To Implant or Not to Implant??

stormpraiser91

stormpraiser91

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Hi, everyone! First of all, I want to say a huge "thank you" for being willing to answer all of my questions about Deafness and Deaf culture. I appreciate it so much.

For the next few weeks, I will be working on a research paper where I have to argue for or against some controversial issue. I have chosen to write about cochlear implantation of Deaf babies. I need some help with this topic. Although I have done a lot of research on this topic, I obviously don't have any personal experience since I'm hearing.

If you could help me answer some questions (different opinions and views are welcome, just whatever you think/feel about the issue), that would be awesome. The more answers I get, the better. You can answer just a few of the questions or all of them. Also, make sure you specify whether you are Deaf or hearing, and if you are Deaf, do you have a cochlear implant or not?

Here are the basic questions I am trying to answer:

1. How medically safe is cochlear implantation?

2. In what ways are a person's life changed once they are implanted?

3. Does being implanted affect whether a person is considered culturally Deaf or culturally hearing?

4. What arguments exist IN FAVOR of giving cochlear implants to infants?

5. What arguments exist AGAINST giving cochlear implants to infants?

Thanks so much!!!!
 
Use the search feature. You will find all the info you need.
 
#5 - they have no choice. Is permanent change they should make themselves someday.
 
Protip: look for topics with a little
thread_hot_lock.gif
next to them in the Hearing Aid/Cochlear Implants section here.

You'll find all the opinions, arguments, stances, linked documents you need for a paper. :giggle:
 
Wirelessly posted

first of all, Deaf is a cultural identification, so babies are born deaf, not Deaf.

second, you might want to seek some sources that are positive toward childhood implantation, including people who were implanted in childhood. There aren't very many people here who fit that discription.

i am a hearing parent of a child with two implants.
 
Pretty much answered in many threads in this section as well as in my sig and my previous posting.

Research is a bitch huh?

(and im the one of the few babys to be implanted when they allowed infant implant)
I dont really socialize with the deaf people too much so does that make me not too much into the deaf culture? Idk.

faire_jour said:
Wirelessly posted

first of all, Deaf is a cultural identification, so babies are born deaf, not Deaf.

second, you might want to seek some sources that are positive toward childhood implantation, including people who were implanted in childhood. There aren't very many people here who fit that discription.

i am a hearing parent of a child with two implants.
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Dude im deaf but I STILL DONT KNOW the difference between "deaf" and "Deaf"? Its either youre freaking deaf or hoh. I'm actually getting sick of people saying theyre deaf when theyre actually Hoh.
 
faire_jour said:
Wirelessly posted

first of all, Deaf is a cultural identification, so babies are born deaf, not Deaf.

second, you might want to seek some sources that are positive toward childhood implantation, including people who were implanted in childhood. There aren't very many people here who fit that discription.

i am a hearing parent of a child with two implants.
Click to expand...

Why? So he gets biased information that says all kids with implants can hear like hearing kids, and it is the only way to manage childhood deafness? So he can have parents tell him what their biased, audist observations are? Did you read the research that your buddy Cloggy posted? Overestimation is rampant in partental report. Nice try.
 
bbaseballboy123 said:
Pretty much answered in many threads in this section as well as in my sig and my previous posting.

Research is a bitch huh?

(and im the one of the few babys to be implanted when they allowed infant implant)
I dont really socialize with the deaf people too much so does that make me not too much into the deaf culture? Idk.


Dude im deaf but I STILL DONT KNOW the difference between "deaf" and "Deaf"? Its either youre freaking deaf or hoh. I'm actually getting sick of people saying theyre deaf when theyre actually Hoh.
Click to expand...



Deaf, culturally Deaf (strongly involved in Deaf culture, etc.).
deaf, medical impairment basically.
 
bbaseballboy123 said:
Pretty much answered in many threads in this section as well as in my sig and my previous posting.

Research is a bitch huh?

(and im the one of the few babys to be implanted when they allowed infant implant)
I dont really socialize with the deaf people too much so does that make me not too much into the deaf culture? Idk.


Dude im deaf but I STILL DONT KNOW the difference between "deaf" and "Deaf"? Its either youre freaking deaf or hoh. I'm actually getting sick of people saying theyre deaf when theyre actually Hoh.
Click to expand...
Why are you sick of people saying they're deaf? Why do you want them to identify as HOH? Is it because it goes against your beliefs?
 
