Implants help child emerge from silent world

[Fragmenter]

LOL. If I was against oralism, I would have an easier time raising my children. For real. Our children is getting tough love when it comes to oralism. But they don't ever complain about it because they actually have fun at school with their peers and everything... I'm so proud of them!

 

[Boult]

LOL. If I was against oralism, I would have an easier time raising my children. For real. Our children is getting tough love when it comes to oralism. But they don't ever complain about it because they actually have fun at school with their peers and everything... I'm so proud of them!

That sound great news!

 

[neecy]

LOL. If I was against oralism, I would have an easier time raising my children. For real. Our children is getting tough love when it comes to oralism. But they don't ever complain about it because they actually have fun at school with their peers and everything... I'm so proud of them!

And I'm sure when they are adults - they will be the ones proud of YOU, for your caring and wanting to ensure they have the best possible means of communication with both deaf AND hearing at their disposal! Well done!

 

[gnulinuxman]

but you seem to enjoy making generalizations that the majority of parents of deaf children are abusive because your fiance's parents were, and you know people who were. If this were to be true then 95% of parents would be abusive

Where did I say "majority"? I said SOME. I didn't even say most!

 

[gnulinuxman]

LOL. If I was against oralism, I would have an easier time raising my children. For real. Our children is getting tough love when it comes to oralism. But they don't ever complain about it because they actually have fun at school with their peers and everything... I'm so proud of them!

I was referring to hearing parents, not deaf parents.

 

[Bear]

nope - I stand by what I said - NOTHING is perfect - but that is no reason to not use them, as I stated in another thread there's maybe a 4-5% failure rate - its like you are totally disregarding any of the successes.

Neecy,

Maybe not exactly disregarding the successess. Sure, I know there are successess and many of them.

I too, am in fact trying to decide if I want to get a CI or not. That shows right there that I am not against them. But, even though I know there are successes, I do not want to focus on that part.

Why? you ask? Simply, because I know there are successess. Some, more so than others.

I want to hear the failures, why they failed, and how they failed. Why? Because how can I make a well rounded decision about my own implantation if I dont know what could go wrong?

Noticed I havent asked any of you here about a CI? Simply, because I want a straight shoot answer and dont feel i would get it from any of you here.

I have talked to some that have a CI and most are very happy with theirs, they gave me alot of straight answers on what to expect from a CI.

Keep in mind, that although the success stories are wonderful to read about, and they do weigh in a persons decision to get one, a person also knows that NOTHING is 100% without failures.

And that isnt just a CI, I am sure there are failures with a HA, failures in transplants, ANYTHING has its failures. As I stated earlier, too much goodness can have the opposite effect and turn someone off the topic. Try putting in some negatives about a CI so someone gets the true story.

The more I ask people about a CI the more I think I may go for one. Why? Not because of anything said here. But, because I feel that those people I have chatted with about a Ci h as given me straight answers on what to expect and on their own experiences.

Neecy, you and I are alot alike, we are both latened-deaf, probably both have the same feelings about not being able to hear, and probably both experienced the same feelings when we initially lost our hearing. You would be a perfect one for me to go to for advice on a CI, but yet I dont ask you, because all I see out of you is how wonderful they are. Im sure they are, but Im also sure there were times when you werent overly happy with your CI. Just like when I could hear with a HA, there were times when I wasnt overly happy with my HA.

Try giving me some straight shoot answers and I would be more apt to listen to you. I even went so far as to schedule the appointment to start my qualification process for a CI. I am a perfect candidate for one or so I have been told by my audiologist.

So, my arguement does not come from wanting one but being told I cant have one. Mine comes from someone who wants pure straight knowledge. Not just a push.

Thanks,

Bear

 

[Cloggy]

.................
I want to hear the failures, why they failed, and how they failed. Why? Because how can I make a well rounded decision about my own implantation if I dont know what could go wrong?.........

I can understand that it is more important sometime to get the "bad" information as well. But it is strange how we sometimes are looking for it in the wrong places.

Like, when buying a car, we do not ask about possibility of failure. We assume the car will function as it is supposed to be. We also assume / know there's a warrenty and that when problems arrise, they will be taken care off.

When getting in our car to drive, we never think about possibilities of having an accident. This can be caused by ourself, or by any other driver. In the back of our head we know the possibility is so small that it will not happen to us.

Getting on a plane we know that it's safer than driving a car... but still we are happy that we landed again.

But I think it is excellent that you look at that side of the decision as well. Not many people do that and just expect everything to come together by itself.
But failure and success depends not just on the operation. That's only a small part of the proces. The biggest source of success is YOU. In a lot of cases it's hard work.

Now, I have not experienced this myself. I have only read about it in books written by people that went through it.

The most impressive one was "Wired for Sound" by Beverly Biderman. The one I'm reading now is "Rebuild" by Michael Chorost.

Good luck with your search.
From all the messageboards I have been at, I think this is one where you can find most answers.

Cloggy

 

[StacieLeigh]

Only the loving parents would even consider speech and hearing training for their deaf children.

