Why adults choose CI's for their children

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I dont see why can people both? Is it hard to do both? I am just curious so pls dont take it as an insult. I am just curious from a parent's point of view about doing both? Like my children are exposed to both the hearing and deaf worlds. Help me to understand..thanks

I agree... people can be both.

I just struggle on how to best go about that, with the limited Deaf resources in my community.

Finding the Deaf community in my area is difficult. We seem to live in a pocket of horrendous resources.
 
This whole subject seems so simple until I start reading all the differing viewpoints.

It makes it tough.



Do I just go with what I feel is right?

Or do I try to look into all the differing opinions - preconceived notions and all.

Sometimes I worry that I have not been analyzing all of this enough.


Did we make the decision too quickly?


10, 20, 30 years from now, will she thank us for doing this *for* her?

.....Or curse us for doing this *to* her?


Should we be doing more to make sure Erin has full exposure to the Deaf community to make sure all her options are open?

.....Or should we do more to make sure she has assimilated with her mainstream peers?


Should we celebrate her developing verbal language skills?

.....Or worry what *might* happen should her CI eventually fail her?


Should we start working on her ASL development?

.....Or spend more time on AVT?


Should we acknowledge her differences?

.....Or minimize them?

.....Or celebrate them?


I have spent so many nights awake worrying over these questions and so many more. And I suspect this will probably happen for the rest of my life. No differently than any parent of any child - hearing or otherwise.

My biggest hope is to keep Erin from the same fate.


Ultimately, I want her to be happy with who she is.

No matter *who* she decides *she* happens to be.


Momtotoes,

Great post, those are questions every parent should ask themselves over and over again! It is clear that your decision was not made lightly but with a lot of thought. If Erin ever asks you why you made your decision for her, you can look her in the eyes and tell her it was made after a lot of thought and careful consideration and always with her best interests in your heart and mind. I have a feeling she will completely understand.
Rick
 
Verbal is our first approach butr we are picking up on some asl
Samantha Kennel....that is awesome! YAY!!! Continue with the Sign.....I mean your son won't need it the way that someone with very severe expressive issues will, but its a tool that will and can significently help him! Rememeber being fluent in ASL gives all the advantages of being bilingal or multilingal in spoken languages does.

This whole subject seems so simple until I start reading all the differing viewpoints.

It makes it tough.



Do I just go with what I feel is right?

Or do I try to look into all the differing opinions - preconceived notions and all.

Sometimes I worry that I have not been analyzing all of this enough.


Did we make the decision too quickly?


10, 20, 30 years from now, will she thank us for doing this *for* her?

.....Or curse us for doing this *to* her?


Should we be doing more to make sure Erin has full exposure to the Deaf community to make sure all her options are open?

.....Or should we do more to make sure she has assimilated with her mainstream peers?


Should we celebrate her developing verbal language skills?

.....Or worry what *might* happen should her CI eventually fail her?


Should we start working on her ASL development?

.....Or spend more time on AVT?


Should we acknowledge her differences?

.....Or minimize them?

.....Or celebrate them?


I have spent so many nights awake worrying over these questions and so many more. And I suspect this will probably happen for the rest of my life. No differently than any parent of any child - hearing or otherwise.

My biggest hope is to keep Erin from the same fate.


Ultimately, I want her to be happy with who she is.

No matter *who* she decides *she* happens to be.
Well I think that your list of worries is an excellent argument for going with a full toolbox approach. You have stated that she has done very well orally with minimal therapy. That's awesome! That means that she doesn't nessarily need VERY intensive oral intervention. Some "enrichment" with AVT would be good. After all a lot of speech therapists really have little to no training with dhh kids. From what I understand, oral sucesses are sucesses whether they have tons and tons and tons of therapy or just minimal therapy.
She won't need an oral school or intensive AVT....and there are some kids like that.....who really thrive with just amplification and minimal speech therapy intervention. I did myself. This means she's functionally hoh. She'll still need speech therapy and things like that, but it sounds like she'll really do well orally. The thing is, hoh kids are very often shoved towards the mainstream with little or no exposure to the Deaf Community. Some kids do well, but many others basicly don't do as well as they could have with a full toolbox approach. You really should buy this book: Netfirms Commerce Pro
and read an ....ah... certain contribuation in it ;) I think doing so will help you with your decisions. It really does make a good addition to your library, (and if I do say so myself should be required reading for ANY parent/family of a hoh kid) and will be fun for Toes to read when she's older.

I just struggle on how to best go about that, with the limited Deaf resources in my community.

