update on my 9.5-week old son - now has HA's

[LadySekhmet]

You know, sometimes I get sick of being labeled as HOH or Deaf or "functionally" HOH. To me I'm am D E A F. HOH means : You cannot hear. Functionally HOH means: You cannot hear. Deaf means: You cannot hear. What the hell is the difference? Although I can speak English fluently and sign fluently, I still label myself as deaf. Yes I enjoy listening to music and can follow the lyrics very well (Trust me, it comes with years of training). Sure, I can hear on the phone. But...I am STILL D E A F!

I suspect that the OP, Evan's Mom is ignoring this thread because she feels that she's being attacked. While it's true of certain situations of so MANY different deaf people and their experiences, I do wonder if Evan's Mom is not considering the open tool box, but it's her choice, and she and Evan will have to live with it.

Just because I have bilateral CIs doesn't mean I'm better than everyone else. Sure, I probably hear better than most deaf people, but who cares? Some Deaf People LOVE living in a silent world. Others don't. I know I don't.

It DOES suck that many deaf people have bad experiences growing up. Frankly, I didn't know ANYTHING about other deaf kids growing up because I thought I was just getting the education that I needed. I had a total communication environment. It wasn't until I was in College that I realized how VASTLY different of ways of people grew up. So, yes, it does suck sometimes.

 

[Cloggy]

That is where you are WRONG. Yes, CI is relatively new. HOWEVER there are deaf kids who were functionally hoh with hearing aids. Some of us post here. Heck there are THOUSANDS of audilogically hoh folks who grew up oral-only, and who may have experianced the downsides of oral only. The technology may have changed yes.....but the essengtial experiance hasn't. Heck, I'm only hoh (moderately severe loss) and I experianced the downsides of oral only.

All deaf and Deaf people here who grew up / were raised with CI - raise your hand...

 

[Cloggy]

No, not everyone with a CI is considered to be functionally HOH. Some receive no benefit, some receive limited benefit. Some are unable to perceive sound in the speech ranges.
......

"Many receive huge benefit..".. you accidentally/conveniently forgot that group of CI-users !

 

[Liebling:-)))]

Teach him sign language first then teach him to talk and lip read later. He needs to communicate with his parents first. Other wise he will be immature emotionally deaf adult alike me and others who were forced to learn to read lip without a language and communicate. good luck with your son's ci.

Yes I second that.

My hubby & I did not teach or force our both sons sign language but show them what we are... They did it themselves from look at us automatic.

 

[Cloggy]

........Have you ever accessed the website that allows you to hear what a person would hear with the various levels of losses? We had a discussion going about that some time ago. It is truly amazing how much is missed with even a mild loss.

Have you been at those websites where you can hear a simulation with different amount of electrodes. Amazing how clear it becomes with 16 electrodes. And that's before the brain starts to work with it.
Users of CI that heard before will tell you how they will recognise "old" sounds after some time.
Users of HA's will tell you that they hear a lot more sounds.

 

[jillio]

"Many receive huge benefit..".. you accidentally/conveniently forgot that group of CI-users !

And those that receive huge benefit would be those that fall into the category of functionally HOH. I was discussing those that do not fall into that category. I did not accidentally/conveniently forget anything.

 

[jillio]

Have you been at those websites where you can hear a simulation with different amount of electrodes. Amazing how clear it becomes with 16 electrodes. And that's before the brain starts to work with it.
Users of CI that heard before will tell you how they will recognise "old" sounds after some time.
Users of HA's will tell you that they hear a lot more sounds.

That is not the issue, Cloggy. The issue is that even if an implant allows the implantee to function at the level of a mild tto moderate loss range, there are still things that will be conspicuously absent from their ability to perceive the sound and discriminate that which they hear.

And users of HA will tell you the same thing...that having lost their hearing prelingually, will recognize "old" sounds afrer having trained themselves to use the HA.

