Quote:
Originally Posted by DeafKattMom
I have three deaf children. All severe to profound, bilateral hearing loss.
a nine yr old, three yr old and two yr old.
...
saying the kids could be mainstreamed, they would hear, it will be great.
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Hi there! Its a tough decision, with everyone having such strong opinions, isnt it?
Before you can make a decision like this, I believe you need to decide what outcome would make the action worthwhile. Then you can see how realistic that outcome is, and you have a better basis on which to make the decision.
Firstly - what would "success" mean for you? What outcome would you want to be relatively certain of to go ahead with this action? To be mainstreamed and "hear" (I am assuming they mean like a hearing person).
Well, mainstreaming is just a location - not an education.
And to get an idea of the "hearing" that CI kids have, check out this link at the
University of Texas. At the bottom of the page is a scattergraph showing the hearing results of kids implanted early (which I believe means before 2 years, but check it) and late.
Does that mean you shouldn't do it? Well, if you are only doing it to mainstream your kids, I wouldn't bother. Mainstreaming doesn't ensure anything that you can't do yourself at home.
It also depends on your kids - do they love hearing, or not care? Are they self-assured enough to have a CI in the presence of someone against it, or would that upset them? Your 9 year old is probably old enough to be involved in any discussion about implantation, and also probably old enough to commit to speech therapy if that's what they really are determined to do.
I wish you luck and peace with your decision.
Cate