Finding the Deaf community in my area is difficult. We seem to live in a pocket of horrendous resources.
Oh I can totally understand that! What state are you in? Have you contacted the Deaf Schools in your state? What about the state Deaf organization? Are you looking in the right places? I have to admit........while Deaf schools tend to be better then Blind schools academicly, Blind schools have something called a short term placement. Most kids at Blind Schools are MR. Most just blind and low vision kids are mainstreamed. But they do go to Blind schools for things like O&M and Braille classes and things like that with tthe short term placement. Wish Deaf schools had something like that. I know I gave you the link for both Hands and Voices and American Society for Deaf Kids....they might be able to really really help you! We might be able to help you too!
 
DD,

look at her avatar/username then underneath that notice the name of the state or look at her profile. eh
 
I agree... people can be both.

I just struggle on how to best go about that, with the limited Deaf resources in my community.

Finding the Deaf community in my area is difficult. We seem to live in a pocket of horrendous resources.

You live in Ohio? so do I, what city do you live in? You can private message me if you want. ;)
 
There is one Deaf School in our area and it is an hour away. The plus side is that it is part of the public school system. The downside is that we would have to move an hour from our jobs to make it possible for her to attend that school.

But, we are still looking into it. We want to make sure we have explored all options.
 
You live in Ohio? so do I, what city do you live in? You can private message me if you want. ;)

There is one Deaf School in our area and it is an hour away. The plus side is that it is part of the public school system. The downside is that we would have to move an hour from our jobs to make it possible for her to attend that school.

But, we are still looking into it. We want to make sure we have explored all options.

I'm in Ohio as well (Toes knows this already). If there's anything I can help you with please let us know through out blog and I'll get back to you.
 
I agree... people can be both.

I just struggle on how to best go about that, with the limited Deaf resources in my community.

Finding the Deaf community in my area is difficult. We seem to live in a pocket of horrendous resources.

Ok thanks for answering my question. I dont blame u for feeling this way and the dilemna u are in. I hope Cheri can be of some help with giving u info on deaf events or about the deaf community in Ohio.
 
There is one Deaf School in our area and it is an hour away.
.....Is that the Ohio School for the Deaf? Or are you talking about the self-contained classroom/ regional magnet programs? (the ones where they are located at a public school
Maybe you guys could find a town or something that is located midway between your jobs and the Deaf program, that ALSO has really good public schools.
If you want I will ask on the listserv that I'm on about all the educational resources in Ohio.I know they have self contained classroom and regional magnet programs in Ohio, since one of my friends from there has a deaf daughter........
 
It is not the Ohio School for the Deaf. I think that is in Cincinnati. VERY far away.

The school I am referring to is Millridge. It is part of a public school system.

We are also planning to start talking to the school districts in the area to find out what they can offer Erin. We are in an excellent school system right now. One of the very best in the state. But... I have no idea what exposure they have had to CI and/or Deaf children.

I don't want Erin to be the first. I want to find a system that says "Oh, yeah. Deaf child with a CI. This is what we do for kids like Erin..."

I don't want a system that says "Oh, a deaf child with a cochlear implant. What do we need to do for kids like her?"

If that makes any sense...
 
It is not the Ohio School for the Deaf. I think that is in Cincinnati. VERY far away.

The school I am referring to is Millridge. It is part of a public school system.

We are also planning to start talking to the school districts in the area to find out what they can offer Erin. We are in an excellent school system right now. One of the very best in the state. But... I have no idea what exposure they have had to CI and/or Deaf children.

I don't want Erin to be the first. I want to find a system that says "Oh, yeah. Deaf child with a CI. This is what we do for kids like Erin..."

I don't want a system that says "Oh, a deaf child with a cochlear implant. What do we need to do for kids like her?"

If that makes any sense...

Yes, it makes sense but also consider the possibility is that if it is a very good school district, they may be willing to give Erin the resources that you want her to have and that as the first, they will listen to you as to what you want to make it work.

