Finally, a great comparison of what hearing thru a CI is like..

[SeanB]

Where did you get the idea that it's "a world full of chipmunks?" The people who hear chipmunks, Minnie or Mickey Mouse or whatever hear that at activation or during the early weeks/months. I never even had either at activation. I had everyone in their own voices.

Most people who get a CI wind up with better hearing than they had with a little hearing and a hearing aid.

I am a CI user, your description is correct.

 

[ambrosia]

cruel?

how come im an ASL user, and had an awesome childhood, and i have an awesome life.

It seems not cruel for me. I had never have any expereince of suffering when i was growing, for real. I learn a lot from others and i suffer for them because they are the same as I am.


well, i am sorry you have to deal with this kind of childhood or adulthood experience of losing your hearing you have now.

Nobody was claiming you can't have a happy life as a deaf person, I was responding to her claims that a child with a CI can't enjoy their childhood.
I am too, but it is what it is.

CI's probably weren't available when you were a child, correct? Actually are you deaf enough for one? The part I think is cruel about making them wait to decide for themselves is....it's too late then to get the full benefit. If they decide no they don't want, well that's no loss. But if they decide they do, well it's moot. it's not going to do as much good. It would be one thing if age had nothing to do with it, but unfortunately it is a huge factor. I hope to get one soon, my left ear is profound to no response now, def implantable. My right is catching up to it now, it's profound.

You're getting hearing aids soon right? Good luck

 

[ambrosia]

I am a CI user, your description is correct.

My left hearing aid makes people sound like cartoon characters, cartoon characters talking in another room. I had told the audi to just order one for my right, but he wanted me to get as much information as possible. I don't think it makes a difference really, I feel sound with it, but that's about it. I did decide to keep it though. I want to get that ear implanted and it hadn't gotten any auditory input in like 6 years. I'm prepping my nerve for sound

 

[Frisky Feline]

Nobody was claiming you can't have a happy life as a deaf person, I was responding to her claims that a child with a CI can't enjoy their childhood.
I am too, but it is what it is.

CI's probably weren't available when you were a child, correct? Actually are you deaf enough for one? The part I think is cruel about making them wait to decide for themselves is....it's too late then to get the full benefit. If they decide no they don't want, well that's no loss. But if they decide they do, well it's moot. it's not going to do as much good. It would be one thing if age had nothing to do with it, but unfortunately it is a huge factor. I hope to get one soon, my left ear is profound to no response now, def implantable. My right is catching up to it now, it's profound.

You're getting hearing aids soon right? Good luck

According to your post stated that without a CI that is so cruel. I point this out that I did not suffer without a CI and still to now.

Oh, I have been wearing my hearing aids almost all my life. Therefore, i replace to a new hearing aid. thank you.

 

[SeanB]

My left hearing aid makes people sound like cartoon characters, cartoon characters talking in another room. I had told the audi to just order one for my right, but he wanted me to get as much information as possible. I don't think it makes a difference really, I feel sound with it, but that's about it. I did decide to keep it though. I want to get that ear implanted and it hadn't gotten any auditory input in like 6 years. I'm prepping my nerve for sound

It's great you are using what you can to hear to the best of your ability, it's your choice, nothing wrong with what you're doing. About the way I perceive hearing from a CI in my experience is something like this:

Munchkins (Activation) ---> Sound more natural (Month or 2 after) ---> Other extreme sounds heard as interference (Most of year) ---> Extreme sounds sound natural, music and speech beginning to be clearer (End of year into 2nd) ---> Overall sound more understood, resembles level from hearing aid experience (,End of 2nd year) ---> Slow progression, speech sound improvement, especially in background noise (3rd year to present) A CI is always work in progress (mapping or refresher programming is necessary as needed).

 

[ambrosia]

According to your post stated that without a CI that is so cruel. I point this out that I did not suffer without a CI and still to now.

Oh, I have been wearing my hearing aids almost all my life. Therefore, i replace to a new hearing aid. thank you.