Wirelessly posted

jillio said:
faire_jour said:
Wirelessly posted

first of all, Deaf is a cultural identification, so babies are born deaf, not Deaf.

second, you might want to seek some sources that are positive toward childhood implantation, including people who were implanted in childhood. There aren't very many people here who fit that discription.

i am a hearing parent of a child with two implants.
Click to expand...

Why? So he gets biased information that says all kids with implants can hear like hearing kids, and it is the only way to manage childhood deafness? So he can have parents tell him what their biased, audist observations are? Did you read the research that your buddy Cloggy posted? Overestimation is rampant in partental report. Nice try.
Click to expand...

i didn't say talk to parents, i said talk to people implanted in childhood.
 
bbaseballboy123 said:
Pretty much answered in many threads in this section as well as in my sig and my previous posting.

Research is a bitch huh?

(and im the one of the few babys to be implanted when they allowed infant implant)
I dont really socialize with the deaf people too much so does that make me not too much into the deaf culture? Idk.


Dude im deaf but I STILL DONT KNOW the difference between "deaf" and "Deaf"? Its either youre freaking deaf or hoh. I'm actually getting sick of people saying theyre deaf when theyre actually Hoh.
Click to expand...

cdmeggers said:
Deaf, culturally Deaf (strongly involved in Deaf culture, etc.).
deaf, medical impairment basically.
Click to expand...

Im glad that you share your thoughts about it since you were born deaf but had implanted when you were baby. I want to see whats your view on it.

FOr me, i am Deaf because i am very involved with Deaf community, such as friends, organization, work with deaf services and ASL user. You know you are not the first person to say that and so are others. I do want to know why. Like cdemggers mentioned whats the difference between D and d. So I don't consider myself as a medical impairment so i consider myself as a D as who I am.
 
bbaseballboy123 said:
Pretty much answered in many threads in this section as well as in my sig and my previous posting.

Research is a bitch huh?

(and im the one of the few babys to be implanted when they allowed infant implant)
I dont really socialize with the deaf people too much so does that make me not too much into the deaf culture? Idk.


Dude im deaf but I STILL DONT KNOW the difference between "deaf" and "Deaf"? Its either youre freaking deaf or hoh. I'm actually getting sick of people saying theyre deaf when theyre actually Hoh.
Click to expand...

It is the state of mind. Jillio is Deaf eventhough she is hearing cuz she gets it. She knows that the deaf kids need ASL early to be on the par with hearing kids. You, however, are deaf eventhough you were born deaf. It is all in the state of mind.
 
stormpraiser91:

This is an extremely controversial and volatile topic that has been discussed here many times, and any attempt to answer your list of questions would likely result in another lengthy thread full of heated arguments and raw emotions, so you'll have to understand if folks here seem reluctant to provide information.

The following thread should tell you everything you want to know:

http://www.alldeaf.com/hearing-aids-cochlear-implants/93229-cochlear-decison.html

There's a lot of fighting and bickering to weed through, but there's also a lot of good information that will make it worth your time.
 
Hello! As others have mentioned, you'll find some good and some bad information and a similar range of opinion on the issue here. I'm hearing, my daughter is Deaf and has 2 CIs. I'm a parent who has researched the subject extensively and made the decision, but I'm not a CI user. As FJ says, you can get the scoop directly from CI users who were implanted as children: the first pioneers who were implanted even before full FDA approval are of college age. And you'll find those with later generations of CIs who are now freshmen in college, or in their last few years of high school, willing to discuss their varied experiences. Jillio suggested Rachel: she's a great choice and can talk about CIs from the perspective of someone who is not only extremely knowledgable about her CIs, but has had a device failure and an explant. You can find her account (and contact info) as well as the stories and video interviews submitted by something like 60 (or more) young CI recipients at this site.

1. How medically safe is cochlear implantation?
If you want facts, visit the FDA for the US as well as the MAUDE database which tracks medical devices using the search term implant, cochlear and then setting the time and event drop-downs to tailor your results. You'll see that medical reports are generated here for any medical issue (e.g., renal failure, death by car accident ) for any person who has a CI, that's required by law, even if the CI hasn't anything to do with the issue, and an individual's situation may appear multiple times if he has had several visits to resolve an issue, so there's a lot of manual clean-up you have to do to general true CI-generated issues.

