HAs FOR BABY BEFORE CI

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kat05

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Is it common to have a practically deaf baby wear HAs before being implanted? I mean for the months until the surgery. Because this is what the doctor told us about my son, however while speaking with other parents, they asked me what's the point in HAs ("would you put eye-glasses to a blind person" they ask me), also leaving hints that the doctor had something to gain from us getting the HAs. Do they really help? I am a little puzzled since I have seen no difference in my son, at the noises he turns at. He has been wearing them since the beginning of NOvember, 2011.
 
kat05 said:
Is it common to have a practically deaf baby wear HAs before being implanted? I mean for the months until the surgery. Because this is what the doctor told us about my son, however while speaking with other parents, they asked me what's the point in HAs ("would you put eye-glasses to a blind person" they ask me), also leaving hints that the doctor had something to gain from us getting the HAs. Do they really help? I am a little puzzled since I have seen no difference in my son, at the noises he turns at. He has been wearing them since the beginning of NOvember, 2011.
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Yes. There is always a trial to see what benefit they can gain.

Someone should be working with him to make sure he is getting the most out of them.
 
He does have speech therapy and I try to work with him all the time, at home. Is there any chance that he will not need an implant if there is such a great hearing loss? And he will be able to talk?
 
Your son would just need the higher-powered HAs if he has a significant loss. I have a profound loss (115+ db loss) and still wear HAs. And, I speak very well, even though I've been deaf since birth. Many others here do too. Please do try the HAs first before you opt for surgery.
 
Kat- as Bott said there is always a trial period with HA's before an implant is discussed. It seems like he's/she's only worn them for a short tine, so chances are he is still acclimating to them. I think you need to determine if it's more important for your child to speak, or have the ability to communicate.

I don't know the degree of your Childs hearing, but he/she may or may not be able to develop speech. In my opinion, so long as your child has the ability to communicate that is the most important thing. Your child can achieve that through the use of sign, and you can still work on speech with him/her to give your child the opportunity to develop speech if it's in the cards.

Either way keep the HA's on your child, and give him/her some more time to adjust to these new sounds that he/she is being exposed to. Some people are quick to jump the gun with the CI. It definitely isn't something to take lightly.
 
THanks for your answers. I undertand tha communicating in general is the most important thing.
How long should one wait with HAs before deciding the implant? And how do we know that the HAs are successful so as to NOT decide an implant for a baby/toddler?
 
kat05 said:
Is it common to have a practically deaf baby wear HAs before being implanted? I mean for the months until the surgery. Because this is what the doctor told us about my son, however while speaking with other parents, they asked me what's the point in HAs ("would you put eye-glasses to a blind person" they ask me), also leaving hints that the doctor had something to gain from us getting the HAs. Do they really help? I am a little puzzled since I have seen no difference in my son, at the noises he turns at. He has been wearing them since the beginning of NOvember, 2011.
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How old is he?
 
I had to wear them from 2 to 3 ( i was implanted at age 3, they didn't allow implantation on babies under 3 in the mid 1990s) as a trail to make sure I was truly deaf. It was evidently that i was not hearing out of my hearing aids since I was not responding to any noise.
 
If you are worried about communication, learn ASL. That would be a great gift for your little one.
 
baseballboy may have more experiences of telling you about CI.


I am more comfortable with HAs and ASL.

My hub got a CI at late 30's and has seriously issues about finanical that he cant afford to buy another CI when his CI was lost. Insurance does not provide very well for adult people than children. My hub can afford hearing aids but his natural hearing level is destroyed by fixing it for CI. He is very upset about it. If CI stuff are affordable then my hub would continue to use CI. He said he will never go for another surgery agian. ONE surgery for CI is suffieicent for him.
 
We were in your shoes a year ago. There is (at least) a two fold reason for the hearing aids in the months leading up to surgery.

First, if the hearing tests were inconclusive or contradictory, there is a chance that you'll notice a good response from the hearing aids. If this is the case, the center would probably talk to you about amplification with aids rather than CI. An ethical center will not implant an infant who is receiving benefits from hearing aids.

More likely though, your tests were conclusive and you've done your research and are headed towards CI with certainty. If this is the case, the aids are worn to supply any possible stimulation to the otic nerve. It was explained to us that continued stimulation, however slight, would help to preserve the functionality of the nerve in the months leading up to surgery.

