nozobo
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Got this from somebody's blog and decide to paste it in here... NO BASHING PLEASE!!! Feel free to discuss.. The person who put this in blog want to specifically quote this "It was meant to be informative, not negative propanganda."
The Truth about Cochlear Implants
I’m a graduate student at McDaniel College in the Deaf Education program. Today an audiologist came to our class and gave a presentation on cochlear implants and how CIs should have a place in Deaf Education. It was indeed a great presentation and I learned so much about CIs. I don’t know if I can type all what I learned in a single blog, but here goes.
First of all, CIs can be a great aid for deaf children who are good candidates for the implant. A successful implantation will improve a deaf (those with profound or severe hearing loss are better candidates than those with moderate or mild loss)’s DB to around 20 DB. A hearing child should have a DB of 0 to 15, a hearing adult up to 20, 25 DB. So, from profoundly deaf to having 20 DB is a huge boost in hearing.
But there’s much more to the implantation. There are so many other factors to consider. Parents (and teachers and everyone who works with the child) need to be on the look out for several possibly conflicting factors. If there are speech production changes or complaints of on/off again system, the cochlear implant needs to be adjusted, and fast. Any time missed in speech language acquisition is significant.
Headaches, dizziness, and eye/facial twitches are signs that a CI needs adjusting - the program might be too ’strong’ for the nerves. Whenever these symptoms are seen in children with CIs, they need to be sent to a hospital immediately so the CIs can be adjusted. Some children with CI might not want to eat — they might be experiencing a metallic taste in their neck/tongue from the CI implant. This would mean that the CI needs adjusting, as well. Sometimes, a CI attaches itself to the nerves in the ear area — these nerves are right next to the nerves for facial movements, the nerves for taste, etc. If the nerves are too close together, the CI might mess up the other nerves. So, not all children are good candidates for a CI. A doctor needs to look at the nerves and 1. check if they are alive and working well, and 2. check if they are not too intertwined with other nerves.
Now, if a child with CIs doesn’t experience any of the above, that’s good for the child. He/she is healthy. But he/she needs to always be careful to remain healthy. This means that a person with CI should probably not ride roller coasters with magnetic brakes (newer roller coasters usually have this, not those wooden ones). The magnetic force is too strong for the CI. More research needs to be done in this area, though, since some people with CIs have commented that they have no problem riding the newer coasters. Same thing goes for MRIs (except for the Nucleus 3 system). If there is a magnet section in a science museum, a child with CI should never go into that area. And also, have you ever touched one of these blue/black balls with swirling electricity… and when you touch it, your hair goes straight up? Children with CIs should never touch those, nor should they touch other kids who are touching the ball thing. Why? Because of the static — it can erase the program in the CI. Same thing goes for plastic playgrounds - their external CIs should be taken off before playing.
Hybrids are another interesting factor - people with pacemakers cannot ride these cars. Now, doctors caution people with CIs to not ride in hybrids until more research are done. However, it seems that some audiologists don’t know about this, so just check with your doctor/audiologist about this.
Did I type all these things to discourage CIs? No, that is not my intention. As the audiologist today explained, parents need to know the WHOLE story, what they will have to watch out for, how children need to be empowered to take care of their bodies and their CIs, so that the CI becomes an asset, not something that hurts a child.
Some parents try so hard to get a CI for their child even when they are not good candidates. This is really sad, because this hurts the child. For example, the audiologist today said that a woman tried to get a CI for her child in her state (I think, Arizona) but she couldn’t get a doctor to implant her child because he/she wasn’t a good candidate. She flew all the way to Maryland and found a doctor who would operate. This is a waste of money — if a child is not a good candidate, it is more likely that the CI will not work.
I hope this blog helps parents make more informed decisions and be sure of their child’s candidacy before letting their child go under the knife. I also hope that this article is informative for people with CIs. The audiologist said that she had just found out about the magnetic fields and hybrid car and roller coaster warnings just two weeks ago in a workshop.
