CI's for under 1 ???

[Cloggy]

......... Some of my family members still think because I can speak so well therefore I can hear just as well with my HA and they get frustrated with me for not understanding what they were saying therefore, I get frustrated and it becomes a cycle. If people like them could just accept that no matter what, deaf people cant be fixed and try to learn some sign language too (dont have to be 100% fluent) or at least accept ASL as a language then maybe more people can be accepting of CI's as a tool rather than as a "cure".

I agree with your post regarding deafness and hard of hearing. But the situation with CI is very different and I feel that in many cases a CI it cannot be compared to a HA. Other members that have used a HA and now use CI here will be able to expand on that more.

But to give a personal example;
my daughter (bi-lateral CI) is able to whisper. She understands what we say when we whisper and is able to whisper back. (Without lipreading..) This example shows that CI is not an extension of a HA, but a new way of experiencing sound.

 

[Ephesians2_8]

I still can't understand whisper, but it is still better than my HA because now I can hear whisper sounds when I couldn't with HA. But I still can't understand what the person is saying in a whisper. Maybe I will as I get more mapping. As each child, they have different range of hearing loss, thats why one should never assume that CI is cure. Every child with CI have a some sort of hearing weakness. The most common is distinishing where the sound is coming from (if it far away, behind them, close to them) You will noticed that your child have to look at you to know it is you that is talking instead of someone else.

 

[Cloggy]

I still can't understand whisper, but it is still better than my HA because now I can hear whisper sounds when I couldn't with HA. But I still can't understand what the person is saying in a whisper. Maybe I will as I get more mapping. As each child, they have different range of hearing loss, thats why one should never assume that CI is cure. Every child with CI have a some sort of hearing weakness. The most common is distinishing where the sound is coming from (if it far away, behind them, close to them) You will noticed that your child have to look at you to know it is you that is talking instead of someone else.

My daughter has bi-lateral Ci, so perception where sound comes from is not a problem. We noticed the difference when one of the CI's had been broken, and she could only use 1. Sound location was gone, as was understanding speech in noisy environment.

 

[Ephesians2_8]

hmmm, I wonder if my insurance will cover bi-lateral for adults.

 

[Boult]

I still can't understand whisper, but it is still better than my HA because now I can hear whisper sounds when I couldn't with HA. But I still can't understand what the person is saying in a whisper. Maybe I will as I get more mapping. As each child, they have different range of hearing loss, thats why one should never assume that CI is cure. Every child with CI have a some sort of hearing weakness. The most common is distinishing where the sound is coming from (if it far away, behind them, close to them) You will noticed that your child have to look at you to know it is you that is talking instead of someone else.

well Cloggy's child got CI as child not as adult. I could hear whisper but I may not grasp it yet because I had ci few years ago as adult.

So I could say I did not start learning language with CI. I started learning language with HA so it is different. for his child, she started learning language of sound with CI and go on from there. that's how she understood whispering with less effort.

for me, I'll have watch his/her face when whispering which I could get it.

*shrug*

 

[Cloggy]

well Cloggy's child got CI as child not as adult. I could hear whisper but I may not grasp it yet because I had ci few years ago as adult.

So I could say I did not start learning language with CI. I started learning language with HA so it is different. for his child, she started learning language of sound with CI and go on from there. that's how she understood whispering with less effort.

for me, I'll have watch his/her face when whispering which I could get it.

*shrug*

Agree, the fact that she grew up with sound makes a hughe difference. (Hence the advocacy for early implanting of children)

BUt I was also referring to the difference between HA's and CI's.
Would HA's give you the possibility to hear whispering??

 

[Boult]

Agree, the fact that she grew up with sound makes a hughe difference. (Hence the advocacy for early implanting of children)

BUt I was also referring to the difference between HA's and CI's.
Would HA's give you the possibility to hear whispering??

well for me, with HA, to hear whisper at 50dB HL and greater on my audiogram... I may a little but to make out of it, nah..

 

[Cloggy]

well for me, with HA, to hear whisper at 50dB HL and greater on my audiogram... I may a little but to make out of it, nah..

Boult,
Do you have some technical information regarding "dynamic range" of CI's.
I know the "volume" butten isn't really volume, but a sort of dynamic range.
Would like to get some good explanation regarding this..

And with you being our private library.... (Internet is useless regarding this...)

