Implants help child emerge from silent world

[gotin]

ATHOL, Idaho (AP) -- When preschooler Kimberly Hunt was diagnosed as profoundly deaf two years ago, her mother made a choice that seemed like the only one: cochlear implants.

The first of two $45,000 electronic sound-transmitting devices was sewn into Kimberly's skull last summer. Within weeks, the child who once didn't respond to slamming doors began to hear.

"She got turned on July 1," Karen Hunt, the mother of Kimberly and three other children, told The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Wash. "On July 4, we went to every Fourth of July parade we could find."

Kimberly relished hearing the bangs that went along with the firework displays, her mother said.

Hunt is one of a growing number of parents of deaf children who are turning to the improvements promised by cochlear implants.

"If your child needs glasses, you get glasses. If your child needs a leg, you get a prosthetic," she said. "It's the same thing."

But the popularity of the devices has come over the protests of some in the deaf community, who say the implants -- sometimes called a "bionic ear" -- could eradicate a culture complete with its own language, customs and rewards. More...

 

[Cloggy]

Thanks for the link. I allways find it interesting to read these stories..

Gonna read the link now...

Interesting that one of the arguments is about the level they can reach growing up as a deaf person.

This is allways a touchy subject since the ones that do succeed are able to argue against it. The ones that do not wil not let themself be heared.
But statistics do show difference in level of reading between hearing children, children growing up with ASL only and children growing up with oral methods (in combination with ASL)

Again, it's a touchy subject and I don't have the information ready at hand where differences have been studied.

But still an interesting ( 258 ) read. Thanks for the info.

 

[gotin]

Yes, as deaf people, we usually read articles about something that can effect our deaf culture. So I think the cochlear stories is one of these "something".

 

[Liebling:-)))]

"If your child needs glasses, you get glasses. If your child needs a leg, you get a prosthetic," she said. "It's the same thing."

No, I do not consider same thing...

Simple is:

Without surgery...

If your child needs glasses, you get glasses...

If your child needs legs, you get a prosthetic...

If your child need to hear, you get a hearing aid.

And go on...


With Surgery...

If your child needs to see, you get eye surgery

If your child needs to hear, you get CI

And go on...


This is a difference.

 

[Eve]

And, as I said in the other topic area....I do see this as the same. For example, if your child's heart or liver were not functioning properly, they would get a transplant. If they were born with a malformation which would impede them from being able to walk, and there were a surgery to fix the problem, I doubt any of us would deny them that surgery.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

And, as I said in the other topic area....I do see this as the same. For example, if your child's heart or liver were not functioning properly, they would get a transplant. If they were born with a malformation which would impede them from being able to walk, and there were a surgery to fix the problem, I doubt any of us would deny them that surgery.

Well, CI is not belong kind of emergency surgery to save risk life.

 

[neecy]

I found this quote from the article interesting:

Worldwide, about 100,000 people have received the implants, about half adults and half children, according to a study by University of Michigan researchers.

so that's 50,000 children implanted

at a 4-5 (say 4.5%) failure rate, that's 2250 failures and 47750 successes (and probably more successes as sometimes a failure can be fixed with re-implantation of the other ear)

So, more than 47,500 successes...why does the deaf community insist on focusing on the failures?

 

[neecy]

Dee Bailey of Coeur d'Alene had her 6-year-old daughter Ciera implanted with a single cochlear device when she was just two. Now the child has two implants, and Bailey said the results are impressive.

"She's a pretty good chatterbox. She's very social and outgoing," Bailey said. "Within a couple months, she was recognizing her name, saying 'Mom' and 'Dad."'

The prospect of not using implants was more daunting than the surgery, Bailey said, because Idaho's only school for deaf children is in Gooding, far across the state.

"It would mean putting our daughter on an airplane and shipping her off every weekend," Bailey said. "For us, it was kind of an easy decision. This was the route that we wanted to go."

Hunt also wanted her daughter to be implanted as soon as possible.

"I'd read all about being deaf and about how time is of the essence and how she'd only have a fifth-grade reading level if we didn't hurry," she said. "I was just hoping she was deaf enough just to go with the implants."

Kimberly now speaks 85 words and smiles when her mother calls her name, Hunt said. Despite the success, Hunt still wants Kimberly to be part of deaf culture, able to use sign language and understanding deaf history and community.

PROOF right there - that implanted children are not completely cut off from the deaf community or sign language like some people we know keep saying!

 

[gnulinuxman]

"If your child needs glasses, you get glasses."

Glasses are very effective among people who use them. I use them and they make me able to see perfectly. I can barely see anything without them. My fiancee and most of my friends use them too and they allow us to see perfectly.

