From a very concerned mother ...

I have a 2 year old daughter that was implanted 9 months ago.I believe we as parents know in our hearts what is best for our family and children.Just know, our decisions may not always be a "perfect decision" in someone eles's eyes,but its our decision.I feel pressure from all the "experts" at times, and then I stand back and say,Whoa! This is my child.They may be the clinical "experts" but they are not the experts of your child.I just had a similar conversation about this subject with my friend.This may be their career, but this is our child's life and ours.At what price should our kids have to pay to have this so-callled "perfect speech?"I made the hard decision recently to put my daughters ASL on hold for awhile(not for very long) so that I can better evaluate her communication.She hasn't progressed in either department, so we'll see what happens.If the implant dosent work out,oh well.Its about communication.I hate when I hear parents say,"oh, my child sounds normal b/c of the implant" so is your child abnormal if they don't use correct articulation?Do what you feel is right.I think its awesome you sign with your child.When I saw the pain in my daughters eyes after her surgery, I vowed never again will she have that surgery.
 
ange26s said:
I have a 2 year old daughter that was implanted 9 months ago.I believe we as parents know in our hearts what is best for our family and children.Just know, our decisions may not always be a "perfect decision" in someone eles's eyes,but its our decision.I feel pressure from all the "experts" at times, and then I stand back and say,Whoa! This is my child.They may be the clinical "experts" but they are not the experts of your child.I just had a similar conversation about this subject with my friend.This may be their career, but this is our child's life and ours.At what price should our kids have to pay to have this so-callled "perfect speech?"I made the hard decision recently to put my daughters ASL on hold for awhile(not for very long) so that I can better evaluate her communication.She hasn't progressed in either department, so we'll see what happens.If the implant dosent work out,oh well.Its about communication.I hate when I hear parents say,"oh, my child sounds normal b/c of the implant" so is your child abnormal if they don't use correct articulation?Do what you feel is right.I think its awesome you sign with your child.When I saw the pain in my daughters eyes after her surgery, I vowed never again will she have that surgery.
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The bolded statement is it in a nutshell.
 
Anyone who tells you she shouldn't sign or can't sign is completely wrong and very ignorant of deaf culture. The deaf and hard of hearing have a right, legally speaking, to sign.

*ROSIE said:
I have a 3 yr old daughter who was born with a hard to severe hearing. My audio verbal therapist said she had never met a little girl that was very deaf since she didnt get absolutely no benefit from her hearing aids. So she was a good candidate for a CI. So she got her CI meanwhile she was learnin signs but once she got her CI at 1 1/2 age they told me to stop signing to her and just use my voice so she could learn how to speak without needing her to learn sign language. So now my daughter is 3 and she doesnt know anything so ive made the decision of teaching her signs. She starts school on Jan 5 and her therapist doesnt seem very happy, nor everyone else but I dont care because I think thats the right thing. I need to communicate with my child . And the thing is that now they say there's a high chance theres something wrong with her equipment and they need to check it and if there is she will need another surgery to get that implant removed and put a new one in. But thats our decision..
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