I agree with the others here that you should strongly consider starting some kind of signed language. It is important to know (and you probably do) that the CI isn't a fix-it switch, but rather another communication tool. Our daughter is 2 and has been using her CIs for one year now with excellent results- she can hear and comprehend the slightest whispers. Her speech production has been an added bonus, and she continues to use sign.

We look forward to hearing about your progress!
 
Iowaboy , your progress seems very encouraging to us! I hope we have the same progress. I'll keep in touch...
 
iowaboy said:
We were in your shoes a year ago. There is (at least) a two fold reason for the hearing aids in the months leading up to surgery.

First, if the hearing tests were inconclusive or contradictory, there is a chance that you'll notice a good response from the hearing aids. If this is the case, the center would probably talk to you about amplification with aids rather than CI. An ethical center will not implant an infant who is receiving benefits from hearing aids.

More likely though, your tests were conclusive and you've done your research and are headed towards CI with certainty. If this is the case, the aids are worn to supply any possible stimulation to the otic nerve. It was explained to us that continued stimulation, however slight, would help to preserve the functionality of the nerve in the months leading up to surgery.

I agree with the others here that you should strongly consider starting some kind of signed language. It is important to know (and you probably do) that the CI isn't a fix-it switch, but rather another communication tool. Our daughter is 2 and has been using her CIs for one year now with excellent results- she can hear and comprehend the slightest whispers. Her speech production has been an added bonus, and she continues to use sign.

We look forward to hearing about your progress!
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Another question: how did you figure that your daughter needs a CI when she was one year old? I read contradictory information, it's useful they say to implant the earlier the better and on the other hand, leave time just in case the HAs can work... I am afraid that we could be leaving time pass...
 
Our state requires an OAE test at birth, which our daughter failed. We followed up at 3 months with an ABR, which suggested a profound hearing loss. Another ABR at 6 months was exactly the same, and a behavioral test at 9 months showed a deeper hearing loss. We aided her at 4 months, after the first ABR. She wore the aids without any problems. We didn't notice any behavioral responses with the aids on, and the behavioral test confirmed that the loss was most likely deeper than the hearing aids could help with.

Do you have ABR or behavioral results for your son?

We were lucky in that our CI center would not implant prior to 12 months old, and the hearing loss was identified early (at birth). We had a long hearing aid trial without putting the CI on hold. The center suggested a failed behavioral test and failed three months with aids before they would consider implantation with an infant.
 
iowaboy said:
Our state requires an OAE test at birth, which our daughter failed. We followed up at 3 months with an ABR, which suggested a profound hearing loss. Another ABR at 6 months was exactly the same, and a behavioral test at 9 months showed a deeper hearing loss. We aided her at 4 months, after the first ABR. She wore the aids without any problems. We didn't notice any behavioral responses with the aids on, and the behavioral test confirmed that the loss was most likely deeper than the hearing aids could help with.

Do you have ABR or behavioral results for your son?

We were lucky in that our CI center would not implant prior to 12 months old, and the hearing loss was identified early (at birth). We had a long hearing aid trial without putting the CI on hold. The center suggested a failed behavioral test and failed three months with aids before they would consider implantation with an infant.
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We had ABR, ASSR, OAE for him when he was 16 months old. Earlier it did not cross our mind, he did not "look" deaf, I remember him turning at sounds etc. It's a mystery.
What is a behavioral test? I think we did not do such a thing. Also, what do you mean by "deeper loss"? A non functional otic nerve? My son has no difference at all with his HAs but maybe it's too early (?)
 
Oops, I meant ASSR by behavioral. Those aren't the same things at all. To me, the ASSR looked like a behavioral test because she was awake and given visual stimuli as a distraction. They were able to detect a more severe hearing loss with the ASSR, which I call deeper. Sorry, I don't mean to confuse anyone.

People called the nerve from the cochlea to the brain the otic nerve which isn't exactly correct- I think the right name is the cochlear nerve... but it needs to work for the CI to work. They said keeping the hearing aids on wasn't vital for this nerve, but it could in theory help this nerve to keep functioning by giving it stimulus from the aids, however slight it was.
 
It sounds like you have almost as much information as we had (if not as much) when we made our decision. We didn't notice any response with the aids, and part of her last set of tests was while wearing the aids. I'm still struggling with what it was called, ASSR... behavioral... I can't remember. She was awake and wore aids for some of it. The sounds in the booth were so loud that they brought my wife and I hearing protection so we could stay in with her.

When surgery day came... the surgery took a few hours and we went home the same day, a couple of hours later. We had both ears done at the same time. She was back to her normal self playing and eating that same night. It could not have gone more smoothly.
 
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