Parents' Opinion On Hearing Aids & CI

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Angel

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One of the biggest question is what would parents choose for their deaf or hard of hearing child ( ren ) since both hearing aids and cochlear implants are designed to help lessen the hearing loss, some parents prefer to wait to implant their child with cochlear implants at a later age while many other parents prefer to implant their child at the earliest age possible, so I would like to ask each of you which one would you choose as a parent and why, Bear this in mind, I'm not creating this thread just so others can jump on the views of how they see or would choose, so please I beg you all to respect for however they see it...

Thank you! :applause:
 
I hate to see people choosing a CI in desperation without considering all of the options, it's more like an easy way out, a child is not good enough with hearing aids or good enough for being who he/she is. We don't know who's right for a CI and who isn't. For me as a parent, I would seek in other options beside CI, which meaning hearing aids, Cued Speech in the spoken language, verbal skills, ASL. I do know it takes a lot of patience, and I do have it. If it doesn't work for a period of time which years, I would consider getting CI, for my child, but I would discuss this with my child too, if she/he wanted it. I do believe as a parent for myself would want my child to be participle in any change decision made. ;)

Don't bash me, This is my opinion. Thank-you. ;)
 
Heyy sis , welcome back :hug:, btw I love your signature, cute....

Forgive me for the off-topic here :whistle: ...


Thank you sis for sharing your view here :cheers:
 
when you consider that the first 6 years of a child's life are the formative years, and learning a language when they are older than that is exponentially more difficult, if I had a deaf child I would make the choice to implant them early enough to ensure they were able to develop an understanding of speech and english language *in addition* to SEE/ASL. I'd also make sure they had the opportunity to socialize with other deaf children, thus giving them the tools to be successful in both the hearing and deaf societies :)

If after they grew up they chose to not use the CI that would be their right, but I feel that parents have the right to give their children the best tools available, and realize that children are NOT mature enough to make those kinds of decisions for themselves.
 
My opinion is the same as Cheri.

I respect every parents´s decision what they wants with their children when I have different view as them but I would suggest the parents who plan to implant their babies with CI to wait bit and search more and go to deaf school, meet deaf cultures, etc. until they are 100% sure then.........
 
Mine is a mix........Unless my child had auditory nereopathy, I would wait until they were a little older to be implanted. That's b/c I don't trust technology, giving us an accurate picture of a baby's hearing. I've heard of kids being dx as having "deaf" losses, on ABR and then they were found to have hoh losses on more traditional autotremy tests. For my child CI would be the absolute last resort.....only if they had REALLY REALLY bad losses....If I did have to implant them, then I'd make sure it was before their third birthday, so they could still benifit, but still make sure they had the correct loss.
 
My view here, If my girls were profoundly deaf? I wouldn't because I am comfortable with the Deaf community and I am comfortable allowing them to communicate using just ASL. I know my Hub would struggle, because he has read up on CI and he says that he would do it in a heartbeat. He even suggested at some point they may qualify for it. I just shrug my shoulders...I know that they have a loss that allows hearing aids to work for them and they wouldn't be a canditate for CI. Bur IF they were...I would say no I wouldn't implant them. Just as myself, I wouldn't want to be implanted.
 
I would discuss this issue with my wife and we would make a decision together.. I would never act as if I were a single.. being parents require to make decisions together :)

Personally I don't have any opinion about CIs now.. In the near past , I thought CI would be best choice but I'm thinking of the same way currently... deaf world has its own beauties for sure. I'm not a parent right now,either.. maybe later :)
 
I'm sorry I have made a big english mistake.. I corrected my wrong sentence and rewrite the right one in bold letters. :Oops:

ecevit said:
I would discuss this issue with my wife and we would make a decision together.. I would never act as if I were a single.. being parents require to make decisions together :)

Personally I don't have any opinion about CIs now.. In the near past , I thought CI would be best choice but I'm not thinking of the same way currently... deaf world has its own beauties for sure. I'm not a parent right now,either.. maybe later :)
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Be aware that there is often not a choice between HA or CI.
At first a HA will be tried. If this doen not help, then, ONLY THEN, CI is an option, and only then the question will be CI or deaf.