Perhaps you believe it is acceptable for a child to receive less information academically and socially than their hearing peers for the sake of keeping them oral only. I personally don't find that acceptable. To you, how a child communicates is the most important thing. To me, that a child is able to communicate and comprehend the world around them at the same level as their hearing peers is the important thing. Perhaps you find language delays that have a negative affect the cognitive and social development of a child an acceptable price for that child to pay for an oral only environment. I don't find that acceptable.

I find it sad that you would discount the experience of visiting a website that would allow you to acutally experience first hand even a small portion of what your own child lives with, and will live with her entire life, in order to gain some understanding of how her experience differs from your own hearing experience. And that will give you just the example of what she is missing auditorily. Deaf members of this board have attempted to inform you regarding those things that you have not even considered that will affect in in profound ways, and you refuse to accept benefit of that wisdom, as well.

BTW...how many years language delayed is Lotte now?

 

[jillio]

All deaf and Deaf people here who grew up / were raised with CI - raise your hand...

You fail to recognize, cloggy, that HOH with CI and HOH with HA or HOH without any devise whatsoever is still HOH. .

 

[AlleyCat]

I supposed I could be called "functionally HOH" with my HAs because I do derive great benefit from them, but I've still always called myself deaf. Ultimately, whether people call themselves HOH or deaf (whether with CIs, HAs or nothing), the bottom line is still the same in my humble opinion -- having all available tools of communication at as early an age as possible is in the better interest for a deaf child.

 

[Cloggy]

.................
I find it sad that you would discount the experience of visiting a website that would allow you to acutally experience first hand even a small portion of what your own child lives with, and will live with her entire life, in order to gain some understanding of how her experience differs from your own hearing experience. And that will give you just the example of what she is missing auditorily. Deaf members of this board have attempted to inform you regarding those things that you have not even considered that will affect in in profound ways, and you refuse to accept benefit of that wisdom, as well.

Nothing is discounted.... nothing is refused. All is taken in consideration. Wrong assumption. As usual..
Lotte is deaf, she can hear. How many of these members have heard?

BTW...how many years language delayed is Lotte now?

1 to 1-1/2

 

[jillio]

I supposed I could be called "functionally HOH" with my HAs because I do derive great benefit from them, but I've still always called myself deaf. Ultimately, whether people call themselves HOH or deaf (whether with CIs, HAs or nothing), the bottom line is still the same in my humble opinion -- having all available tools of communication at as early an age as possible is in the better interest for a deaf child.

Exactly! I think the "functionally HOH" category is useful only in explaining to a hearing parent and others that fail to understand for whatever reason, that a devise does not make one hearing, and that accommodations are still required even with the use of a devise. I think it is the hearing that tend to categorize more so than those who are actually deaf.

 

[jillio]

Nothing is discounted.... nothing is refused. All is taken in consideration. Wrong assumption. As usual..
Lotte is deaf, she can hear. How many of these members have heard?
1 to 1-1/2

If you will bother to read their posts: many, many of these members have heard. Have they heard as a hearing person hears? No. And that is wherein the difference lies, and the need for accommodation is determined. Even though they hear, they still miss vital information that is presented auditorily. Therefore, asking them to rely on their hearing alone is asking them to function at a disadvantage.

 

[Cloggy]

 

[TheWGP]

If you will bother to read their posts...

You're very seriously off-putting. I pray that no parents come into contact with you - not because your ideas are so wrong, but because you could do real damage to a child's chances of growing up with the best opportunities available to them. Guess what? Someone who grows up with ONLY ASL often has very poor written language skills - they tend to "type sign" instead of type English. While that's fine for you, it's NOT fine for me! Perhaps you could compare this kind of language problem with those potentially faced by implanted children.

Further, you do have one good basic point - an implanted person does not always get every sound out of the environment that a hearing person would. However, guess what? ASL is not going to help that in the SLIGHTEST!