What services is she presently receiving?
Rick
 
Oh that's great that you've tracked down the regional programs. That's awesome! Are you in a rural part of the state?
Actually I was just doing some research and Ohio School for the Deaf is in Columbus. Dunno if that might change anything. I think you might have been thinking of St. Rita's (which is an excellent Deaf School) Here's the website. Welcome to Ohio School for the Deaf... The Ultimate in Total Education since 1829...
Maybe they can help you with locating programs and other resources for Toes! If you do decide to contact them, make it clear that you're interested in the whole toolbox approach. Otherwise they might just point you to programs and "support groups" that are more "hearing impaired" in style (eg VERY oral only)
Mom2Toes, I can totally 100% understand. Part of the problem with mainstreaming (I use this term as in regular classes regular school) is the horrendous accomondations that we can receive. Most kids who receive special ed services are LD, rather then "classicly disabled" Mainstreamed kids can get a good education.......but we can also get really substandard accomondations, or lumped in with the "Ummmm who's President Bush?" type of apathetic learners who seem to be legion in special ed programs. Hey....even many LD kids need a non public school placement. (there are STILL many many private school programs especially for LD kids!) I really think that most parents of kids with "classic" special needs should initially do split placements at mainstream school and then a program/ School for the Deaf/ Blind or Easter Seals/United Cerebal Palsy etc (depending on what the disabilty is) so that the right educational fit can be found. You really don't want to decide to do mainstream only, and then spend a lot of time banging your head against a wall. Trust me.......public schools can be so incredibily resistant to accomondations......and doing so, they're within the law. They only have to provide very minimal accomondations, (eg maybe a notetaker and auditory trainer) and still be said to be following the law. The trouble with mainstreaming is that the teaching quality is very generic. Hey, even a lot of the gifted kids in public schools aren't all in AP classes or earning straight A's!
I just found an organization for you. They are in Cincinatti, but they might be able to help you! Advocates for Deaf Education - Cincinnati, OH
Also here is a list of the Deaf programs in Ohio! Residential and Deaf Education Programs in Ohio
Oh, and be openminded about the kind of program you're looking for......Off the top of my head there are kids who can do well orally one on one, but may need a 'terp for classroom stuff. And I mean.....a lot of kids can do decently with one methodology, but might be able to REALLY acheive with more tools in their toolboxes.
Also here are some other very good organizations for parents of dhh kids.
Hands & Voices (It supports ALL methodologies. Post on their message board. Hands & Voices Bulletin Board :: Index
Someone might be able to help you!) Oh....and I see they have a start up chapter! Hands & Voices :: Start-ups AND a Yahoo!Group too! ohiohandsandvoices : Ohio Hands and Voices
American Society for Deaf Children is ALSO a GREAT site! American Society for Deaf Children
There is also an affilated listserv, which is WONDERFUL! Archives of PARENTDEAF-HH@LISTSERV.KENT.EDU
 
It is not the Ohio School for the Deaf. I think that is in Cincinnati. VERY far away.

The school I am referring to is Millridge. It is part of a public school system.

We are also planning to start talking to the school districts in the area to find out what they can offer Erin. We are in an excellent school system right now. One of the very best in the state. But... I have no idea what exposure they have had to CI and/or Deaf children.

I don't want Erin to be the first. I want to find a system that says "Oh, yeah. Deaf child with a CI. This is what we do for kids like Erin..."

I don't want a system that says "Oh, a deaf child with a cochlear implant. What do we need to do for kids like her?"

If that makes any sense...


Ohio School for the Deaf is in Columbus. St. Rita School for the Deaf is in Cincinnati. I am more familiar with St Rita, and I know from personal experience that they do provide service for children with CI. If nothing else, they welcome parents who are searching for answers to visit their school and see how their program works in order that they know what services to request in their home school districts. If you could find time to do that, I would highly recommend it.
 
WOW! So much advice! Thank you all very, very much. :ty: :ty: :ty:

I only have a minute, so I can't comment on everything just yet... but,

- Columbus is also far away - 2 1/2 hours.
- No, we are not rural in the least.

My thought with Millridge is basically to do what Jillio and DD are suggesting - go talk to them and see what they do and then see if our local district can adopt some of the same methodologies. Millridge actually works directly with 21 districts in the area giving just that kind of advice, but not districts as far away as we are. *sigh*

Right now, she is in a mainstream daycare and has therapy every other week. We would go every week, but we are appealing for more visits and the $150 therapy visits are getting a little tough to manage. And we are not eligible for any assistance from the state on that.

Daycare is doing a great job with her. She actually talks more at school than at home. But I am always wanting to push for more.

Here is the thing that sparked this recent journey...

I was watching "Through Deaf Eyes" on PBS and a Deaf woman was describing her childhood education. She said so much time was spent trying to teach her to speak, that she never received any real education in math or sciences or whatever.

That *really* struck a cord with me. Now, i know Erin wouldn't need to spend that much time learning to speak. She is already well on her way. Her CI has removed many barriers that the woman on Through Deaf Eyes had to overcome.

But, my concern is that she might have to spend too much time compensating for general communication deficiencies and that could hamper her learning options.