Making them wait, when by that time it wouldn't do as much good would be cruel in a way, yes. I mean it's sounds nice, leaving the choice up to them but I'm pretty sure my child would be "yeah thanks mom!! I'd like to have maybe been able to hear but since you wanted to leave the decision to me "when I'm older" it doesn't matter anyway I won't hear shit. That's awesome, thanks". Seems like you should do it early or not at all.

Your husband has a CI right? How old was he when he got it? How well does it work for him? Would you qualify for one? Would you get one if you did? Yeah lots of questions I'm nosey.

 

[Frisky Feline]

Making them wait, when by that time it wouldn't do as much good would be cruel in a way, yes. I mean it's sounds nice, leaving the choice up to them but I'm pretty sure my child would be "yeah thanks mom!! I'd like to have maybe been able to hear but since you wanted to leave the decision to me "when I'm older" it doesn't matter anyway I won't hear shit. That's awesome, thanks". Seems like you should do it early or not at all.

Your husband has a CI right? How old was he when he got it? How well does it work for him? Would you qualify for one? Would you get one if you did? Yeah lots of questions I'm nosey.

Well, Our upbringing and the culture in which we live in the past aren't the same of being exposed with ASL and Deaf community. He had a CI when he was in late 30's. indeed, I am a good candidate for a cochlear implant. I declined it. I made my choice and I did not regret it.

 

[Bebonang]

Ambrosia.

You have one big problem is that you don't accept deafness at all. You are late deafened. That is very common for late deafened who wanted to hear sound so badly. Well, you just have to learn to live with it.

I was born deaf and I never complain about wanting to hear sound. I was very happy in my childhood, even there was lack of communication. I had never known what sound was like but who cares.

I used my eyes to make sound, did you know that? When I looked at traffic and it was soooo busy that my eyes were bothered by them. That is like white noises which I could not hear but my eyes does. When I live in the bush, the nature around me calm me down and I love the quietness in my eyes. It was very relaxing and still does today as I am living in the bush by myself after my husband's death. My eyes does all the noises for me. That is why I don't need sounds with my ears. Yeah, after I got my first hearing aid, I heard sounds on my left ear (my right ear - total deafness-no hearing aid) only. It is a lot of noises and I hate that sounds. Sorry.

 

[ambrosia]

Ambrosia.

You have one big problem is that you don't accept deafness at all. You are late deafened. That is very common for late deafened who wanted to hear sound so badly. Well, you just have to learn to live with it.

I was born deaf and I never complain about wanting to hear sound. I was very happy in my childhood, even there was lack of communication. I had never known what sound was like but who cares.

I used my eyes to make sound, did you know that? When I looked at traffic and it was soooo busy that my eyes were bothered by them. That is like white noises which I could not hear but my eyes does. When I live in the bush, the nature around me calm me down and I love the quietness in my eyes. It was very relaxing and still does today as I am living in the bush by myself after my husband's death. My eyes does all the noises for me. That is why I don't need sounds with my ears. Yeah, after I got my first hearing aid, I heard sounds on my left ear (my right ear - total deafness-no hearing aid) only. It is a lot of noises and I hate that sounds. Sorry.

Oh please don't patronize me. I do accept my deafness, I do live with it. Guess what, even when I get a CI, I'll still be deaf. When I discovered my hearing was geti=ting worse did bemoan my fate? No. Did I think I was never going to be able to communicate? No. Think I was never going to have a job and sit on my ass sucking up SSDI? No. I sat down in front of the computer, looked up programs at the Tech college and decided what I could do with limited hearing. I did something about it. That is not "not accepting my deafness".

You can't complain about it because you never had sound, you had noise, that's not the same.

In fact. I might go one step further and say you don't accept your deafness, at least not for the reality that it is. I've read several posts of yours on here. In one breath you claim the terms hearing impaired and disablity are wrong. Deafness is not a disablity or an impairment. But in the next breath you'll be demanding your rights to accomodations such as interpreters and what not. Do you not realize one arguments negates the other? The simple fact that you require accomodations signifies a hearing disablity. Do you realize that that doesn't say anything bad about you? That it isn't a character judgement or something to base your self worth on?