The unloving ones wouldn't waste time working with their deaf children.

You are not a daddy so you have zero permission to tell parents how loving or unloving theyare. None. You have no credibility when it comes to discussing parenthood.

I agree with you, my parents did a wonderful job with me by teaching me how to speak. I love how my parents works together so I can achieved the best I can with speaking. I don't regret it one bit and to me that's the best thing that's happened to me.

 

[gnulinuxman]

IS it?????

Does it end at $1000?

what about involved necessary therapy after implanting where you need to get your child to and back home, what if some parts break down?? Oh and are there batteries involved?

Fuzzy

WHEN WILL PEOPLE READ MY POSTS INSTEAD OF TAKING THINGS OUT OF CONTEXT?!

"$1000's" means OVER $1000! It's shorthand for the words "thousands of dollars".

 

[gnulinuxman]

Neecy,

Maybe not exactly disregarding the successess. Sure, I know there are successess and many of them. [...]

Bear's opinion actually more closely matches mine. I'm just trying to get people to understand there are many different sides to CI's, not just the ALL-GOOD or the ALL-BAD.

But people don't see that and instead think I'm just some anti-CI Nazi who thinks all parents are evil... :roll:

 

[gnulinuxman]

I agree with you, my parents did a wonderful job with me by teaching me how to speak. I love how my parents works together so I can achieved the best I can with speaking. I don't regret it one bit and to me that's the best thing that's happened to me.

My fiancee is glad she can use her voice and lipread too. I am glad she can too, actually, despite the fact that her parents did it by beating her whenever she signed. However, she often prefers to "play deaf" when she's with me because as soon as she opens her mouth, a lot of hearing people assume she can hear everything they say.

 

[Audiofuzzy]

WHEN WILL PEOPLE READ MY POSTS INSTEAD OF TAKING THINGS OUT OF CONTEXT?!

"$1000's" means OVER $1000! It's shorthand for the words "thousands of dollars".

OOOPs my bad , What does it matter though?
You say thousandS? do YOU have thousandS to spend, Gnulinux?

'cos I don't.

It would be easiest to let my child learn ASL and me doing nothing. Lipreading and writing the only way of communication.
It would be cheaper to learn ASL for me. Less work after implanting, and considering that CI does not make one 100% hearing, ASL would be still the most sure way of communication.

BUT HOW ABOUT REPLYING TO MY QUESTION GNU ????? instead of fixating on me missing one letter?

RELPLY! please: is spending thousandS easy? do you have it?

Fuzzy

 

[Audiofuzzy]

My fiancee is glad she can use her voice and lipread too. I am glad she can too, actually, despite the fact that her parents did it by beating her whenever she signed.

Now I can see. This is where you are coming from.

Your fiancee parents were dysfunctional, abusive and should have been reported to police. Don't compare her situation with normal parents who try the best for their child.


Fuzzy

 

[R2D2]

Now I can see. This is where you are coming from.

Your fiancee parents were dysfunctional, abusive and should have been reported to police. Don't compare her situation with normal parents who try the best for their child.


Fuzzy

I agree with Fuzzy. This explains a lot.

Sorry your fiancee had to go through that but quite simply, they are not normal parents and it has nothing to do with the method of communication.

In my family there is a parent who signs and was happy to do so for my nephew but he is still a controlling and dysfunctional bully of a parent.

 

[neecy]

Neecy, you and I are alot alike, we are both latened-deaf, probably both have the same feelings about not being able to hear, and probably both experienced the same feelings when we initially lost our hearing. You would be a perfect one for me to go to for advice on a CI, but yet I dont ask you, because all I see out of you is how wonderful they are. Im sure they are, but Im also sure there were times when you werent overly happy with your CI. Just like when I could hear with a HA, there were times when I wasnt overly happy with my HA.

Try giving me some straight shoot answers and I would be more apt to listen to you. I even went so far as to schedule the appointment to start my qualification process for a CI. I am a perfect candidate for one or so I have been told by my audiologist.

So, my arguement does not come from wanting one but being told I cant have one. Mine comes from someone who wants pure straight knowledge. Not just a push.

Thanks,

Bear

Actually on several occasions (I'll search to find them) I've mentioned that there are negative sides to CI's, possible things that will cause failures etc.

here's one of my posts:

http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?p=519716#post519716

Although its not directly CI-related this one has some points as well

http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?p=492698#post492698

I don't think its all a rose garden. But I honestly can't think of any specific time I've not 'been happy' with my CI. The only negativity that I've really experiences was when I had a feedback problem that caused my eye to twitch when certain electrodes were stimulated. It was annoying but it didn't hurt, and we simply switched off those offending electrodes and it went away. Some sounds bother me, but I can turn my CI off, or leave the area where the offending noise is. If there are specific kinds of situations you'd like to ask me about to see if I have a problem with my CI feel free. Honesty to *me* its been a miracle, but I acknowledge its not that way for everybody. I guess I'm lucky. I'm sorry if you think that *I* think that CI's are a miracle that is nothing but sunshine and roses for everybody and that any one who gets a CI CAN get one and can benefit from them like I did. Perhaps like I mentioned before, I should keep my happy experiences to myself or at least limit them to my blog where at least I know people who read them there will understand, they're just "my experiences" and nobody else's.

