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I am actually caught in a bit of dilemma myself. Before I go on explaining that, let me outline little of my CI history. I received the device at the age of 5, and now I am still using it as I am currently attending an university at the age of 18. So, it would be nearly 13 years since then. The dilemma here is a matter of definition on the deafness. Without the device, I am profoundly deaf... so deaf that I have to rely on sign language, which is my primary language. However, with the device, I much prefer to speak verbally, though not fluently. Truthfully, I am relatively inexperienced in using my voice because such opportunity like that happens rarely. For some reason, I cannot seem to generate the long sentence in proper grammar and all when I use the voice. I couldn't even pronounce a lot of words that contain several syllables. Despite these, I am still able to communicate with my parents effectively and clearly with my voice. I really think it's just a matter of confidence. Indeed, a few lessons from speech therapy might have made a big difference in my case, but for now, I am too busy worrying about bigger issues at hand.
Oh yeah... I forget to mention one more thing. I can hear sounds pretty damn clearly, though not totally clear when someone speaks to me. I think it's more of a communication problem rather than disability problem. I simply need to interact more using my voice instead of sign language.
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