 

[jillio]

Believer, Welcome! You should find that there are several here that have the same opinion as you and your family. I am one of them. Some here completely disagree with the thought of implanting a child. Fortunately, they are not your childs parent, you are. It is your duty as a parent to raise your child in a manner tha tyou see fit.
Some here will say that you are cruel, some say you are not acepting your child for who/what they are, some say that the child should have a choice. At the end of the day, when you are spending time with your child, holding, playing or just loving them, smile because you know that you are doing what you feel is right for your child.
As far as giving the child a choice, thats easy. With a C.I., when they get older, if they chose that they do not want a CI, they simply take it off. But, when they are older and decide that they do want a CI, you have deprived them of the chance of taking full advantage of a CI.
Once again, welcome!

I take a bit of exception the the statement"Fortunately, they are not your child's parents." It suggests that the children of those of us who have disagreement with the implantation of a deaf child have unfortunate parentage. Yet I do not see the misfortune when our deaf children who have not been implanted have reached adulthood and found success in academic, career, and personal pursuits. As long as those things have been accopmplished, then our decision, whether the same as those who have implanted or not, was the right choice for our child.

 

[neecy]

well for me, with HA, to hear whisper at 50dB HL and greater on my audiogram... I may a little but to make out of it, nah..

Only in the last week have I actually been able to understand a whisper! I was never able to even hear them with my hearing aids. It was my Mom whispering to me and I understood her clearly...blew my mind.

 

[Cloggy]

I take a bit of exception the the statement"Fortunately, they are not your child's parents." It suggests that the children of those of us who have disagreement with the implantation of a deaf child have unfortunate parentage. Yet I do not see the misfortune when our deaf children who have not been implanted have reached adulthood and found success in academic, career, and personal pursuits. As long as those things have been accopmplished, then our decision, whether the same as those who have implanted or not, was the right choice for our child.

From your point of view I can understand the feeling the post gave you.

they[/B] are not your childs parent, you are. It is your duty as a parent to raise your child in a manner tha tyou see fit.

But think of that post like this..., where "they" are people that ...

........................ will say that you are cruel, some say you are not acepting your child for who/what they are, some say that the child should have a choice.......

Your choice worked out very well for you and your son. And I am happy for it. We, when investigating CI, came across others that did very well without CI, but when weighing the successes of people without CI compared to the successes of people with CI, we felt that the real choice for the child after it had grown up was when it did so with CI.

A quick comparison:
A: People that have heared are very well capable to adapt to a deaf, even Deaf life, (e.g. I King Jordan)
B: It is difficult for a deaf person who has never heared a sound, to make sense out of the new input and use CI-technology to it's fullest potential.
C: It is also show that children that get CI as early as possibly will follow a normal trend regarding hearing..

And these children can choose to go for choice (A)... That's a real choice
Children that grow up without CI might can choose (B)....

So, in my view, it is not the way these children grow up. We both have an example of a child growing up fine with either choices.

The question is.... what choice is there when they grow up.!

 

[jillio]

That's where I have conflicting feelings about CI's..it gives people, like your MIL, the false sense of the child being "fixed" and then expect the child to funtion just like a hearing person when it is impossible. Also, it is people like your MIL that sees deafness as a flaw therefore creating the oppression against deaf people in general. I am not saying your MIL is responsible for it but people who think like her that are responsible for viewing deaf people as incapable of doing more. Those are the people I had to fight against all my life and still do to this day. Some of my family members still think because I can speak so well therefore I can hear just as well with my HA and they get frustrated with me for not understanding what they were saying therefore, I get frustrated and it becomes a cycle. If people like them could just accept that no matter what, deaf people cant be fixed and try to learn some sign language too (dont have to be 100% fluent) or at least accept ASL as a language then maybe more people can be accepting of CI's as a tool rather than as a "cure".

I have often wondered why this concept is so difficult for people to grasp. Or why people fail to understand that formation of a positive self identity is crucial to CI satisfaction. Only if that positive identity has been achieved prior to implantation will a realistic expectation for the CI be formed. And the positive self esteem will make malfunctions of the CI easier to tolerate--one simply looses one of their tools for awhile, rather than loosing something that governs how they see themselves.

 

[jillio]

From your point of view I can understand the feeling the post gave you.

But think of that post like this..., where "they" are people that ...


Your choice worked out very well for you and your son. And I am happy for it. We, when investigating CI, came across others that did very well without CI, but when weighing the successes of people without CI compared to the successes of people with CI, we felt that the real choice for the child after it had grown up was when it did so with CI.