A lot depends on the connection with deafness.
We had none. Everyone around us is hearing; family, friends, and 98% of the rest of the world. This is a strong motivation - NOT the only one - to have a child that can hear. NOT for us, because we can learn sign and help her with growing up deaf, but FOR HER.

Living with sound makes one wish for the child that it can also enjoy it. Sure there are nasty sounds (often used as arguments why it is so wonderful to hear nothing) but there is far more beautiful sounds.

That, communication with non-signers, learning Dutch, Norwegian, English, German and sign and other reasons made us choose CI after it was clear that HA's did not benefit her.
 
There is definitely no easy choice. On one hand there is plenty of deaf pple who without CI and HA do get thru life pretty well.

Then there is this crucial period of langauge devlopment 0-3 years and some 0-6 years that if once ignored then that's it- if you don't implant at this age then the succes of CI will never be the same. Might not be the same. Most likely will not be the same- ever.

It is hard to choose.

Fuzzy
 
My daughter is 3 months old and hopefully getting the hearing aids next week. We will see how she does with them. If within the next few months we find the hearing aids are not helping, then we are going to look into the implant when she turns 1. I don't want to wait too long because we don't want her speech delayed too much. I am hoping there isn't a decision to make, and the hearing aids help her to hear something. She has a profound hearing loss.
 
Be aware that there is often not a choice between HA or CI.
At first a HA will be tried. If this doen not help, then, ONLY THEN, CI is an option, and only then the question will be CI or deaf.
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NOT in America!!!! There's a small percentage of deaf kids who have no benifit from aids, but many decisions to implant are based on a "LATEST GREATEST technology mentality!".....

2kids1hoh, I think your child might do OK, as long as she's gotten correct intervention before kindergarten/toddler age. I know that the pressure to implant early is really extreme, but I really do think that most of the oral sucesses may have more to do with family style (eg they were raised in a family that really promoted hyperprogramming) then it does with equipment used or type of therapy or whatever.
 
2kids1hoh said:
My daughter is 3 months old and hopefully getting the hearing aids next week. We will see how she does with them. If within the next few months we find the hearing aids are not helping, then we are going to look into the implant when she turns 1. I don't want to wait too long because we don't want her speech delayed too much. I am hoping there isn't a decision to make, and the hearing aids help her to hear something. She has a profound hearing loss.
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2kids1hoh-

I was born profoundly deaf. I wore two hearing aids all in my life. I remembered very well that when I wore hearing aids when I was like 2 years old, I didn't remember the sounds and I didn't understand the sounds - of course, I was way too young to understand it. But when I became older like 6, 7, 8 years old and so forth, I understood the sounds. I had speech tutor all the times. Everyone was really shocked how very well my speech skill is because I'm profoundly deaf. I never had the CI. Now, I'm married and have two hearing kids. My husband is deaf, too.

So, don't go too rush for CI when your child turns one year old because of my experiences. Having a CI is a very invasive procedure and can hurt their identity. So, my best advice is to wait for your child to get older and you can ask your child and what your child thinks of the CI. CI is a very big serious step because of the risks. Take your time and think about it very seriously....

Hearing aids are the best solution for all young children. Many parents say that the hearing aids don't work for their children. Look at me....I remembered very well that I wore two hearing aids when I was 2 years old and I still did not remember the sounds. Until I got older, I finally realized that this is the sounds and I started to pick it up well. Now, I am an adult and a mom and my speech is excellent, I interact with hearing people very well, etc BUT of course, I still do get the feeling of left out when I am in a large group.

I hope my experiences give you a better understanding and good feedback rather than assuming and deciding to implant your child a lot sooner than later.

My husband and I are very successful in our life in many ways. My husband has a great job. He works at a great reputation pharmacetuical company - Principal Statisician for the clinical trials for the FDA. My husband is the boss and there are 10 Programmer Statisicians who work for my husband. He calls everyone to meet him for the meetings - a few times a week. He has his own interpreter that the company pays to the interpreter. He is also profoundly deaf since birth and he doesn't have a CI. His speech skill is pretty good. So, that's why CI doesn't mean that CI is the answer for successful in many ways.

Don't go too rush....take your time....think very carefully because it's their life. Some kids are angry at their parents for implanting them. The kids made their parents' heartwrenching. So, CI is very tough to make the decision. Hearing aids are a lot easier than CI. That's my opinion.