The Truth about Cochlear Implants
I’m a graduate student at McDaniel College in the Deaf Education program. Today an audiologist came to our class and gave a presentation on cochlear implants and how CIs should have a place in Deaf Education. It was indeed a great presentation and I learned so much about CIs. I don’t know if I can type all what I learned in a single blog, but here goes.
First of all, CIs can be a great aid for deaf children who are good candidates for the implant. A successful implantation will improve a deaf (those with profound or severe hearing loss are better candidates than those with moderate or mild loss)’s DB to around 20 DB. A hearing child should have a DB of 0 to 15, a hearing adult up to 20, 25 DB. So, from profoundly deaf to having 20 DB is a huge boost in hearing.
But there’s much more to the implantation. There are so many other factors to consider. Parents (and teachers and everyone who works with the child) need to be on the look out for several possibly conflicting factors. If there are speech production changes or complaints of on/off again system, the cochlear implant needs to be adjusted, and fast. Any time missed in speech language acquisition is significant.
Headaches, dizziness, and eye/facial twitches are signs that a CI needs adjusting - the program might be too ’strong’ for the nerves. Whenever these symptoms are seen in children with CIs, they need to be sent to a hospital immediately so the CIs can be adjusted. Some children with CI might not want to eat — they might be experiencing a metallic taste in their neck/tongue from the CI implant. This would mean that the CI needs adjusting, as well. Sometimes, a CI attaches itself to the nerves in the ear area — these nerves are right next to the nerves for facial movements, the nerves for taste, etc. If the nerves are too close together, the CI might mess up the other nerves. So, not all children are good candidates for a CI. A doctor needs to look at the nerves and 1. check if they are alive and working well, and 2. check if they are not too intertwined with other nerves.
Now, if a child with CIs doesn’t experience any of the above, that’s good for the child. He/she is healthy. But he/she needs to always be careful to remain healthy. This means that a person with CI should probably not ride roller coasters with magnetic brakes (newer roller coasters usually have this, not those wooden ones). The magnetic force is too strong for the CI. More research needs to be done in this area, though, since some people with CIs have commented that they have no problem riding the newer coasters. Same thing goes for MRIs (except for the Nucleus 3 system). If there is a magnet section in a science museum, a child with CI should never go into that area. And also, have you ever touched one of these blue/black balls with swirling electricity… and when you touch it, your hair goes straight up? Children with CIs should never touch those, nor should they touch other kids who are touching the ball thing. Why? Because of the static — it can erase the program in the CI. Same thing goes for plastic playgrounds - their external CIs should be taken off before playing.
Hybrids are another interesting factor - people with pacemakers cannot ride these cars. Now, doctors caution people with CIs to not ride in hybrids until more research are done. However, it seems that some audiologists don’t know about this, so just check with your doctor/audiologist about this.
Did I type all these things to discourage CIs? No, that is not my intention. As the audiologist today explained, parents need to know the WHOLE story, what they will have to watch out for, how children need to be empowered to take care of their bodies and their CIs, so that the CI becomes an asset, not something that hurts a child.
Some parents try so hard to get a CI for their child even when they are not good candidates. This is really sad, because this hurts the child. For example, the audiologist today said that a woman tried to get a CI for her child in her state (I think, Arizona) but she couldn’t get a doctor to implant her child because he/she wasn’t a good candidate. She flew all the way to Maryland and found a doctor who would operate. This is a waste of money — if a child is not a good candidate, it is more likely that the CI will not work.
I hope this blog helps parents make more informed decisions and be sure of their child’s candidacy before letting their child go under the knife. I also hope that this article is informative for people with CIs. The audiologist said that she had just found out about the magnetic fields and hybrid car and roller coaster warnings just two weeks ago in a workshop.
My audie never told me about it. She told me that if I need to remap, I can go any CI audie office and they will have my program downloaded from my audie office. She gave me the card w/ coding on it. I could ask her if she can burn Map program into CD for emergency need.