Oh, now this is SICK indeed!!

[cjester27]

CI's...for BABIES?!!!

From the newsroom of the WAFF-TV, Channel 48 News, Huntsville, Alabama, Friday, April 2, 2004 .....

Starting Deaf Babies Out with a Cochlear Implant

Baby Amanda has lived in a world all her own, a completely silent world for
all of her nine and a half months. Although it hasn't affected her sunny
disposition one bit, Amanda was born virtually deaf.

Kerry, Amanda's mother said, "If a plane were to take off in front of her,
everything lower than that, she can't hear. She can't hear a conversation,
she can't hear sirens when we're walking in the street. It's scary."

But today, a whole new world is about to open up for Amanda. She's going to
hear for the first time in her life.

Just three weeks ago Amanda had a cochlear implant put in, a highly
sophisticated electronic device combining a microphone, computerized signal
processing and 22 electrodes that directly stimulate the nerves of hearing.

Doctors have recently been implanting babies like Amanda because of what
happens to kids who can't hear during their first three years of life.

Dr. Susan Waltzman, NYU Medical Center said, "They will be delayed in terms
of language and it's very difficult to catch up. If you do children who are
very young, you are giving them the opportunity to perhaps be on a
trajectory with their normal hearing peers."

Today, audiologists at NYU are going to turn the implant on for the first
time.

This is just the beginning of a life-long process of programming, tuning and
adjusting the implant to give Amanda her best possible hearing.

Amanda's father Ron said, "It's amazing. It's amazing. It's a feeling that
you really can't describe because you hope again now she can go mainstream.
She can be like everyone else."

Kerry said, "It's nothing short of miracle. This is amazing. A couple of
days ago our child was still deaf and today she's in the hearing world. We
have no doubt that she is going to learn how to speak that she's going to go
to a mainstream school and she's going to fulfill every potential that she
has."

As she grows and develops, doctors will need to adjust and reprogram the
implant. While the implant should give Amanda good enough hearing to develop
normal speech and language, she is still deaf. When she takes the external
part of the device off, she still won't be able to hear.

© Copyright 2000 - 2004 WAFF, a Raycom Media station. All Rights Reserved.

 

[Banjo]

9 1/2 months?

That's old news.

More and more babies are being implanted at 6 months old, I guess you're just not up to date with the current events.

 

[VamPyroX]

I think it's stupid.

 

[Levonian]

Amanda's father Ron said, "It's amazing. It's amazing. It's a feeling that you really can't describe because you hope again now she can go mainstream. She can be like everyone else."

I’m shedding tears of joy right now. Ron, not that I’m a militant or anything like that (I’m not even completely deaf), but please bend over so I can give you a swift kick in the ass.

 

[Deaf258]

That kind of attitude the parents have towards a child with deafness, trying to fix him/her and making him/her feel "broken", will result in making that child hate the parents. I know I did. It took me a long time to not hate my parents anymore!

 

[pbpara]

Totally with you on that kick in the ass. My god.

This is the main issue I have with CIs for young children...it's their PARENTS who want them, not the kids! The parents want the kids to be "normal" and I think it says a lot about them that it seems to purport to me that they can't accept their child as he or she is, deaf or hearing.

I don't have a CI...I was mainstreamed in the second grade...and I think I turned out just fine.

 

[Banjo]

Amanda's father Ron said, "It's amazing. It's amazing. It's a feeling that you really can't describe because you hope again now she can go mainstream. She can be like everyone else."

I have to admit that this is shallow, but what do you expect from a typical parent of a deaf child?

Many parents don't want to have their children having problems with barriers. This is where cochlear implants come in, it does help children, but strong parental involvement is required in order to increase the chances of becoming a successful CI user.

Some children shouldn't get cochlear implants because they lack the motivation and parental involvement.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

It´s very sad to know that the parents changed their children´s life what they want because they don´t want to accept what they are.

Well, I posted the thread "Treat Deaf babies with CI" here with the subject over the 2 babies received their first CI aged 4 months old in Germany...

I beleive it´s child´s choice because it´s their body, not mine...

 

[deafdyke]

*joins the line to give Ron a kick in the pants*
mygod, I cannot believe that there are still parents who think like that! Some parents are beyond superfical and shallow! Having that sort of attitude towards a child's difference is really going to mess up that kid! Why not think about it this way...."My daughter might become bilingal!" The parents are still grieving the loss of a "healthy normal" kid and it sounds like they really do need some counseling and they also need to talk to real live dhh people to get a REAL life view of what it's like growing up dhh in a hearing world! It sounds like they've just spoken with a couple of very pro-oral (healthy normalist) professionals who can't quite accept that there are tons of downsides to the oral approach!

"They will be delayed in terms
of language and it's very difficult to catch up. If you do children who are
very young, you are giving them the opportunity to perhaps be on a
trajectory with their normal hearing peers."

Even most implanted kids still have signifcent delays in spoken language for crying out loud! There are some superstars,(20% from what I've read) but there are also plenty of kids who are implanted and who actually need TC, or who have significent spoken language issues. I'm not nessarly against early intervention....but for crying out loud, even when WE alldeafers were little, there were superstars. Hey, there've always been superstars...even without hearing aids...I know that one of the auditory-verbal therapists out there was a superstar from the first generation of dhh kids to get hearing aids, and back in the '60's there was a deaf oral superstar who could speak seven languages!
Also, a lot of the oral sucesses from the sixties and seventies, didn't even have great hearing. I remember reading that Curtis Pride (baseball player for Montreal Expos) only had 5% hearing with hearing aids! I know of deaf twentysomethings who have essentially a severe loss when aided, but they can talk really well! I'm skeptical that early intervention will help as much as advocates claim.