I was trying to explain this to our RIHP person and she said "Oh. So what you are saying is, 'Why should I settle for mainstreaming'." Which is a concept I hadn't considered before seeing that documentary. It was always as though mainstreaming was our goal - but what if we can do better than that?

Erin is very bright (I know... Mommy Brag :ugh3: ). Will she be able to meet her full potential if she is in a mainstream school? Are there options out there for CI kids that address their specific needs that I am just not able to find in my area? What I am seeing so far gives me the impression that since the CI "movement" is still relatively new, there are not a lot of programs in place for them. It is an All Deaf solution or a Mainstream solution.

Even comparing CI kids to HOH kids doesn't exactly do the communication issues justice. The two disabilities are different, in my opinion.

That is what keeps me up nights.

:ugh3:

I guess I went over my minute.
 
WOW! So much advice! Thank you all very, very much. :ty: :ty: :ty:

I only have a minute, so I can't comment on everything just yet... but,

- Columbus is also far away - 2 1/2 hours.
- No, we are not rural in the least.

My thought with Millridge is basically to do what Jillio and DD are suggesting - go talk to them and see what they do and then see if our local district can adopt some of the same methodologies. Millridge actually works directly with 21 districts in the area giving just that kind of advice, but not districts as far away as we are. *sigh*

Right now, she is in a mainstream daycare and has therapy every other week. We would go every week, but we are appealing for more visits and the $150 therapy visits are getting a little tough to manage. And we are not eligible for any assistance from the state on that.

Daycare is doing a great job with her. She actually talks more at school than at home. But I am always wanting to push for more.

Here is the thing that sparked this recent journey...

I was watching "Through Deaf Eyes" on PBS and a Deaf woman was describing her childhood education. She said so much time was spent trying to teach her to speak, that she never received any real education in math or sciences or whatever.

That *really* struck a cord with me. Now, i know Erin wouldn't need to spend that much time learning to speak. She is already well on her way. Her CI has removed many barriers that the woman on Through Deaf Eyes had to overcome.

But, my concern is that she might have to spend too much time compensating for general communication deficiencies and that could hamper her learning options.

I was trying to explain this to our RIHP person and she said "Oh. So what you are saying is, 'Why should I settle for mainstreaming'." Which is a concept I hadn't considered before seeing that documentary. It was always as though mainstreaming was our goal - but what if we can do better than that?

Erin is very bright (I know... Mommy Brag :ugh3: ). Will she be able to meet her full potential if she is in a mainstream school? Are there options out there for CI kids that address their specific needs that I am just not able to find in my area? What I am seeing so far gives me the impression that since the CI "movement" is still relatively new, there are not a lot of programs in place for them. It is an All Deaf solution or a Mainstream solution.

Even comparing CI kids to HOH kids doesn't exactly do the communication issues justice. The two disabilities are different, in my opinion.

That is what keeps me up nights.

:ugh3:

I guess I went over my minute.

I know how frustrating your situation can be, and I truly empathize. I personally have some problems with many of the mainstreaming policies and those problems are based not only on the experience of raising my deaf son, but also on the things I have seen occurring with other deaf students. In addition, I have spent years researching and becoming more informed on the issues and am currently working with deaf students at the college level as I pursue my Ph.D. I would be happy to provide you with any information I can, and to relate my personal experience that you may have benefit of that. I can either respond in threads, or you can pm me anytime. Just take your time. You are obviously on the right path, and are thinking through these decisions very carefully.
 
WOW! So much advice! Thank you all very, very much. :ty: :ty: :ty:

I only have a minute, so I can't comment on everything just yet... but,

- Columbus is also far away - 2 1/2 hours.
- No, we are not rural in the least.

My thought with Millridge is basically to do what Jillio and DD are suggesting - go talk to them and see what they do and then see if our local district can adopt some of the same methodologies. Millridge actually works directly with 21 districts in the area giving just that kind of advice, but not districts as far away as we are. *sigh*

Right now, she is in a mainstream daycare and has therapy every other week. We would go every week, but we are appealing for more visits and the $150 therapy visits are getting a little tough to manage. And we are not eligible for any assistance from the state on that.

Daycare is doing a great job with her. She actually talks more at school than at home. But I am always wanting to push for more.

Here is the thing that sparked this recent journey...

I was watching "Through Deaf Eyes" on PBS and a Deaf woman was describing her childhood education. She said so much time was spent trying to teach her to speak, that she never received any real education in math or sciences or whatever.

