Why adults choose CI's for their children

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Oceanbreeze said:
I wouldn't deny my child a CI simply because the majority of my family is hearing. I can't deny that, but from the moment of diagnosis, I would use sign with my child. If that means, I learn ASL with my child, so be it. I'll do it.

Even in the best of circumstances, diagnosis of hearing loss doesn't always come immediately. It can take weeks or even months to get a definitive diagnosis. Those weeks and months are critical to language exposure. Also, I know it's popular to drop sign once the child begins to show profieciency in oral language. I would not drop sign. There would be times when wearing the CI isn't a good idea, so you would still need to communicate. Also, what about device failure? Processors malfunction and can take days to replace. What do you do? If the child knows sign, this wouldn't be a problem or it certainly would be less of a problem.

Lastly, regardless of CI, the child is still deaf. In my mind, it would be cruel to deny my child a visual language.
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Right, there are so many scenarios that can seriously put a deaf child at risks for language delays which is why it is critical for the young deaf children to develop that strong first language like their hearing counterparts do so that way when they go out in situations where communication isnt fully accessible, they can create ideas to overcome the communication barriers.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
I wouldn't deny my child a CI simply because the majority of my family is hearing. I can't deny that, but from the moment of diagnosis, I would use sign with my child. If that means, I learn ASL with my child, so be it. I'll do it.

Even in the best of circumstances, diagnosis of hearing loss doesn't always come immediately. It can take weeks or even months to get a definitive diagnosis. Those weeks and months are critical to language exposure. Also, I know it's popular to drop sign once the child begins to show profieciency in oral language. I would not drop sign. There would be times when wearing the CI isn't a good idea, so you would still need to communicate. Also, what about device failure? Processors malfunction and can take days to replace. What do you do? If the child knows sign, this wouldn't be a problem or it certainly would be less of a problem.

Lastly, regardless of CI, the child is still deaf. In my mind, it would be cruel to deny my child a visual language.
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A deaf child would be very lucky to have you as a parent.
 
jillio said:
This was a great link to add to the discussion!
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Yea, it can provide personal insights to why parents choose CIs for their children. My friend with the deaf girl is a member and she explained why she chose to get a CI for her daughter. I just read her story and there were a lot of things I didnt know but was very interesting to read her experiences. :)
 
jillio said:
Perhaps the discussion would be more productive if you would stop looking for implication and simply read what is stated. Shel did not make that implication, nor did she make a statement of such.
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I am not getting sucked into this with you. I know exactly what she said and implied and have provided information to back my statements. If you choose to view it from a different perspective that is where we agree to disagree. Move on.
 
jillio said:
Re: your statement on SEEII: it has already been shown that the MCEs are much less than effective for language acquisition, and that they compromise a child's ability to achieve native usage of any language by providing a confusing linguistic atmosphere. TC using the MCEs has been the rule of thumb in the educational arena for the last 30 years, and during that time period, we have seen no significant increase in the literacy rates of deaf children being educated under this philosophy. How many more years of failure to we need? Is it productive to hang onto that which is detrimental to the education of deaf children simply because of an ethnoicentric bias toward all forms of English over a linguistic environment that truly meets the cognitive needs of a deaf child?
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Where can one go to find this information? Research citings or perhaps a link if you don't mind.
 
rockdrummer said:
Where can one go to find this information? Research citings or perhaps a link if you don't mind.
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One can go to any data base, professional journal, numerous books on the topic, and several posts and links on this very forum. The information is not difficult to find.
 
jillio said:
Exactly. And it all comes back to one basic concept...the brain processes visual language differently than it processes oral language. You cannot simply add visual cues to an oral language, and then expect a child to process it as a visual language when it is linear in syntax. It is a very basic principle, and one that is consistently overlooked.:roll:

How many times, on this very board, do we see people complaining that they have problems with ASL because they are attempting to process it as an oral language, and therefore, cannot understand the syntactical and conceptual differences. When they learn to process it as a visual language, those difficulties disappear. It is the same in reverse for oral languages.
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Interesting points on how the brain processes languages. I would have to imagine opting for a CI, one would have spoken language as a primary goal. If the CI is successful, (don't make me qualify that) then wouldn't the brain be able to process spoken language?
 