Depending on how you look at it, I think I have a greater acceptness of my deafness than you do.

 

[NaidaUP]

Ambrosia.

You have one big problem is that you don't accept deafness at all. You are late deafened. That is very common for late deafened who wanted to hear sound so badly. Well, you just have to learn to live with it.

I was born deaf and I never complain about wanting to hear sound. I was very happy in my childhood, even there was lack of communication. I had never known what sound was like but who cares.

I used my eyes to make sound, did you know that? When I looked at traffic and it was soooo busy that my eyes were bothered by them. That is like white noises which I could not hear but my eyes does. When I live in the bush, the nature around me calm me down and I love the quietness in my eyes. It was very relaxing and still does today as I am living in the bush by myself after my husband's death. My eyes does all the noises for me. That is why I don't need sounds with my ears. Yeah, after I got my first hearing aid, I heard sounds on my left ear (my right ear - total deafness-no hearing aid) only. It is a lot of noises and I hate that sounds. Sorry.

Nothing really to do with late deafened people! I was born profoundly deaf, have had hearing aids for 25 years. Cope very well with them, when I don't cope, I will get a CI.
I've accepted that I'm deaf but in the real world, who will a company employ first? Someone who can hear (even with a CI) or someone who can only communicate via sign. Even tho its wrong, they will go for someone who is less hard work. That's why a lot of people like to hear, I believe.

There always this argument with people who only sign, they always say that hearing people don't support them and help them by learning sign. Well it works the other way as well, you haven't learnt to help hearing people communicate with you so why should the hearing people put the effort in. (And I'm not talking about a pen and paper, altho it's very good)

With HAs or CIs, you have the better of both worlds, DEAF and HEARING. You can have both worlds.

I really can't stand people who don't like CIs and implanting babies.
I know people with CIs, 2 of them identical twins implanted at 15 years old. Now 25 years and thru still really struggle, even talking one on one.
Another friend, implanted at birth, you wouldn't even know she was deaf, speech is perfect and she has no struggles at all.
TOTALLY BACK UP WHAT AMBROISA IS SAYING!

 

[Bebonang]

Nothing really to do with late deafened people! I was born profoundly deaf, have had hearing aids for 25 years. Cope very well with them, when I don't cope, I will get a CI.
I've accepted that I'm deaf but in the real world, who will a company employ first? Someone who can hear (even with a CI) or someone who can only communicate via sign. Even tho its wrong, they will go for someone who is less hard work. That's why a lot of people like to hear, I believe.

There always this argument with people who only sign, they always say that hearing people don't support them and help them by learning sign. Well it works the other way as well, you haven't learnt to help hearing people communicate with you so why should the hearing people put the effort in. (And I'm not talking about a pen and paper, altho it's very good)

With HAs or CIs, you have the better of both worlds, DEAF and HEARING. You can have both worlds.

I really can't stand people who don't like CIs and implanting babies.
I know people with CIs, 2 of them identical twins implanted at 15 years old. Now 25 years and thru still really struggle, even talking one on one.
Another friend, implanted at birth, you wouldn't even know she was deaf, speech is perfect and she has no struggles at all.
TOTALLY BACK UP WHAT AMBROISA IS SAYING!

 

[green427]

Oh please don't patronize me. I do accept my deafness, I do live with it. Guess what, even when I get a CI, I'll still be deaf. When I discovered my hearing was geti=ting worse did bemoan my fate? No. Did I think I was never going to be able to communicate? No. Think I was never going to have a job and sit on my ass sucking up SSDI? No. I sat down in front of the computer, looked up programs at the Tech college and decided what I could do with limited hearing. I did something about it. That is not "not accepting my deafness".

You can't complain about it because you never had sound, you had noise, that's not the same.

