CI question - Please help

What age is appropriate for a child to decide on a Cochlear Implant

  • 1 year old

    Votes: 12 30.0%

  • 2 years old

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • 3 years old

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • 4 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 5 years old

    Votes: 2 5.0%

  • 6 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 7 years old

    Votes: 6 15.0%

  • 8 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 9 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 10 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 11 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 12 years old

    Votes: 2 5.0%

  • 13 years old

    Votes: 1 2.5%

  • 14 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 15 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 16 years old

    Votes: 3 7.5%

  • 17 years old

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 18 years old

    Votes: 12 30.0%
  • Total voters
    40
Cloggy said:
However.... language aquisation skills (speech/hearing) would have been deteriorated....
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Could be true but we don't know that for sure, if we are speaking of ALL children here...
 
Liebling:-))) said:
I has to honest with you that the young children will not MISS the sounds when they have CI.

I have seen a lot of Germans speak real good with HA. My hubby is one of them. A friend of mine wear HA when she was 6 months old. She speak like HOH and can phone to their parents.
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Liebling - I've read quite a few of your posts on here and I think that you misunderstand a lot of the facts of CIs. I hope you don't mind if I give you some facts so that your mind can be put at rest to some degree.

1. Deaf people do not all have the same hearing loss. Some people are only a little deaf whereas some people are completely deaf. The people that you've seen do well with hearing aids are likely to have smaller hearing losses.

2. CIs are not for people who have smaller hearing losses and/or do well with hearing aids. Someone who can use the telephone with hearing aids would be refused for a CI in my country. Nearly all people who go for a CI usually try out hearing aids first to see if they will work for them. You don't just decide to put a CI on any deaf child - every person has to do a number of tests with their hearing aids to see if they comprehend speech.

2. Not all deaf people can use hearing aids - hearing aids need some undamaged cochlear hair nerves to work and some people have too damaged or no hair nerves inside the cochlear. Such deaf people are completely or almost completely deaf and hearing aids would be useless or not very good for them.

So in this situation we are talking about people who are almost completely deaf having to wait until they are older before they can get a CI. We are not talking about people who can benefit well from hearing aids because in most countries health insurance and governments will not pay for such people to get a CI.
 
Cloggy said:
It's funny how we interpret things...
I interpreted the question as "the parents decision at what age the child to be operated"
You interpreted it - correctly - as "the child to decide"...

From your point of view, I would say 7 to 12... depending on the childs ability to make such a decision - and that would be up to the parents to decide if the child is mature enough.

However.... language aquisation skills (speech/hearing) would have been deteriorated....
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Not really..I am profoundly deaf in both ears and never got a CI but I can speak and lipread very well.

Language aquistation skills wont deteriorate if the child is exposed to sign language too.

I voted 18 cuz the child will be a legal adult and can make the decision. If the child is younger than 18 and shows an interest in getting a CI, then I may reconsider.
 
I voted 18

18 = legal age

0 - 17 = minor; require parent decision.

actually 0 to 13 = parent decision alone.
13-17 with parent guidance if child that age decide to want one, parent will have to be involved in making sure the decision is sound.

attention
9 - 12 = preteen
13-17 = teenager
18 - 25 = young adult
and so on...

(someone said that 12 is when preteen starts... nope.. and 13 is when you become teenager! )
Human development & - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
oops, I forgot to vote. I got to thinking about this and I don't condone a childs choice. I just don't think at the early stages of their life where (allegedly) the CI has the most benefit, the child has the ability to make such a profound decision. Having said that, If I were to vote on when a child has enough knowledge and reasoning ability to make such a decision I would say 18. More on that to come!
 
Another important point I just realized after posting in another thread is; the child up to a certian age will be highly influenced by his or her parents. Depending on the parent being pro or against any given method will easly sway the child towards their (the parents) beliefs. The discussion between the parent and child on the choice would only be fair if the parent were completly objective and only presented the child with the known facts and statistics from both sides. How old would your child have to be before you can honestly feel confident they have comprehended the information and are able to make a sound decision based on the facts presented?
 
WOW.. there are actually 5 votes for letting a child decide at 1 year old. Does anyone honestly believe a 1 year old child has the capacity to make such a decision?
 