shel90 said:
.....For me, I want to create a classroom just as parallel as a hearing classroom full of hearing students. I think all deaf children deserve that since they arent in need of special ed teaching approaches designed for children with conginitive disabilities.
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That's great. Do you use spoken English for the kids with CI's?
 
vallee said:
Where is the data and research on this statement? We can all make generalizations about programs. The point is it is damaging to post these generalizations as research based and not show the research.
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:gpost: And it re-enforces why a parent would want to check several credible sources as part of their research.
 
vallee said:
So let me see if I get your point, you researched, you educated yourself, you made an informed decision about your child, and you want your child to be successful. Sounds like a parent who is the type of parent with one view, you want want is best for your child. That is me as well. :)
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Yes you got my point quite clearly thank you!! And my goals are the same even though the CI was not successful. It's just a different path now.
 
Cheri said:
You don't get it... You never do. I'm most sure that vallee and rockdrummer would have a better understanding what I mean. no offended. :)
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Yes Cheri, I do get it. You were making the point about TC failing some and not all. I understood your point. Thank you! Perhaps kids with CI's may have better chances for success in a TC program. :dunno:
 
jillio said:
Exactly. If safeguards are in place to prevent the language delays that are inherent in a "wait and see" approach, these students will not suffer the types of delays that are carried forward.
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Aren't they all really just wait and see approaches? Since we are discussing accessibility in the classroom. What about language accessibility in the home? Deaf kids born to non signing hearing parents obviously won't have the same exposure to language as deaf kids born to fluent native signing parents. Since you can't just snap your finger and become a fluent signer then deaf kids of hearing parents are at a disadvantage until a.) the parents become fluent signers or unless b.)the child has some ability to hear. If the CI is successful, I would guess that exposure to fluent spoken language would occur faster than exposure to fluent sign language due to the delay it would take parents to become fluent signers.
 
rockdrummer said:
Aren't they all really just wait and see approaches? Since we are discussing accessibility in the classroom. What about language accessibility in the home? Deaf kids born to non signing hearing parents obviously won't have the same exposure to language as deaf kids born to fluent native signing parents. Since you can't just snap your finger and become a fluent signer then deaf kids of hearing parents are at a disadvantage until a.) the parents become fluent signers or unless b.)the child has some ability to hear. If the CI is successful, I would guess that exposure to fluent spoken language would occur faster than exposure to fluent sign language due to the delay it would take parents to become fluent signers.
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And if the child doesn't pick up on spoken language? What then?
 
shel90 said:
And if the child doesn't pick up on spoken language? What then?
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Great point Shel, The CI is not always successful as I can attest to. IMO - Any parents opting for a CI should always have a plan B and plan C and maybe even a plan D.
 
rockdrummer said:
Interesting points on how the brain processes languages. I would have to imagine opting for a CI, one would have spoken language as a primary goal. If the CI is successful, (don't make me qualify that) then wouldn't the brain be able to process spoken language?
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Maybe in non-ideal situations..like one on one situations but in reality one_on_one situations can't occur at all times in the classroom . If the parents can provide that constantly in the home, great but in the education setting, there can't be a teacher for every child with a CI and that's where ASL will be very helpful. When learning takes place, it is important for all the deaf kids to have equal access to everything like hearing kids and since in a classroom full of 30 plus kids, I dunoo how much a child who is still developing language with a CI can understand everything. If they can't, then they end up missing out what is being said around them. To me, that's not having full access like the hearing kids do. And we know in many public schools, overcrowding is a major problem for the classroom teacher.
 
rockdrummer said:
That's great. Do you use spoken English for the kids with CI's?
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Sometimes for conversational purposes but not when I am teaching a whole class. My student goes to a hearing teacher aide with another hard of heraing student for reading to use Spoken English. I can speak claerly BUT on the receiving end it is difficult for me and that wouldn't be fair to me or to the students.
 
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