 

[sr171soars]

Bear,

To follow up with what Neecy just said about negatives...I can say what I had to worry about prior to my CI. FYI - I always was HOH and used a HA since 3 yrs old until I got my CI. Like Neecy, I had one of those great experiences but prior to that I had these concerns...

FYI - I was implanted with the Freedom in March of '05.

1) Facial nerve paralysis - Possible because the facial nerve is so close to where they have to drill to put the electrode into the cochlea. Years ago this was a real concern as it happened sometimes. They use a facial nerve monitor which has really reduced this problem and typically if it does happen the paralysis is temporary. In rare cases, it happens. This is the one that I worried about the most of all of the negatives.

2) Given how they did my incision I had numbness in my ear (the top half). That was because the ear was pulled out of the way for the surgery. It took me about nine months to get full feeling back in my ear.

3) My sense of taste was messed up on the side of my implant. That was for similar reasons for facial nerve paralysis. They mentioned that would probably happen (it doesn't always happen). What I mean by messed up is that on that side things would taste metallic particularily with drinking fluids. That has more or less ceased to be a problem after about a year. Once in a while I can "taste" that metallic taste but it is slowly receeding.

4) Neecy mentioned that sometimes the electrode can irritate certain nerves nearby. Fortunately as she said, they can work around that. I never had any problem with that and from what I understand, it typically doesn't happen. I have heard that over time with healing the problem can go away.

5) Implants can fail and unfortunately it does happen. I understand the percentages are small and they can reimplant without side effects.

6) Most outcomes are fairly predictable (within a range of course) but there are always cases where it either doesn't do the expected (worst than expected) or the outcome is better than expected (I personally know a person this has happened to). The best outcomes are children (not all but many and the younger the better), late deafened and those like me who was HOH and could get by with HAs for listening to speech and speak well. Anybody who has never really heard or not developed understanding of speech or not speak a language is basically a crap shoot and sometimes motivation can overcome some of these drawbacks. In my case, they told me I would do well with one.

7) There may be issues with the cochlea itself that causes problems. That is hard to predict and that is why they do cat scans to try to see if any problems may exist. Unfortunately, there are limitations with cat scans as it doesn't catch everything.

(EDIT) Let me add another one...

8) A CI can cure one's tinnitus but sometimes it doesn't or makes it worst. In my case, my tinnitus went away.

I hope that is helpful for you...and others.

 

[gnulinuxman]

Now I can see. This is where you are coming from.

Your fiancee parents were dysfunctional, abusive and should have been reported to police. Don't compare her situation with normal parents who try the best for their child.


Fuzzy

I know this is :topic:... The police didn't believe any of it because the parents were such good liars (and two-faced). The police actually think the mom (the main abuser) is the sweetest old lady ever because she is such a good liar. Please see http://www.alldeaf.com/showthread.php?t=27799 for more info.

 

[gnulinuxman]

Now I can see. This is where you are coming from.

Your fiancee parents were dysfunctional, abusive and should have been reported to police. Don't compare her situation with normal parents who try the best for their child.


Fuzzy

I didn't. I merely am pointing out that some parents get the CI and/or force oralism for selfish reasons to people like Fragmenter who keeps saying parents who choose them all love their children.

 

[gnulinuxman]

OOOPs my bad , What does it matter though?
You say thousandS? do YOU have thousandS to spend, Gnulinux?

'cos I don't.

It would be easiest to let my child learn ASL and me doing nothing. Lipreading and writing the only way of communication.
It would be cheaper to learn ASL for me. Less work after implanting, and considering that CI does not make one 100% hearing, ASL would be still the most sure way of communication.

BUT HOW ABOUT REPLYING TO MY QUESTION GNU ????? instead of fixating on me missing one letter?

RELPLY! please: is spending thousandS easy? do you have it?

Fuzzy

No, I do not have it only because I am a college student. That isn't even the point.

Paying $1000's for something is easier for those who have the money than learning to sign because signing takes EFFORT, while paying the money doesn't take as much effort, especially if you have the money.

I'm serious. Some parents would rather pay money than learn to accomodate for their children. Some are more willing to pay a lot for a "quick fix" than to learn to accommodate for their children.

 

[neecy]

3) My sense of taste was messed up on the side of my implant. That was for similar reasons for facial nerve paralysis. They mentioned that would probably happen (it doesn't always happen). What I mean by messed up is that on that side things would taste metallic particularily with drinking fluids. That has more or less ceased to be a problem after about a year. Once in a while I can "taste" that metallic taste but it is slowly receeding.

I had forgotten about that one! I had the same thing happen - the rightmost third of my tongue was "tasteless" for about 8 months, and then the taste sensations slowly came back. Its back to normal now, though.