That *really* struck a cord with me. Now, i know Erin wouldn't need to spend that much time learning to speak. She is already well on her way. Her CI has removed many barriers that the woman on Through Deaf Eyes had to overcome.

But, my concern is that she might have to spend too much time compensating for general communication deficiencies and that could hamper her learning options.

I was trying to explain this to our RIHP person and she said "Oh. So what you are saying is, 'Why should I settle for mainstreaming'." Which is a concept I hadn't considered before seeing that documentary. It was always as though mainstreaming was our goal - but what if we can do better than that?

Erin is very bright (I know... Mommy Brag :ugh3: ). Will she be able to meet her full potential if she is in a mainstream school? Are there options out there for CI kids that address their specific needs that I am just not able to find in my area? What I am seeing so far gives me the impression that since the CI "movement" is still relatively new, there are not a lot of programs in place for them. It is an All Deaf solution or a Mainstream solution.

Even comparing CI kids to HOH kids doesn't exactly do the communication issues justice. The two disabilities are different, in my opinion.

That is what keeps me up nights.

:ugh3:

I guess I went over my minute.

I am glad that u are thinking and questioning everything. Too often, parents (not here in AD) make the decision following the concept of "normalcy" and not consider other avenues or talk to different people with different views or experiences and decide from there. They usually decide immediately from the hearing views without listening to the deaf views. Both have pros and cons but at least u have listened to both and go from there rather than finding out that this one way didnt work for your daughter and then having to play "catch up" later. Good luck!
 
Wow! If only we had more parents like you Mom2Toes. You're definityly on the right track. Don't worry so much about whether or not she's getting enough speech/auditory-verbal therapy. I know that many parents think "Oh if some therapy is good, they'll REALLY thrive on TONS of therapy" Not nessarily..........I have to say that I think that a lot of the really high achievers, are kids from families that REALLY emphasize hyperacheivement. Not just involved families..........I'm not attacking those types of families. Rather more the types of families where the kids are overprogrammed and it's expected that they'll go to an Ivy League School. Just continue with what you're doing. It's great that she's doing well orally so far........that's awesome!

Oh, and keep your mind open about possible educational placements. I think that for early education, parents need to experiment, and see what's best. Like you could do a split placement, some time at the Deaf School/program and then some time in the mainstream program. Be child centered, and try to find the placement that is best for Toes. It might be a Deaf School (and maybe Toes could go to a residental school when she's a little older) or it could be a self contained program, or maybe even regular classes, regualar school.
 
She said so much time was spent trying to teach her to speak, that she never received any real education in math or sciences or whatever.

That *really* struck a cord with me. Now, i know Erin wouldn't need to spend that much time learning to speak. She is already well on her way. Her CI has removed many barriers that the woman on Through Deaf Eyes had to overcome.

But, my concern is that she might have to spend too much time compensating for general communication deficiencies and that could hamper her learning options.
That's ALSO a very good point. Even many "superstars," have significent issues with incidental learning (just picking stuff up) Maybe by adding Cued Speech, and Sign and other tools, that would really enhance her learning. Erin might be a visual learner, so in that case, her CS/Sign skills could really come in handy, so she could learn content, instead of solely concentrating on the proper way to intone "Boo-be-bah".....Also, just b/c Erin looks to be developing oral skills, it doesn't mean that she'll be really amazing at it. Just means she won't have a HUGE gap between her chroniclogical age and her expressive spoken language, the way a lot of oral dhh kids do. She might not have to have formal spoken language therapy, but then again many if not most orally skilled dhh kids have to have speech therapy for all of their childhoods. (and while language therapy can be fun, speech therapy can be horrible!)
 
All of the discussion about speech therapy got me thinking as well. My son spends 60 minutes per week in speech therapy. That doesn't sound like much to me and I would wonder what others thought. I'm of the belief that the time should be spent on learning other things rather than learning to talk. What do you guys think. Is 60 minutes a week a waste of time?
 
All of the discussion about speech therapy got me thinking as well. My son spends 60 minutes per week in speech therapy. That doesn't sound like much to me and I would wonder what others thought. I'm of the belief that the time should be spent on learning other things rather than learning to talk. What do you guys think. Is 60 minutes a week a waste of time?

How is your son doing with the speech therapy? Are you seeing any benefits or is he looking completely bored out of his skull? Is he old enough for him to ask him about how he is feeling about the 60 minute sessions? It doesn't really matter what we think, because as with everything one man's medicine is another man's poison. I'd never make decisions based on the opinions of others on the internet. It would be the what's best for my family approach. What works for one family, may not work for another.
 
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