A quick comparison:
A: People that have heared are very well capable to adapt to a deaf, even Deaf life, (e.g. I King Jordan)
B: It is difficult for a deaf person who has never heared a sound, to make sense out of the new input and use CI-technology to it's fullest potential.
C: It is also show that children that get CI as early as possibly will follow a normal trend regarding hearing..

And these children can choose to go for choice (A)... That's a real choice
Children that grow up without CI might can choose (B)....

So, in my view, it is not the way these children grow up. We both have an example of a child growing up fine with either choices.

The question is.... what choice is there when they grow up.!

Good question, Cloggy. I suppose, if answering from the perspective of the parent, and based on my son's feelings regarding CI (it is something we have discussed numerous times), I would say that it is simply a technology that he does not feel is necessary to increase his quality of life. He can look around, and compare the quality of his life, the quality of his peers with CI, and the quality of life of his hearing friends. He does not see that the quality of his life is any less than the other two, and therefore does not feel that it is something he needs to take advantage of. Kind of like having a PC that completely meets your needs, so you decide not to invest in a laptop because it would add nothing to ability function adequately. The technology is there, and is useful for some who have specific needs, but simply isn't necessary for all computer users to take advantage of the technology. Simply because it exists doesn't make it useful for the entire population.

I would assume therefore, that if he ever decides that the quality of his life and his ability to succeed and be happy is being compromised by being deaf, he might very well decide that a CI is technology that would be useful for him. If he were to come to me one day, and tell me that he has changed his mind, and would like to have the surgery, I am confident that he is not looking for a quick fix, but rather adding a tool to his tool box, and that his expectations of the usefullness are reasonable.

But as we have both agreed--that is the situation with my son, and I would not be so presumptuious as to believe that it is the same for all children.

 

[Cloggy]

............. Kind of like having a PC that completely meets your needs, so you decide not to invest in a laptop because it would add nothing to ability function adequately.....

I like that example... because I do feel that way...
Like with broadband.... Increadible speed to surf the internet.... so your emails come in in 0.05 seconds... instead of 1 minute....
Do we really need that speed for email?

I'm happy with my ADSL.. but on the other hand.... I would hate to go back to an analog line...... or even ISDN....

 

[greema]

S

I agree with you both! We all have different tastes, expectations, needs, etc. and what you have may not be what I need. That make any sense?

 

[LuciaDisturbed]

I take a bit of exception the the statement"Fortunately, they are not your child's parents." It suggests that the children of those of us who have disagreement with the implantation of a deaf child have unfortunate parentage. Yet I do not see the misfortune when our deaf children who have not been implanted have reached adulthood and found success in academic, career, and personal pursuits. As long as those things have been accopmplished, then our decision, whether the same as those who have implanted or not, was the right choice for our child.

Please. I actually wish that I had been implanted as a small child. Then there would be less frustration, less miscommunication, less misunderstanding, less communication barriers, etc. Being deaf as an identity is fine, but it sucks being deaf as in not being able to hear. Really, it sucks.

 

[jillio]

S

I agree with you both! We all have different tastes, expectations, needs, etc. and what you have may not be what I need. That make any sense?

That was exactly what I was trying to say. You condensed it for me.

 

[LTHFAdvocate]

I am only aware of one insurer that attempts to delineate between children and adults in coverage for bilateral CIs. Blue Cross of TN has an unpublished policy that they admitted to in my last appeal that they will cover children under 5 but not adults. Our foundation is in the middle challenging that distinction with the Tennessee Department of Insurance right now.

We accept 96 % of applications to our program, there are very few insurance denials that cannot be appealed. If you try, and they say no, please contact us.

Sheri

 

[Lillys dad]

Jillio, Valid point. I guess that I did not explain myself adequately. Fortunately, Cloggy, did though. However, you know as well as I do that, there are some here that refuse to even look into gettin a CI for a child. And that is an unfortunate thing. Forming an opinion on something that can have a positive influence on your childs education and quality of life, without even looking into it, is sad. That is more what I was referring to also.

 

[rick48]

Believer,

Welcome!

I would echo the comments of Lilly's Dad, you know your child better then anyone else. Take your time, meet as many people as possible, talk to ci users, the ci kids, ci teens, the adults and the parents of ci kids.

Get credible information and act in your child's best interests. Good luck!
Rick