Still embarrassed about my CI...

Makes me think of a guy I have known for years. He has always been super sensetive about his hearing aids. Now with his CI s you can't tease him or he ll go all grumpy. This guy is very successful extroverted as you can get. Just can't lable people on their feelings about HAs.
Laura has plenty of friends here at AD now. Could have tons more if you sign... hint hint
 
ambrosia said:
Maybe it doesn't phase me because I didn't go through childhood with them. I didn't get my first HA til I was 27. I have had kids be curious about them, a few have actually touched them and asked what's in my ears. But kids can be cruel, maybe because I didn't wear them through childhood I never developed the hangups about them that I might have if I had.
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That pretty much sums it up, especially if you did not have anyone around that understood what you were going through, and were craving acceptance.
 
green427 said:
Kids that did not even know me at all saw my hearing aid, which was reason enough to walk up and punch the shit out of me.
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WTF? Ridiculing and the usual testing of our weaknesses is pretty par for the course.. but random whackos just walking up and beating up on you? I can't say I've been there. Anytime it got physical it was on a more personal level rather than over the hearing aid. It sounds like you were in some hellholes with concentrations of the rare individual I came across that came at me menacingly.
 
green427 said:
Ok, so they picked on you for reasons other than having a hearing aid....in my case (as well as many others), the main reason I (we) got picked on was because of the presence of having a hearing aid. Kids that did not even know me at all saw my hearing aid, which was reason enough to walk up and punch the shit out of me.

I have learned that by hiding the hearing aid, kids left me alone. I am sure that if I were picked on for reasons other than having a hearing aid, the aid would not have been such an issue.

Have you ever had a chance later in life to confront those that bullied you? I did, on FB. I was shocked to be 'friended' by three of them, and all three said that they've carried the burden of guilt for thirty years. They did not understand why they acted the way they did and apologized. Yeah, interesting.....
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You can be sure that if you wore glasses, they would have picked on you for the glasses, if you wore a leg brace, they would have picked on you for the leg brace, if you had a stuttering problem, they would have picked on you for the speech. Like I said, bullies don't need reasons, just excuses. I've never bothered with confronting the bullies that harrassed me because I'd have to go after the whole school. They were too many to count although I remember each and every one and every incident clearly, including the teachers that saw it and chose to let it slide. My feeling is if I confronted them, they'd probably still find it funny so why bother.

One thing is for certain - adults don't care about hearing aids or CI so wanting to hide them at this stage of your life is foolish because it only hurts you. If I could wear a neon sign at work announcing my hearing loss, or leave one hanging in my cubicle, I would.

Laura
 
Lau2046 said:
You can be sure that if you wore glasses, they would have picked on you for the glasses, if you wore a leg brace, they would have picked on you for the leg brace, if you had a stuttering problem, they would have picked on you for the speech. Like I said, bullies don't need reasons, just excuses. I've never bothered with confronting the bullies that harrassed me because I'd have to go after the whole school. They were too many to count although I remember each and every one and every incident clearly, including the teachers that saw it and chose to let it slide. My feeling is if I confronted them, they'd probably still find it funny so why bother.

One thing is for certain - adults don't care about hearing aids or CI so wanting to hide them at this stage of your life is foolish because it only hurts you. If I could wear a neon sign at work announcing my hearing loss, or leave one hanging in my cubicle, I would.

Laura
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That's exactly what I feel. At school I hated my hearing aids due to the bullies. But once I left school I wore my hearing aids all the time and I didn't care who didn't like them. I have a note at work saying I'm deaf, please look at me. I personally would rather they know that in deaf then not.

My reference is. If they don't like the fact you are deaf, then they are not worth knowing! That's what I always think to myself.
 
Well my situation is similar but different. :) I was on crutches from 5-14 yrs old. I was only made fun of a few times for that, but those few times really made me self conscious about "handicap accessories" i think. That must have lingered because it is spilling into this CI i have.

