The hearing and cochlear implant debate! Share your opinion!

faire_jour said:
Getting a Ci doessn't change "who you are". :roll:

Oh my god, you got glasses....are you still the same person I loved?<end sarcasm>
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Whatever FairJour..your obsession is getting old.
 
missywinks said:
I agree with you 100%. It is OUR life, how dare a hearing person decide or tell us that a device is good (or bad) for us? They don't know nor would they ever know. They have never experienced living as a deaf person nor would they experience having a device implanted in their head. I always get a kick out of hearing people who think they know everything. It is our own choice to make as a deaf individual.
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Except if we are little kids.
 
Bottesini said:
Wrong comparison. It would need to be an implanted bionic eye.
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LOL!

Some people feel that getting glasses changes who they are..some feel it doesnt. Same goes with CIs, HAs and everything. I fail to see what the big deal is. Geez!
 
missywinks said:
I agree with you 100%. It is OUR life, how dare a hearing person decide or tell us that a device is good (or bad) for us? They don't know nor would they ever know. They have never experienced living as a deaf person nor would they experience having a device implanted in their head. I always get a kick out of hearing people who think they know everything. It is our own choice to make as a deaf individual.
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Thank you. . She feels the way about them, fine...but I have the right to my feelings about them for myself.
 
jillio said:
Does that discount the fact that another deaf person feels it would fundamentally change who they are? Aren't those deaf individuals just as entitled to their opinions and their decisions without being ridiculed?
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As a deaf person, I don't think it would fundamentally change who I am. Having a CI wouldn't make me any less a person than I already am. However, anyone else is entitled to their own opinion.

I have never gotten the impression that fair_jour is saying flat-out that others are not entitled to their own opinions. I have concerns that you are labeling your opinions as "more empowering and empathetic" than hers, because you are then effectively ridiculing her opinion that she's entitled to, just the same as the rest of us are entitled to.
 
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AlleyCat said:
As a deaf person, I don't think it would fundamentally change who I am. Having a CI wouldn't make me any less a person than I already am. However, anyone else is entitled to their own opinion.

I have never gotten the impression that fair_jour is saying flat-out that others are not entitled to their own opinions. I have concerns that you are labeling your opinions as "more empowering and empathetic" than hers, because you are then effectively ridiculing her opinion that she's entitled to, just the same as the rest of us are.
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She is entitled to have her opinions but if she is going to put down other people for their opinions with an immature response, then she is opening herself for some criticism.
 
AlleyCat said:
As a deaf person, I don't think it would fundamentally change who I am. Having a CI wouldn't make me any less a person than I already am. However, anyone else is entitled to their own opinion.
Nor would I attempt to convince you that it would. That is your decision, as a deaf individual.
I have never gotten the impression that fair_jour is saying flat-out that others are not entitled to their own opinions. I have concerns that you are labeling your opinions as "more empowering and empathetic" than hers, because you are then effectively ridiculing her opinion that she's entitled to, just the same as the rest of us are.
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No, I am labeling my opinion as more empathetic and empowering because it gives validity to the deaf individual's feelings and because it places the decision of how one wishes to deal with their deafness in the hands of the deaf individual, rather than in the way a hearing individual perceives that deaf individual should feel and decide.
 
The CI changed me completely. I say "What is that noise?" more often. I'm a whole new person.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
I wonder how a Tactaid would work. You just feel the vibrations and can tell what they are? That seems hard to do. And it wouldn't let you understand speech, right? I'm sorry, I am only wondering as I have never heard of a Tactaid and therefore do not know the benefits and the cons of it. It just seems like the benefits of the Tactaid is limited to environmental sounds? Could you explain it to me?
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Yes, that's right. It is limited to environmental noises. I used a tactaid before. But then it just stopped working properly. So that's why I wanted a tactaid 7.

I'm not really interested in any more then tactile awareness. I just want to be able to cross the road more safely. So it vibrates when a car comes so I don't cross the road. At the moment I just hold up a card asking for help, or I take my chances and walk very slowly. The tactaid 7 would be a little safer then that.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
Going blind sounds scary, especially when you can't hear anything already. I hope I never lose my sight. I'm an artist and if I lost my sight I don't know what I would do.
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Yes, going blind is scary. But once you have blind and someone taught you how to adapt like learning differant alternatives to doing things you will adapt. humans are adaptable.

I used to do fine point embroidery. I switched to pottery. I cannot see ANYTHING in the pottery room now but I still manage to make pieces and people say they like them.
 
Frisky Feline said:
glasses aren't drilled made out of hole into the bone. That would be nice if CI that won't go into the hole of skull. so i would wear CI treated like a HA. oh well.
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Just a polite correction: A hole is not drilled into the skull.

Instead, a "well" is created in the mastoid bone where the internal CI is situated.
 
dreama said:
Yes, going blind is scary. But once you have blind and someone taught you how to adapt like learning differant alternatives to doing things you will adapt. humans are adaptable.

I used to do fine point embroidery. I switched to pottery. I cannot see ANYTHING in the pottery room now but I still manage to make pieces and people say they like them.
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I don't want to do pottery. I'd rather paint. But I have to see in order to paint or it will look like a baby just shat all over the canvas.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
I don't want to do pottery. I'd rather paint. But I have to see in order to paint or it will look like a baby just shat all over the canvas.
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I know a lady who was a painter who went blind from a car accident. She ended up making a living from making pottery. She was on suicide watch several times after her accident because she felt she had nothing to live for if she couldnt be an artist but eventually she adapted.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
I don't want to do pottery. I'd rather paint. But I have to see in order to paint or it will look like a baby just shat all over the canvas.
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There are tactile drawing kits and special paints which have a tactile feel to them when they dry. That's something you could consider if you ever lost your sight.
 
faire_jour said:
Getting a Ci doessn't change "who you are". :roll:

Oh my god, you got glasses....are you still the same person I loved?<end sarcasm>
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Are you saying if a hearing person learned ASL, this hearing person will be the same person? If so, what is stopping the hearing relatives of a deaf person from learning ASL???
 
shel90 said:
LOL!

Some people feel that getting glasses changes who they are..some feel it doesnt. Same goes with CIs, HAs and everything. I fail to see what the big deal is. Geez!
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Sometimes I think my glasses changed other people. For example, I wear fit-over sunglasses that can be used with my eyeglasses. I notice a stranger change his/her behavior when I removed my sunglasses. I loved wearing contact lens but it is expensive for me now. I always feel plain with those thick glasses.
 
My CIs changed who I am -- or more accurately -- they changed my personality. I'm outgoing (whereas when I could not hear I was reserved), happier and feel more comfortable in my environment as a whole. I'm no longer isolated due to my deafblindness. If that offends anyone, I'm sorry, but it's the way I feel.
 
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