want to hear your opinions about cochlear implant

drphil said:
Danb: Did it occur to you ASL is NOT spoken at all. How could it? Yeah it is translated into English which is a "foreign language to ASL". Correct?

According to my Intro to ASL: "visual gestural"

Is that to speak in political correct terms?

Implanted Advanced Binoics-Harmony activated Aug/97
Click to expand...

You're missing the point of my post. My point was that ASL is a language and not a communication disorder. Bridgewater classified ASL as a communication disorder and not a language.
 
In the city where I live ASL is classified as a "language" in the Toronto night school system.

Further- were you affected the label?

Is this a statewide classification?

Implanted Advanced Bionics-harmony activated Aug/07
 
That's pretty cool that your city has ASL in all of the school systems. We didn't have ASL when i was in grade school. I started losing my hearing junior year in high school. If we had ASL i definitely would've started it then.

I'm not sure if its a state-wide classification, but i hope its not.

I was never affected the label as having a communication disorder directly at that time, but have been in other situations.
 
Danb said:
This happened to me in college once. I was called on to read from a book. After class the professor pulled me aside and said the same thing, "you speak very well". I looked at him and thought, what the hell are you talking about!?

I then thought what he meant to say was "you speak very well, for a deaf person", because i'm sure he doesn't pull aside random students after class just to tell them they speak well.

So then i punched him in his junk and broke his legs!! :) Well, at least that's what i wanted to do.
Click to expand...
I think the professor meant well and meant that as a compliment though.

Besides, being asked to read from a book is not exactly always a bed of roses for everyone either. Even sometime some of the hearing get stumbled on when being asked to read from something as opposed to their just speaking more naturally.
 
drphil said:
In the city where I live ASL is classified as a "language" in the Toronto night school system.

Further- were you affected the label?

Is this a statewide classification?

Implanted Advanced Bionics-harmony activated Aug/07
Click to expand...

Not statewide. I think that what DanB encountered was a class that was taught by professors/instructors in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders at Bridgewater, primarily designed for teachers. ASL itself isn't defined as a communication disorder :).
 
You're right it was a compliment and it could've been said to anyone, but it was said after the fact i was told him about my hearing loss.

I"m sure i'm not the only one that notices when people see someone with a disability they give them more praise for something that disabled person did well, then what is actually needed. The praise is amplified when it doesn't have to be.

I experience this a lot now that I have my CI. It's like i'm treated more like an injured person, which wasn't the case before i had the CI. Since i got the CI people are more prone to hug me, hug me longer, or stronger, or put their hand on my shoulder and ask "how are you doing" instead of "what's up dan?", and just punch me in the arm like they used to do.

I know those aren't bad things but it is a different behavior since getting the CI. It never happened when i had no hearing problems or with a small hearing aide. Their behavior still hasn't changed even 3 years later.

This is not me focusing on the negative, these are actual changes in behavior in someone else... Some people can't help it, others can. My brothers haven't changed their behaviors at all since i got the CI. They treat me the same, but less close relatives do not. Strangely enough, especially the women, they seem to be absolutely fascinated by it and are more likely to talk to me longer now then when before i had the CI.
 
Danb: ASL is NOT taught in all NIGHT SCHOOL courses here in Toronto. Only in one. Pace Mrs Bucket-Northern Secondary! Check the TDSB-spring catalogue-page 25.. This term both" Beginners-level 1 & 2" - "not a certificated grant course" are taught. Each course is 2 hours long with 8 sessions. At other schools-French, Spanish, Chinese amongst others are taught.

My interest in the TDSB night school courses was Latin American/Swing dances which I have taken.

Well if you are the first in your "social world" with a Cochlear Implant it shouldn't be surprised that "some" may ask you about it.

Implanted Advanced Bionics-Harmony activated Aug/07
 
I expected a lot of questions, but its been 3 years and the same people keep asking the same questions over and over.

It may seem like i'm complaining but i'm not. Just saying that there is something different since getting the CI.

The weird thing is that last year i had a total knee replacement and only 5 people have asked me how my knee was since last year, and those people have not asked since.

I think its because of how the CI's look with large coil.

The number one question i get from people is "Is that attached to your head!?". :) They don't realize its magnetic. They tell me they thought that something is sticking through my scalp and holding the coil on. I bet if the coil was smaller people would not be as interested in the CI.

The cool thing though is that my 4 nieces and nephews, who are only between 4-7 years of age, have only asked me about the CI once each. For all of them the same conversation took place...

...Them... "Uncle danny what is that on your head?". Me... "Its a cochlear implant. I wear it so i can hear. I can't hear unless i have it on." Them.. "Oh ok".

I couldn't ask for a better conversation. Straight to the point and done with. :)
 
Danb said:
....

The cool thing though is that my 4 nieces and nephews, who are only between 4-7 years of age, have only asked me about the CI once each. For all of them the same conversation took place...

...Them... "Uncle danny what is that on your head?". Me... "Its a cochlear implant. I wear it so i can hear. I can't hear unless i have it on." Them.. "Oh ok".

I couldn't ask for a better conversation. Straight to the point and done with. :)
Click to expand...

