No one is pushing CIs for Frankie in this thread or in any of the others. But many are tearing into CIs, and it's not those with direct experience either with CIs or who have raised a deaf child with CIs who are doing this. Some of us with experience are trying to correct some of the many misconceptions being built.
Just because a child has or is pursuing access to spoken language using a HA or CI -- in addition to ASL -- doesn't mean he or she is somehow inferior or damaged goods. That sort of thinking, that someone is inferior or superior because of his or her ability to hear, is discriminatory and I hate seeing that here, of all places.
Frankie's Mom, your child has so many options right now. I hope you find the combination of language, academic environment, and assistive technology that works best. I hope those HAs you are currently pursuing do all that you hope and Frankie is able to develop full and active language in the mode you choose.
If you decide on the TC/oral environment you've mentioned in another thread, I wish you all the best. But, if you are considering switching and have questions about a bi-bi/ASL academic environment, please don't hesitate to ask me any questions you might have about our very happy experience at TLC, a school for the deaf in MA, for 4 years now. I realize programs like this don't grow on trees, but I'd love to spread the word about one that works.
We've also tried HAs with our daughter, eventually pursuing bilateral CIs when the HAs were found not to work (in our case, that means that while she could hear a jet airplane or alarm with them, they'd not be able to provide access to the "speech banana"), and at 5YO, she is happy, healthy, and fluent in both ASL and spoken English, despite being implanted on the very outer limits of the window that experts consider optimal for full language development, at nearly 2 years old. Cicircle.org is a great resource if you do find yourself considering CIs -- you'll get the good, the bad, the successes, the failures all very frankly discussed. You'll also very clearly see the differences in outcomes for those who implanted before 2, and those who implanted much later -- timing does matter (although this really depends upon the individual and what you are looking for out of CIs). For my daughter, CIs have exceeded all expectations -- she LOVES them, she loves being able to access sounds and she does so without difficulty. That's the case with many, if not most, but it's not so for all children.
I realize this is a thread about whether or not you should pursue HAs and / or CIs, but if I could stress or push one thing, it would be for you to immerse your child in ASL somehow -- regardless of hearing tech. It may be difficult considering the type of program you are leaning towards, but so critical for your little one to have a means of communicating with you right now. In our case, we knew it could take us a couple of years to achieve the kind of fluency we needed our child exposed to immediately, so we found an ASL-based daycare associated with the school for the deaf my daughter now attends, we found Deaf babysitters for the summers, and we transferred all of our EI activity to an ASL-based communication program (a parent infant program that met 3 X a week), and began family sign before we even knew our daughter was profoundly deaf and followed with classes in the evenings, my husband and I alternated nights. She has socialized from the very first with other deaf kids. So, while we ramped up our language, and explored hearing tech options, our child didn't suffer as much of a communication gap as is common to many hearing families attempting to raise a child with ASL. And she has been, for 2 years now, enrolled full time in an ASL-based academic environment.
This site --
Educating Deaf Children -- is an EXCELLENT resource, I can't recommend it enough for discussion, research, and an unbiased approach to all options! OK, it's a
little bit biased towards bilingual ed, but you'll see fair representation. There's also a great deal of info. about hearing technologies and the choices you'll be making.