Hope it helps. Good luck!
 
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2kids1hoh said:
My daughter is 3 months old and hopefully getting the hearing aids next week. We will see how she does with them. If within the next few months we find the hearing aids are not helping, then we are going to look into the implant when she turns 1. I don't want to wait too long because we don't want her speech delayed too much. I am hoping there isn't a decision to make, and the hearing aids help her to hear something. She has a profound hearing loss.
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We were in the same situation even though our daughter was ¾ years old when it was confirmed. We applied for the CI while trying HA's since that would reduce the waiting time. If she had heared enough with HA's we would have stopped the CI application.
 
So, don't go too rush for CI when your child turns one year old because of my experiences.
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I thought you DON'T have CI??

when I was like 2 years old, I didn't remember the sounds and I didn't understand the sounds - of course, I was way too young to understand it. But when I became older like 6, 7, 8 years old and so forth, I understood the sounds.
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Well with CI the child may understand sound much much sooner, and easier..

Also, as I myself have HAs since being 12 years old, if i could have CI back then I would switch them in an eyeblink- HA definitely was NOT enough for me. I struggled my whole life with HAs in hearing community, I failed high school because of too poor a hearing with HAs.

And keep in mind that the best chances of hearing relatively well from CI are until 3 years old. After that it won't ever be as good. Unless it is late deafness.

Fuzzy
 
Momoftwo said:
2kids1hoh-

So, don't go too rush for CI when your child turns one year old because of my experiences. Having a CI is a very invasive procedure and can hurt their identity. So, my best advice is to wait for your child to get older and you can ask your child and what your child thinks of the CI. CI is a very big serious step because of the risks. Take your time and think about it very seriously....

Hearing aids are the best solution for all young children. Many parents say that the hearing aids don't work for their children. Look at me....I remembered very well that I wore two hearing aids when I was 2 years old and I still did not remember the sounds. Until I got older, I finally realized that this is the sounds and I started to pick it up well. Now, I am an adult and a mom and my speech is excellent, I interact with hearing people very well, etc BUT of course, I still do get the feeling of left out when I am in a large group.

I hope my experiences give you a better understanding and good feedback rather than assuming and deciding to implant your child a lot sooner than later.
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Why do CI's hurt deaf identity but hearing aids don't? A child is still deaf either way! Why are those who can benefit from hearing aids allowed to have them young but those who cannot benefit from hearing aids must wait until they are adults before they can have a CI? If some children are going to have access to technology to help them hear it's only fair that they all should.

I feel that those who are against both hearing aids and CIs are more consistent.

Also for the sake of 2kids1hoh all the scientific studies that have been conducted in this area have shown that the earlier a child is exposed to sounds the better they do with it. I can tell you from my own personal experience is that I got a hearing aid in one year at the age of 2.5 years and a hearing aid in the other ear not until the age of 10. Guess which one is the better ear? And the better ear has a bigger hearing loss than the one that didn't get a hearing aid until the age of 10!
 
R2D2 said:
................
Also for the sake of 2kids1hoh all the scientific studies that have been conducted in this area have shown that the earlier a child is exposed to sounds the better they do with it. I can tell you from my own personal experience is that I got a hearing aid in one year at the age of 2.5 years and a hearing aid in the other ear not until the age of 10. Guess which one is the better ear? And the better ear has a bigger hearing loss than the one that didn't get a hearing aid until the age of 10!
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I have the living proof right here with me. Here she is!
 
Why are those who can benefit from hearing aids allowed to have them young but those who cannot benefit from hearing aids must wait until they are adults before they can have a CI? If some children are going to have access to technology to help them hear it's only fair that they all should.



Also for the sake of 2kids1hoh all the scientific studies that have been conducted in this area have shown that the earlier a child is exposed to sounds the better they do with it.
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I reconize the benifits of early implantation....nothing wrong with that....I'm just telling 2kids1hoh, that the benifit of REALLY early implantation might be negliable. After all, MANY of us here didn't get aided until we were toddlers/preschoolers. Make sense now?
 
To the people who addressed me.. thanks for the advice. I definelty will consider everything you said. I will let you know how she makes out with the hearing aids.
 
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