Yep !! :)
 
Hohtopics said:
It's possible that some may just have a severe and not profound hearing loss. That can make a difference. That for as "deaf" some of those with a severe loss could appear to the hearing, you'd be surprised to the extent that those with a severe loss could hear more than those with a profound's.
Click to expand...

For us who are severely-deaf, to speak takes just as much effort as one who is profoundly-deaf etc. Our loss is well below the 'speech banana' we cannot hear speech, so when it comes to learning to speak and speaking there can be no comparison between severe or profound or whatever. I can only speak for myself on this following aspect but I am sure that many share my experience. The sounds I do hear are only loud and irritating. English is as a foreign language to me (and I am Australian) just like any other foreign languages would be to me except sign/visual language. The frustration that I have the most is that I can hear some things so it is automatically assumed I can hear people speaking. I rely, as many of us do, on visual imput (lipreading, gestures, facial expressions to name a few). Get me in bad lighting and the wrong conditions and I am as deaf as we come.
 
BecLak said:
For us who are severely-deaf, to speak takes just as much effort as one who is profoundly-deaf etc. Our loss is well below the 'speech banana' we cannot hear speech, so when it comes to learning to speak and speaking there can be no comparison between severe or profound or whatever. I can only speak for myself on this following aspect but I am sure that many share my experience. The sounds I do hear are only loud and irritating. English is as a foreign language to me (and I am Australian) just like any other foreign languages would be to me except sign/visual language. The frustration that I have the most is that I can hear some things so it is automatically assumed I can hear people speaking. I rely, as many of us do, on visual imput (lipreading, gestures, facial expressions to name a few). Get me in bad lighting and the wrong conditions and I am as deaf as we come.
Click to expand...

That is not true. That is the reason so many more people with severe loss than profound are able to attain speech. They have far more access to sound.

And it really insulting to anyone profoundly deaf who did not manage to attain speech.
 
Last edited:
That is not true. That is the reason so many more people with severe loss than profound are able to attain speech. They have far more access to sound.
Click to expand...
Botte is right. Severe and profound aren't nessarily classifications that automaticly mean that people don't get access to sound or speech. Someone who gets 10% of words unaided on the spondee can be classfied as having a profound loss. Also, I believe that severe loss people tend to get a lot more benifit out of HA.
 
I do agree that severe loss would likely get more benefit out of HAs than profound loss would. I write from experience in that regard.

However, I do have to agree with BecLak in that both severe and profound losses fall out of the speech range.
 
AlleyCat said:
I do agree that severe loss would likely get more benefit out of HAs than profound loss would. I write from experience in that regard.

However, I do have to agree with BecLak in that both severe and profound losses fall out of the speech range.
Click to expand...

Yes, but severe picks up a lot more vowels to help with the process than profound ever does.

It really seems very audist to me to keep repeating about how well one picked up speech and so everyone else could too. That is the message I am getting from Beklak's writings and it just plainly is not true.
 
Bottesini said:
Yes, but severe picks up a lot more vowels to help with the process than profound ever does.

It really seems very audist to me to keep repeating about how well one picked up speech and so everyone else could too. That is the message I am getting from Beklak's writings and it just plainly is not true.
Click to expand...

What you say makes sense (first sentence), but if I'm so far out of the speech range (which I am as I'm at 110 db) I don't see the difference because a severe loss is a good 50+ db out of the speech range as it is. 70-80+ db loss is not even close to the speech range.
 
AlleyCat said:
What you say makes sense (first sentence), but if I'm so far out of the speech range (which I am as I'm at 110 db) I don't see the difference because a severe loss is a good 50+ db out of the speech range as it is. 70-80+ db loss is not even close to the speech range.
Click to expand...

I am out of the speech range too. But earlier in life I was in the severe/profound range, and although yes it is out of the speech range, it was still easier and more helpful in trying to work on speech.
 
That might not make sense. I mean now I am completely deaf in my left ear and profound in my right, and I remember the difference.
 
Bottesini said:
Yes, but severe picks up a lot more vowels to help with the process than profound ever does.

It really seems very audist to me to keep repeating about how well one picked up speech and so everyone else could too. That is the message I am getting from Beklak's writings and it just plainly is not true.
Click to expand...

As a young child I could hear at 70 db at 250 hz, the rest of my loss was in the profound range. My loss was classified as severe to profound when I was little. I had trouble picking up constants but not vowels for the most part.

However, I don't think every deaf can pick up speech. My ex-bf was a colossal failure in that dept. If every deaf could pick up speech, we wouldn't have people like my ex bf.
 
deafskeptic said:
As a young child I could hear at 70 db at 250 hz, the rest of my loss was in the profound range. My loss was classified as severe to profound when I was little. I had trouble picking up constants but not vowels for the most part.

However, I don't think every deaf can pick up speech. My ex-bf was a colossal failure in that dept. If every deaf could pick up speech, we wouldn't have people like my ex bf.
Click to expand...

THat is exactly what I was trying to say. Thank you for stating it better!
 
In other words, it's very indivdual how well someone responds to aiding or whatever.
There are a lot of severe and profounders who can get benifit from HA, but there are also a lot who can only get into moderate loss or don't get a lot of good benifit from HA.
Heck there were severe and profounders who were functionally hoh with those godawful body worn aids back when HAs became popular.
 
Back
Top