Hearing aids, on the other hand, are different. They only amplify sound.
Cochlear implants are less than perfect too. They don't have enough clarity to match normal hearing.

 

[Sweetmind]

Remember, It cannot compare between ears and the rest of the part of body that is not related to the sounds. It makes no sense.

It s very poor reason to use the comparsion between ears and the rest of other part of the body.

 

[gnulinuxman]

PROOF right there - that implanted children are not completely cut off from the deaf community or sign language like some people we know keep saying!

NOT ALL implantees are. SOME are. SOME have parents who don't care about Deaf Culture. SOME parents implanted their children so they wouldn't have to sign.

If you're a parent, this may be hard to comprehend, but SOME parents don't love their children enough to do what's best for them. It's a sad world, but you can't go assuming we said ALL parents are bad, nor can you assume that all parents love their kids. The fact is that some don't.

 

[Sweetmind]

PROOF right there - that implanted children are not completely cut off from the deaf community or sign language like some people we know keep saying!

Not always that you dont even know the truth out there while you are not in deaf community very much. I worked with those kids as far as I know the truth..

I just dont want the parent get a big lollipop to believe everything that CI works for all deaf children. Thats pretty scary! Sighs!

THAT IS VERY WRONGDOING! Some parents refused to let their deaf children getting into deaf community or meet other deaf children because they said this is hearing world.. Thats sad, those kids have to wait until they finally come into deaf community at age 17 or 18.

 

[neecy]

Cochlear implants are less than perfect too. They don't have enough clarity to match normal hearing.

You have a cochlear implant and can verify this from experience?

 

[neecy]

NOT ALL implantees are. SOME are. SOME have parents who don't care about Deaf Culture. SOME parents implanted their children so they wouldn't have to sign.

With the militant attitudes rampant on this board - if thats an example of what parents who have implanted children will experience if they try to expose their children to deaf culture - is there any WONDER they run away screaming?

 

[gnulinuxman]

You have a cochlear implant and can verify this from experience?

No, but I've read your "CI's aren't perfect" posts, and I use glasses daily to see (which make my vision normal), so if you're telling the truth.....

Did I just use your own posts against you?????????

 

[gnulinuxman]

With the militant attitudes rampant on this board - if thats an example of what parents who have implanted children will experience if they try to expose their children to deaf culture - is there any WONDER they run away screaming?

The important part of that post was the second half:

If you're a parent, this may be hard to comprehend, but SOME parents don't love their children enough to do what's best for them. It's a sad world, but you can't go assuming we said ALL parents are bad, nor can you assume that all parents love their kids. The fact is that some don't.

A lot of parents out there get the cochlear implant for their children because they don't want to sign.

Another thing that bothers the Deaf Community is that the ones who claim not to be that way tend to have a "I implanted my child because the hearing world is better" or "because it's the only way the kid will be successful" kind of attitude. They may not realize it, but it happens.

And the ones who don't have that attitude tend to be very defensive of the cochlear implant anyway.

 

[Fragmenter]

A lot of parents out there get the cochlear implant for their children because they don't want to sign.

That shows how close-minded you are.

Parents wants their children to be able to speak and hear as efficiently as possible. Seriously, I am tired of repeating myself.

 

[Cloggy]

.............
A lot of parents out there get the cochlear implant for their children because they don't want to sign.

More likely because they do not know sign. And if you have the choice between YOU learing a language that SOME people know or YOUR CHILD learning a language that 98% of the people know, the choice is often the latter one.

Another thing that bothers the Deaf Community is that the ones who claim not to be that way tend to have a "I implanted my child because the hearing world is better" or "because it's the only way the kid will be successful" kind of attitude. They may not realize it, but it happens.

About the first assumption... that's more in the head of Deaf people than in hearing people. About the second part.... they might actually be right.... Does that scare you?

And the ones who don't have that attitude tend to be very defensive of the cochlear implant anyway.

Yes, because they can see it works for most. So then it's really weired to see how non-experts shout that it doesn't... (was going to say "explain" but it is never explained. It's just a cry, never an explanation...)

 

[Cloggy]

.........
Cochlear implants are less than perfect too. They don't have enough clarity to match normal hearing.

Normal hearing is not the goal.... but I guess it's easier to forget about that and keep it as an argument.... Otherwise there will be no arguments left......
Well OK, keep using it.

 

[Cloggy]

Remember, It cannot compare between ears and the rest of the part of body that is not related to the sounds. It makes no sense.

It s very poor reason to use the comparsion between ears and the rest of other part of the body.

Sure you can..
Someone without hands... wants to learn ASL.... Do we attatch a hand?
So where do you compare it with then..... ????