I remember my grandmothers' advice helped the most back then... "If they make fun of you, I want you to go right up to them and punch them in the nose!!". T

I did that a few times, which probably why there were very few people who picked on me when i had crutches, even though i was half their size. :)

Can't do it now though. We have to be "civilized" and what not. Booooo!! :D
 
why would the word or feeling stigma even come into thoughts why would someone even need to say got no stigma against H/A OR CI........only time that word needs using is if you done something wrong in the past...rediculus word for something like this...when i went to D/C nobody thought about it.....dont want be hard but pity party rather than stigma
 
Lau2046 said:
You can be sure that if you wore glasses, they would have picked on you for the glasses, if you wore a leg brace, they would have picked on you for the leg brace, if you had a stuttering problem, they would have picked on you for the speech. Like I said, bullies don't need reasons, just excuses. I've never bothered with confronting the bullies that harrassed me because I'd have to go after the whole school. They were too many to count although I remember each and every one and every incident clearly, including the teachers that saw it and chose to let it slide. My feeling is if I confronted them, they'd probably still find it funny so why bother.

One thing is for certain - adults don't care about hearing aids or CI so wanting to hide them at this stage of your life is foolish because it only hurts you. If I could wear a neon sign at work announcing my hearing loss, or leave one hanging in my cubicle, I would.

Laura
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You are correct. Karma catches up with everyone eventually.
 
drphil said:
Laura: I agree with you-use your Hearing aids as long as suitable. As you know -not everyone can benefit from a Cochlear Implant. Plus of course the costs.

Aside: Sunnybrook/Toronto. Since 1984 have evaluated 3,000 adults for Cochlear Implants-of which 2000 were "unsuitable"-for one reason or other. Of the remaining 1000-18 received no benefit after Implantation. I was one of the 1000- 5 1/2 years ago. Information given last year at patients meeting.

Other centers with similar experience?
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How would you find out that info? I go to Mass Eye and Ear. The center seems very successful. Every time i'm there, there are lots of people with CI's. Kids, adults... pets even !! j/k. One of the audiologists even has 2 CI's. Pretty cool.
 
Danb: Would the "public relations department" have the statistics of Mass Eye and Ear centre?


Also, points out not everyone is "suitable" for Cochlear Implants-unfortunately.
 
i refused to have ci by my parents' "forced" suggestion. i am happy now who am i. I born deaf and proud who am i. I have a professional job in a hearing world without using my hearing aids. (no interpreter or signers at my job for many years) thanks god i made it through. i am not an oralist. i am very fluent in ASL
 
green427 said:
You must have had a more 'stable' childhood than many of us. I got my ass kicked by bullies, and all of them called me names related to my deafness (deaf boy, fu*king deaf kid, etc, etc), which made me want to cover up my hearing aid with my hair. The less noticeable my hearing aid was, the more the bullies left me alone.

It was not until I moved from shithole Syracuse to the Boston metro area that the bullying came to a complete stop, and I slowly gained confidence back. Really, the biggest difference was moving from a mostly blue-collar factory-worker smoking&drinking school district to a mostly white-collar area. When I went to NTID, I finally felt like a human being and gained a lot of friendship, had good times. Hearing aids were not even noticeable there, so when I finally graduated and went back to the hearing world, it did not bother me.
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Because of the Bullies doing the same to me, I became the meanest MoFo in school at a private catholic school, I ended up being put in private piano lessons during lunch hour since the kids taunted me and I would rip them a new one just about daily.
 
I was never bullied by hearing kids, but another deaf student was a bully not just to me but some of the other deaf students as well.. oh she was cruel and mean.
 
Whether one decides NOT to use a Cochlear Implant-is one's choice. Assuming. of course, one is able to benefit. Not every DEAF person is "suitable"
!
Insofar as one "interacts" in their world "satisfactorily' why wonder/worry what others think?

Aside: the author is bilateral DEAF since December 20, 2006.
 
Lost my hearing a very short time ago in the military...Have horrible scars everywhere.....Hey I dolled my processors up!....better people look at my processors than me! Trust me...they do look better than me!
 

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Ernie / Ky said:
Lost my hearing a very short time ago in the military...Have horrible scars everywhere.....Hey I dolled my processors up!....better people look at my processors than me! Trust me...they do look better than me!
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They look Army Strong...nice....:D


Laura
 
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