You can also visit the 3 CI manufacturers sites: they are required by law to provide audited statistics and full disclosure on risks -- the info they provide is very comprehensive. Probably overkill for your purposes, but if you were actually considering a CI for yourself or your child, I'd also suggest you request and check the statistics of your hospital and your surgeon, as well, as we did.

If you want opinions about safety, I think you'll find MANY :) . My perspective is that if you do your homework and select an experienced surgeon at an excellent hospital, both with a stellar history of success, it's an extremely low-risk surgery. I know that I take far more risk with my child's safety every day when I place her in the car, when I send her to school amongst germ-laden kids and an environment designed to foster transmission of nasty things, when I put vegetables from the store in her lunchbox, when go for a swim, and so on. None of these activities are necessary for her to live a full life. But they are all part of what makes up the unique nature and quality of her life, how she interacts with others, how she interacts with her environment in general.

2. In what ways are a person's life changed once they are implanted?
Varies by individual, so I'll speak only for my 5YO's situation: once implanted (and activated) she had immediate access to sound and within a couple of months was tested at the measured level of a typical hearing child, including access to all speech sounds, which she did not previously have with her level of profound hearing loss. With one CI, as you might imagine, she heard a bit like those who have single sided-deafness do: great in a booth, but with some difficulty in real life noisy environments. After getting her second CI, there was a world of difference in her everyday listening experience, her incidental hearing, acquisition of language , and desire to have the CIs on from the moment she wakes up until after she falls asleep has increased tremendously with two. With the access to sound she now has, she has developed age-appropriate English language skills without the need for any extracurricular speech therapy all while being immersed in an ASL environment at a deaf school for the past 4 years -- she's acquired English through the same means a typically hearing child might learn the language, incidentally and through everyday exposure. I wouldn't want to speculate on what other activities she enjoys in her life have been driven by getting CIs -- in some cases, we may have found other means to an end, or selected different activities.

3. Does being implanted affect whether a person is considered culturally Deaf or culturally hearing?
Depends on who you ask.
Being born into a Deaf family can affect whether a person is considered culturally Deaf. At my daughter's school, the children have Deaf Studies classes, and the distinctions are made very clear to them, in an age-appropriate way. Their pride in being Deaf is encouraged, and because my daughter's primary language was ASL, she is a 'native' user, socializes among other Deaf adults and children, amidst Deaf of Deaf families, and has been at a very 'activist' school for the deaf for years, her Deaf teachers consider her to be Deaf without question and support her own sense of "Deafness." Regardless of her CI. But, here on AD I've been told that my profoundly deaf daughter can not be considered Deaf until she is an adult.

4. What arguments exist IN FAVOR of giving cochlear implants to infants?
5. What arguments exist AGAINST giving cochlear implants to infants?

It's a very individual decision to make. Depends so much on the child himself, then the family, and then the environment in which he'll be interacting and the resources available.

So again, I can only include some of the issues we weighed in our decision -- it was a pretty complex process of decision-making, so I'll try to distill it to just the two most important issues, pro and con:

Pro: Access to sound during the critical early window of language development -- specifically, full access to speech sounds, providing the ability to acquire spoken languages naturally

Con: Surgery



Good luck!
 
GrendelQ said:
But, here on AD I've been told that my profoundly deaf daughter can not be considered Deaf until she is an adult.
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It's up to her when she decides to do what her life is going to be involved with deaf community when she gets older and it's her decision of her own point of view on being Deaf or not.
 
Frisky Feline said:
It's up to her when she decides to do what her life is going to be involved with deaf community when she gets older and it's her decision of her own point of view on being Deaf or not.
Click to expand...

Yep. She doesn't have to be an adult to make that decision, but she does have to be old enough to understand it.
 
stormpraiser91 said:
How old would you say that is? 10? 12? 16?
Click to expand...

Old enough to understand the implications of a cultural affiliation. Certainly not 10 or 12. Definately not 5 or 6. Developmentally impossible except in the case of a genuis level IQ and maturity.
 
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