In fact. I might go one step further and say you don't accept your deafness, at least not for the reality that it is. I've read several posts of yours on here. In one breath you claim the terms hearing impaired and disablity are wrong. Deafness is not a disablity or an impairment. But in the next breath you'll be demanding your rights to accomodations such as interpreters and what not. Do you not realize one arguments negates the other? The simple fact that you require accomodations signifies a hearing disablity. Do you realize that that doesn't say anything bad about you? That it isn't a character judgement or something to base your self worth on?

Depending on how you look at it, I think I have a greater acceptness of my deafness than you do.

Good post, Ambrosia.

I have been deaf since I was a kid, and now have 2 CI's. I am a few years older than you, after 9 years of wearing CI's and having discussions with grassroots deaf folks, it is not so much the CI itself that is the center of the controversy, but the hearing community's attitude around the CI that is triggering hysteria.

Deaf people are sick and tired of being told that they "need to be fixed", so when the medical community pushes CI's and HA's, they are reminding the deaf that they are still 'broken'.....hence some of the replies here. The CI should be called a very powerful hearing aid, which is what it really is, but the hearing community is misled into believing it is a cure, which it is not.

This is pretty much why the OP highlighted the important part.

Success stories about CI's are, and will always be, a sore subject among many, but not all deaf folks. Then again, on this forum, there will always be someone butting in and crashing the party.....

 

[drphil]

As always interesting reading comments re DEAFness.

Also, keep in mind Cochlear Implants were NOT available a few years ago prior to the "late 80s/90s". As I understand the matter-it is a futile exercise to try and back up into one's past -inventions-Cochlear Implants and how "might have reacted".

Another interlude in Sociology-culture

 

[ambrosia]

Nothing really to do with late deafened people! I was born profoundly deaf, have had hearing aids for 25 years. Cope very well with them, when I don't cope, I will get a CI.
I've accepted that I'm deaf but in the real world, who will a company employ first? Someone who can hear (even with a CI) or someone who can only communicate via sign. Even tho its wrong, they will go for someone who is less hard work. That's why a lot of people like to hear, I believe.

There always this argument with people who only sign, they always say that hearing people don't support them and help them by learning sign. Well it works the other way as well, you haven't learnt to help hearing people communicate with you so why should the hearing people put the effort in. (And I'm not talking about a pen and paper, altho it's very good)

With HAs or CIs, you have the better of both worlds, DEAF and HEARING. You can have both worlds.

I really can't stand people who don't like CIs and implanting babies.
I know people with CIs, 2 of them identical twins implanted at 15 years old. Now 25 years and thru still really struggle, even talking one on one.
Another friend, implanted at birth, you wouldn't even know she was deaf, speech is perfect and she has no struggles at all.
TOTALLY BACK UP WHAT AMBROISA IS SAYING!

And you make very good points! While it would be nice if everyone learned ign, it's not very realistic. This is kind of how I think about it. There are scads of spanish speaking people here in America, certainly more than deaf people who sign. So should everybody in America learn spanish so they can communicate the spanish speaking people?

I worked with another massage therapist that had a CI, he was forever telling me I need to get one. He was 28 I believe, I'm not sure what age he got implanted, he had a little bit of accent, but not quite like the deaf accent. He could hear better than me though, I can tell you that. Quite a few times we did couple massages and my client would say something to me, and I wouldn't hear or understand, and he would answer for me. I went to school with him too. He had an interpreter for him in classes, so he signed as well. I wish he still worked there so I could practice with him.

 

[Bottesini]

Oh please don't patronize me. I do accept my deafness, I do live with it. Guess what, even when I get a CI, I'll still be deaf. When I discovered my hearing was geti=ting worse did bemoan my fate? No. Did I think I was never going to be able to communicate? No. Think I was never going to have a job and sit on my ass sucking up SSDI? No. I sat down in front of the computer, looked up programs at the Tech college and decided what I could do with limited hearing. I did something about it. That is not "not accepting my deafness".

You can't complain about it because you never had sound, you had noise, that's not the same.