 

[deafie_cat]

*follows suit and kicks ron in the pants*
how stupid! when will hearing people stop treating deaf people as if they are broken, and stop feeling sorry for us? it would be so much easier and less stressful for that little girl if she could learn sign, go to a school for the deaf, have friends who were like her and grow up happily without ever feeling that she was drastically diferent from others, without getting told that people felt sorry for her all the time.. I think also it is downright lazy and inconsiderate that the parents didn;t a: consider learning ASL to make her life easier, rather than having to only learn speech (although maybe they are teaching her ASL, I guess they didn't mention it in the article), and b: not give her the time to grow up and make the choice for herself. when she's older, she might really regret being given the CI without having a choice it sounds like the parents made the decision right away because they thought it was the right thing to do, instead of consider how hard it can be for a deaf person to be mainstreamed

 

[Banjo]

Deafie Cat,

It may be easier to just use ASL and send her to a school for the deaf. But think about it, the majority of schools for the deaf are among the lowest rated schools in the USA and Canada.

It is better to place a deaf child in a public school instead of a deaf school, I know because I have experienced as a student at a school for the deaf. I have done a lot of research and it shows that there are not enough deaf schools with stable education.

If a person is only taught ASL, what about English? You have to teach the child how to speak, write, and read English in order to survive in the real world.

The real world don't use ASL, they use English. That is a very important thing that you must understand because ASL is a communication tool often used in the "D"eaf community, not the "d"eaf or general communities. The ASL itself will not help you get anywhere in the real world except for deaf-oriented workplaces.

I think also it is downright lazy and inconsiderate that the parents didn;t a: consider learning ASL to make her life easier, rather than having to only learn speech (although maybe they are teaching her ASL, I guess they didn't mention it in the article), and b: not give her the time to grow up and make the choice for herself. when she's older, she might really regret being given the CI without having a choice it sounds like the parents made the decision right away because they thought it was the right thing to do, instead of consider how hard it can be for a deaf person to be mainstreamed

Downright lazy and inconsiderate?

No, they are parents who love their children and are doing what they think are the best for their children. If my future child is deaf, I will teach it how to sign, but I would prefer to teach it SEE instead of ASL in order to develop the literacy skill to a higher level. Later in the childhood, ASL can be began to use as long it is out of the classrooms, not inside the classrooms. In the classrooms, it has to be in SEE, not ASL. You can not teach English using ASL because they lack the important elements of the language to do it.

In many cases, the child may turn against its' parents due to the influence of Deaf Militants. This is why deaf children shouldn't be sent to schools for the deaf because it is a breeding ground for Deaf Militants.

It is the parent's right to make choices for their children, not yours. The child will remain deaf, only it'll have a cochlear implant which has potential to make a difference in its life.

 

[Banjo]

Plus, the woman in your avatar, I've met her in person. I believe that she would disagree with you, she is a strong believer in literacy development for deaf children and it shows.

 

[deafie_cat]

I'd almost forgotten about my last post in here; reading over it now I can see that it wasn't my opinion, it was my immediate reaction to reading the article.. :Oops: I wrote it right after reading the article and in shock my post was more of a rant than an actual opinion.

I shouldnt have posted that it would be easier for her at a deaf school; I've been mainstreamed and have found it very hard, socially and academically (its not the concepts I have trouble with, but the not hearing of the teacher) I have no right saying that being in a Deaf school is any easier or better than being mainstreamed, so I take that back..

I also was wrong in jumping to saying that it was lazy and inconsiderate of her parents to implant her.. even though I still personally believe that it is the right of the person being implanted to decide whether or not to be implanted, they were obviously caring and concerned for their child..

as for deaf literacy, I am all for it, and learning english as well! I am not at all against learning english and improving literacy, and I have worked very hard at become literate in english myself.

so, just to clear things up; my other post was a rant, and should be disregarded

 

[VamPyroX]

This is like saying, "I'm not proud to have a deaf child." :fu2:

 

[Deaf258]

This is like saying, "I'm not proud to have a deaf child." :fu2:

Or saying, "I am proud to turn my child into a hearing Borg!"

 

[VamPyroX]

Or saying, "I am proud to turn my child into a hearing Borg!"

Now that you mention it, I think these parents have been watching too many Star Trek shows that they feel the need to assimulate their children!

 

[Ziusudra]

Lol. It's all silly, and it all depends on the implantee's ability to adapt, motivation, desire to succeed and so on. The problem with CIs in babies is that they'll grow up used to hearing sounds and no one will want to explain it to them. At least, this is what I feel the potential main problem would be. If they were implanted at an older age, they would be amazed by sounds and want to learn about each sound as they hear it.

Also, the babies who grow up to be children will either feel at place in the hearing world, or in the deaf world, or neutral. I think they will feel out of place SOMEWHERE and I hope the parents realise that they can't always force deaf children to be hearing, because they will be ultimately, at the end of the day, "deaf".

 

[Opal]

Well, I wish my parents give me CI operation when I was baby but I understand it was not available when I was born!

Good for this baby to have CI !!

 

[Kalista]

9 1/2 months?

That's old news.

More and more babies are being implanted at 6 months old, I guess you're just not up to date with the current events.

Six months old babies implants are really pathetic !!! The babies did not ask for implant. They born Deaf as natural.

Medical society becomes more pressure on the parents. It makes my stomach sick !!

 

[Levonian]

If a child is implanted at the age of six months, how many times does the implant have to be removed and reimplanted before the child reaches their full adult skull size? Anybody got stats on this one?