tell how well a deaf kid can hear.
There is a reason why a lot of us were identified when we were toddlers or even first graders. Kids still developed oral skills/abilties when they were implanted at 2 or aided at three. The window for learning oral skills is STILL very much open.

Her ABR is showing a loss anywhere between 100 db and 115 db depending on the frequency. I have no doubts that my Ally will do wonders no matter what, and after seeing some, I don't want to use the word resentment, but that is almost what it seems, we may let her make the decision on her own. Either way, I want to go through the processes before our Ally does, because I don't want to put any unneeded stress on her.

 

[GrendelQ]

I have no doubts that my Ally will do wonders no matter what, and after seeing some, I don't want to use the word resentment, but that is almost what it seems, we may let her make the decision on her own. Either way, I want to go through the processes before our Ally does, because I don't want to put any unneeded stress on her.

I think whatever decision you make, and as a parent you are making the decision for your child either way (by implanting or not), you'll do what's best for your child.

You mention that you see resentment (me too). But keep in mind whose resentment you are seeing: is it from those who received implants when they were 2-3? Or are you seeing the anger and resentment from those who were not. I think it's the latter.

We looked really closely at what young deaf adults and teens resented, too, when making the decision about CIs, and we found two interesting trends. One was based on sign, unrelated to CIs themselves: resentment from people who were not exposed to sign in their families or if they were, they themselves didn't value it when they were children. And another was resentment from those who were not implanted as children, but who made the decision themselves when older, anywhere from 10-16 years old. That age, especially if pre-lingually deaf, seems to be the most difficult of all possible scenarios: the prospect of surgery, learning to listen in the most challenging environments, auditory training, sometimes learning to produce intelligible speech for the first time, managing the new technology, expectations, catching up on over a decade of learning and practice, and so on -- all while navigating just being a teenager -- hard enough itself.

I see this situation reflected here and on other forums and aggregators like deafvillage.com, cicircle.org, and deafread.com as well -- you don't see much (if any) resentment from children who were implanted at 2-3 (they are now just hitting their early 20's). I've seen some dissatisfaction, maybe resentment from a handful of those implanted as teens. And a lot of people of all ages who love their CIs, but wish they also had ASL (or other SL). Most of the resentment comes from those who do not use CIs, but think that the decision to get a CI is inextricably tied to NOT using ASL. And that doesn't have to be the case. If the small but vocal minority within the Deaf community weren't so anti-CI when it comes to children, there'd be a lot more opportunity for integrating young deaf kids with CIs into a culture that includes ASL, and hearing parents of deaf kids (what is that, 90%?) would be more likely to take that step.

 

[deafdyke]

Her ABR is showing a loss anywhere between 100 db and 115 db depending on the frequency. I have no doubts that my Ally will do wonders no matter what, and after seeing some, I don't want to use the word resentment, but that is almost what it seems, we may let her make the decision on her own. Either way, I want to go through the processes before our Ally does, because I don't want to put any unneeded stress on her.

i wonder if you could get her a high power hearing aid or even a body worn hearing aid?
everyone's hearing loss is different, and she may respond better then they think.

 

[deafdyke]

I think whatever decision you make, and as a parent you are making the decision for your child either way (by implanting or not), you'll do what's best for your child.

You mention that you see resentment (me too). But keep in mind whose resentment you are seeing: is it from those who received implants when they were 2-3? Or are you seeing the anger and resentment from those who were not. I think it's the latter.

We looked really closely at what young deaf adults and teens resented, too, when making the decision about CIs, and we found two interesting trends. One was based on sign, unrelated to CIs themselves: resentment from people who were not exposed to sign in their families or if they were, they themselves didn't value it when they were children. And another was resentment from those who were not implanted as children, but who made the decision themselves when older, anywhere from 10-16 years old. That age, especially if pre-lingually deaf, seems to be the most difficult of all possible scenarios: the prospect of surgery, learning to listen in the most challenging environments, auditory training, sometimes learning to produce intelligible speech for the first time, managing the new technology, expectations, catching up on over a decade of learning and practice, and so on -- all while navigating just being a teenager -- hard enough itself.

I see this situation reflected here and on other forums and aggregators like deafvillage.com, cicircle.org, and deafread.com as well -- you don't see much (if any) resentment from children who were implanted at 2-3 (they are now just hitting their early 20's). I've seen some dissatisfaction, maybe resentment from a handful of those implanted as teens. And a lot of people of all ages who love their CIs, but wish they also had ASL (or other SL). Most of the resentment comes from those who do not use CIs, but think that the decision to get a CI is inextricably tied to NOT using ASL. And that doesn't have to be the case. If the small but vocal minority within the Deaf community weren't so anti-CI when it comes to children, there'd be a lot more opportunity for integrating young deaf kids with CIs into a culture that includes ASL, and hearing parents of deaf kids (what is that, 90%?) would be more likely to take that step.

On the other hand Grendel, i don't think we're saying "wait til teenagerhood to opt for CI" we're just asking if implanting in BABYHOOD is that important...docs seem to make it sound like if parents don't implant ASAP the kid will be doomed to selling ASL cards on the street.