In fact. I might go one step further and say you don't accept your deafness, at least not for the reality that it is. I've read several posts of yours on here. In one breath you claim the terms hearing impaired and disablity are wrong. Deafness is not a disablity or an impairment. But in the next breath you'll be demanding your rights to accomodations such as interpreters and what not. Do you not realize one arguments negates the other? The simple fact that you require accomodations signifies a hearing disablity. Do you realize that that doesn't say anything bad about you? That it isn't a character judgement or something to base your self worth on?

Depending on how you look at it, I think I have a greater acceptness of my deafness than you do.

Nonsense. Only hearing people throw big fits over what deprivation it is to be deaf, and you do that all over the forum;.

Being mean and hostile and saying how superior you are in your actions to deal with it doesn't mean you accept it...

You write like someone on the edge of a nervous breakdown because you so don't accept it.

 

[Frisky Feline]

Nonsense. Only hearing people throw big fits over what deprivation it is to be deaf, and you do that all over the forum;.

Being mean and hostile and saying how superior you are in your actions to deal with it doesn't mean you accept it...

You write like someone on the edge of a nervous breakdown because you so don't accept it.

Good to know that I am not alone to see the way it is.

 

[ambrosia]

Nonsense. Only hearing people throw big fits over what deprivation it is to be deaf, and you do that all over the forum;.

Being mean and hostile and saying how superior you are in your actions to deal with it doesn't mean you accept it...

You write like someone on the edge of a nervous breakdown because you so don't accept it.

With all due respect, all of that is a crock of shit, but nice try. I do not post all over the forum about "how deprived I feel". There is a difference in accepting my hearing loss, and feeling resigned to it. Just because I haven't decided that I'm just going to not wear hearing aids and I'm going to keep my life in the hearing world does not indicate that I haven't accepted my deafness. Doing things, such as aquiring means of communication, does NOT indicate that I do not accept my deafness. It only indicates that I want to comunicate with hearing people, provide for me and my family with out living off the gorvernemt or my family. Indicating what I have done to deal with my deafness doesn't indicate that I feel superior.

I'm late deafened, in my 20's, it's been 17 years since I started losing my hearing, so I've been deaf almost as long as I was hearing. I've gotten plenty used to it. Just because I, at times, feel frustrations being deaf does not indicate that I do not accept my deafness. It is the same frustations that all of us feel, and in no way indicates that I feel "deprived", and insinuating that that indicates that I'm on the verge of a nervous breakdown is ludicrous. All your claims are ludicrous. I post on here almost daily and very few of them have anything to do with my hearing loss.

Did you have anything to add to the conversation? An opinion or insight on implanting when someone is child vs older? Or did you just post in here to attack me? If so.......... piss off.

yeah I can use smilies too

 

[BleedingPurist]

Nonsense. Only hearing people throw big fits over what deprivation it is to be deaf, and you do that all over the forum;.

Being mean and hostile and saying how superior you are in your actions to deal with it doesn't mean you accept it...

You write like someone on the edge of a nervous breakdown because you so don't accept it.

Wow, that's what you got out of that?

Not surprising, since victimhood is high among a certain Deaf-faction, particularly the one that proposes to speak for all here.

Hopefully, one day you'll learn what "live and let live" means.

How many of you "Big Deafs" run around giving out a negative attitude towards implanted children? When they encounter you, do you make the implant sign and then sign "ugly?" That 'shore' is helpin the lil children realize how much their parents hurt them!

 

[TXgolfer]

Ambrosia.

You have one big problem is that you don't accept deafness at all. You are late deafened. That is very common for late deafened who wanted to hear sound so badly. Well, you just have to learn to live with it.

I see you are back with your negativity. :roll: What you fail to realize is that most of us DO accept our deafness.....what we haven't accepted is defeat.

 

[Frisky Feline]

Could it be everyone have differently interpret of accepting the deafness issue. So what is your definition of accepting the deafness? how does it relate with accepting and defeat in the same sentence?