And trying to make personal insinuations about Lotte is simply uncalled for. The only answer in a situation like this is that there is no answer; each individual set of circumstances is different and various therapies and solutions may or may not be appropriate for different patients. Please, respect that! Just FYI, I won't be reading this post anymore - so you can flame me all you want

 

[AlleyCat]

Guess what? Someone who grows up with ONLY ASL often has very poor written language skills - they tend to "type sign" instead of type English. While that's fine for you, it's NOT fine for me! Perhaps you could compare this kind of language problem with those potentially faced by implanted children.

TheWGP, if you had read this thread from start to now, you would see that we (and I am deaf myself, WGP) are trying to advocate giving Evan ALL opportunities of communication, instead of cutting him short. In no post, unless I have missed it, have any of us said "ONLY ASL", we've been saying the opposite.

 

[loml]

You're very seriously off-putting. I pray that no parents come into contact with you - not because your ideas are so wrong, but because you could do real damage to a child's chances of growing up with the best opportunities available to them. Guess what? Someone who grows up with ONLY ASL often has very poor written language skills - they tend to "type sign" instead of type English. While that's fine for you, it's NOT fine for me! Perhaps you could compare this kind of language problem with those potentially faced by implanted children.

Further, you do have one good basic point - an implanted person does not always get every sound out of the environment that a hearing person would. However, guess what? ASL is not going to help that in the SLIGHTEST!

And trying to make personal insinuations about Lotte is simply uncalled for. The only answer in a situation like this is that there is no answer; each individual set of circumstances is different and various therapies and solutions may or may not be appropriate for different patients. Please, respect that! Just FYI, I won't be reading this post anymore - so you can flame me all you want

WGP - Good Posting!!

 

[loml]

The joys of one dimensional interaction.

TheWGP, if you had read this thread from start to now, you would see that we (and I am deaf myself, WGP) are trying to advocate giving Evan ALL opportunities of communication, instead of cutting him short. In no post, unless I have missed it, have any of us said "ONLY ASL", we've been saying the opposite.

AlleyCat - I do not read WGPs' post as claiming that this thread is suggesting ASL only, in fact I thought his opinion(s) was quite clear.

 

[jillio]

You're very seriously off-putting. I pray that no parents come into contact with you - not because your ideas are so wrong, but because you could do real damage to a child's chances of growing up with the best opportunities available to them. Guess what? Someone who grows up with ONLY ASL often has very poor written language skills - they tend to "type sign" instead of type English. While that's fine for you, it's NOT fine for me! Perhaps you could compare this kind of language problem with those potentially faced by implanted children.

You need to familiarize yourself with my position before you start jumping to incorrect conclusions. NO WHERE have I ever recommended an ASL only environment. I am a proponent of the Bi-Bi environment. And that type of problem is exactly the problem faced by implanted children restricted to oral only environments.

Further, you do have one good basic point - an implanted person does not always get every sound out of the environment that a hearing person would. However, guess what? ASL is not going to help that in the SLIGHTEST!

ASL provides a visual reference for that which cannot be perceived auditorily. So, you are entirely incorrect in this assumption.

And trying to make personal insinuations about Lotte is simply uncalled for. The only answer in a situation like this is that there is no answer; each individual set of circumstances is different and various therapies and solutions may or may not be appropriate for different patients. Please, respect that! Just FYI, I won't be reading this post anymore - so you can flame me all you want

I wasn't insulting anyone. I was illustrating the point that CI implanted children in oral only environments continue to experience langauge dealys that interfere with cognitive development and educational achievement. This is something that any parent who is considering implanting a child and restricting them to an oral only environment needs to know. To fail to provide that information is to prevent them making a fully informed choice.

 

[jillio]

TheWGP, if you had read this thread from start to now, you would see that we (and I am deaf myself, WGP) are trying to advocate giving Evan ALL opportunities of communication, instead of cutting him short. In no post, unless I have missed it, have any of us said "ONLY ASL", we've been saying the opposite.

Exactly!

 

[jillio]

WGP - Good Posting!!

And you as well should go back and familiarize yourself with the posts. Obviously, you are functioning under the same misconceptions that WGP is.