I wish you will clump some ages in groups... I choose 16 because that is the youngest age I will think is allowed to make their own choice.

In general, I think 16 to 18 is the youngest age group you can be allowed to go through the candidancy process (this will have the doctors deciding the emotional maturity) of your own choice.

Age 1 to 10-- the choice is always made by parents so it is just wrong because it is THEIR bodies, THEIR lives that they gotta deal with YOUR choice. Don't impose your dreams/life on them. I don't approve of this.

I will only approve this WHEN the doctors do give you the FULL SPECTRUM of options rather than pressuring the parents to do a CI to "save the child".
ANd that day won't come, unfortunately.
 
Honesty would be the key to the integrety of this and other informational threads. I guess that's why you take information found on the internet with a grain of salt.
 
rockdrummer said:
WOW.. there are actually 5 votes for letting a child decide at 1 year old. Does anyone honestly believe a 1 year old child has the capacity to make such a decision?
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of course not - those of us (I am assuming) who voted for 1 year are showing that we expect that the parents would make the choice which is in the child's best interest, from our perspective. Since this option is available, that's why I chose it!
 
I am not going to vote in this poll as the age at which I would want a child to have/get a CI is such that it'd be impossible for that child to render the decision.
 
Tousi said:
I am not going to vote in this poll as the age at which I would want a child to have/get a CI is such that it'd be impossible for that child to render the decision.
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Tousi, thanks for the input but for the life of me I can't figure out what you mean. Unless you are saying never. :dunno: Care to elaborate if you don't mind.

Thanks!!!
 
gnarlydorkette said:
........................
Age 1 to 10-- the choice is always made by parents so it is just wrong because it is THEIR bodies, THEIR lives that they gotta deal with YOUR choice. Don't impose your dreams/life on them. .......QUOTE]

First of all, I can agree the body is theirs... except that as an adult, YOU are responsible for what is being done. Not interfering is also interfering...

Second.... "Don't impose your dreams/life on them."..... That goes both ways... because...
Isn't that what deaf people are doing when they deny their child CI?
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Cloggy said:
gnarlydorkette said:
........................
Age 1 to 10-- the choice is always made by parents so it is just wrong because it is THEIR bodies, THEIR lives that they gotta deal with YOUR choice. Don't impose your dreams/life on them. .......QUOTE]

First of all, I can agree the body is theirs... except that as an adult, YOU are responsible for what is being done. Not interfering is also interfering...

Second.... "Don't impose your dreams/life on them."..... That goes both ways... because...
Isn't that what deaf people are doing when they deny their child CI?
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Good point. To decide against a CI is also making a choice for your child. As parents we are responsible for our children and their well being and to make choices that are in their best interest becuase they don't have the capacity to understand what is in their best interest. Especially when that are very young.
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rockdrummer said:
Cloggy said:
Good point. To decide against a CI is also making a choice for your child. As parents we are responsible for our children and their well being and to make choices that are in their best interest becuase they don't have the capacity to understand what is in their best interest. Especially when that are very young.
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To reiterate, everybody forgets that not doing something can be as bad as doing something. For some kids, getting a CI is a great choice while for others it isn't. There are no easy answers for this dilemma... To make this point more stark and clear, if one as a parent denies a kid a CI and the kid could use a CI and be "like" the hearing, the parent is no better than the one who put a CI on a kid and it didn't work. Hobson's choice...
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Depends on the child. Some children at the age of 12 are capable of understanding the implications, others not until they are older. But--I still believe that a child should be a very active and integral part of the decision to implant or not implant. What they want, and how they choose to live with their deafness should be of the utmost concern--not what anyone else wants for them. Same reason I don't agree with practices like arranged marraiges.
 
According to the Catholic Church

Children could receive the sacrament of Confirmation at age 7. Children could start to reason at that time.
 
rockdrummer said:
Tousi, thanks for the input but for the life of me I can't figure out what you mean. Unless you are saying never. :dunno: Care to elaborate if you don't mind.

Thanks!!!
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Sorry, RD; just put my sentiment alongside Neecy's.
 
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