Cochlear implant debate

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DetNett

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Hey so I myself aren’t deaf or hard of hearing but I’m taking an ASL class and my teacher (who is hard of hearing) told us that cochlear implants are a controversial issue in the deaf community. This kind of confused me and I was hoping I could understand the debate better.
Do some people think getting them is a bad thing to do? Is there pressure on people in the deaf community to get an implant (if they can)?
 
The debate has pretty well resolved itself, at least on this board, if you do your research. Sign is still important for children born deaf, because of times when there is no access to the implant. Because fluent sign is nearly impossible for the late-deafened, CI is routine and accepted.
 
MCB said:
The debate has pretty well resolved itself, at least on this board, if you do your research. Sign is still important for children born deaf, because of times when there is no access to the implant. Because fluent sign is nearly impossible for the late-deafened, CI is routine and accepted.
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Thanks! I didn’t even think about the difficulty of being fluent after having a CI.
 
DetNett said:
Thanks! I didn’t even think about the difficulty of being fluent after having a CI.
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Let me try again. If parents choose to have their deaf child implanted with a CI, they should also work to learn sign, teach sign, and pressure the school district to teach sign (total communication) to their child. There will be times when the child will not be able to use the CI. Implant failure, outer electronics, bath, swimming, problems with tolerance of CI, early morning and late night, etc.

For people who have lost their hearing after age 25, they may never become fluent, either receptively or expressively. It is a matter of brain adaptation. For them, a CI results in a massive improvement in quality of life.

Hearing aids, pidgin sign, lipreading and good guesses are ok for people with severe losses.
 
For people who have lost their hearing after age 25, they may never become fluent, either receptively or expressively. It is a matter of brain adaptation. For them, a CI results in a massive improvement in quality of life.
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After age 25? I did not know there was an actual age where you can or cannot become fluent. That's absolutely ridiculous. You made that number up. You are speaking for everyone, and you shouldn't. Some do really well with a CI, others don't. No matter the age.
 
AlleyCat said:
After age 25? I did not know there was an actual age where you can or cannot become fluent. That's absolutely ridiculous. You made that number up. You are speaking for everyone, and you shouldn't. Some do really well with a CI, others don't. No matter the age.
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Just trying to draw someone else into the subject. :gpost:
 
AlleyCat said:
After age 25? I did not know there was an actual age where you can or cannot become fluent. That's absolutely ridiculous. You made that number up. You are speaking for everyone, and you shouldn't. Some do really well with a CI, others don't. No matter the age.
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I thought the “25” referred to fluency in ASL - regardless if the person has a CI.
I’m sure there’s no exact age, but as we get older, we don’t learn as well as we did as kids. ;)
 
LoveBlue said:
I thought the “25” referred to fluency in ASL - regardless if the person has a CI.
I’m sure there’s no exact age, but as we get older, we don’t learn as well as we did as kids. ;)
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So we don't learn as well as kids. So what? We still can. I don't judge fluency based on age. People surprise us all the time.
 
AlleyCat said:
So we don't learn as well as kids. So what? We still can. I don't judge fluency based on age. People surprise us all the time.
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Probably why I ought to get to work on it. I gesture a lot when emotions get to me, I need to start gesturing more in sign, even though it may not be accurate. Oral fluency is sometimes a problem for me.
 
I should add that I've been deaf since birth, so I'm fluent in ASL. I Learned by the time I was two years old. I was just saying people do learn things later in life, regardless of age. But anyways, good luck with your practicing. I'm sure you will get better as time goes along. :)
 
AC is right. I didn't learn ASL until I was 18. In my New Signers group there was a wide range of ages as well, and later I knew several people who were well over 30 just learning ASL (one eventually married a deaf woman who grew up in deaf schools). As AC noted... doesn't matter the age... some take to it like a duck to water and others struggle a great deal (and quit)- no matter if they were 18 or 45..or 65.
 
DeafDucky said:
AC is right. I didn't learn ASL until I was 18. In my New Signers group there was a wide range of ages as well, and later I knew several people who were well over 30 just learning ASL (one eventually married a deaf woman who grew up in deaf schools). As AC noted... doesn't matter the age... some take to it like a duck to water and others struggle a great deal (and quit)- no matter if they were 18 or 45..or 65.
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Is that why you have the screen name you do?
 
Like others have said, the debate has pretty much died down. Most of the controversy has to do with marketing. (ie the push for super early implantation, the insistution that a CI makes a deaf kid "hearing) It's also less controversial if ASL is used.
 
Jane B. said:
Is that why you have the screen name you do?
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No. My original nickname in college was something else entirely and I used that as my screen name for years on AOL. The Ducky thing came along during the AOL years from a group I met through a deaf board and some goofiness we were doing at the time (different screen name- it's since been shortened to Ducky and I just change it a bit sometimes).
 
MCB said:
Let me try again. If parents choose to have their deaf child implanted with a CI, they should also work to learn sign, teach sign, and pressure the school district to teach sign (total communication) to their child. There will be times when the child will not be able to use the CI. Implant failure, outer electronics, bath, swimming, problems with tolerance of CI, early morning and late night, etc.

For people who have lost their hearing after age 25, they may never become fluent, either receptively or expressively. It is a matter of brain adaptation. For them, a CI results in a massive improvement in quality of life.

Hearing aids, pidgin sign, lipreading and good guesses are ok for people with severe losses.
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I became fluent in ASL starting at the age of 25.
 
*matter of brain adaptation*??....lost my hearing at 14...and I'm still not fluent with ASL...I can converse, but need them to move their lips at the same time...strange?...I dunno...Even when I have an interpretor, I do ask them to please move their lips along with using ASL...otherwise, I get lost in translation...
 
rockin'robin said:
*matter of brain adaptation*??....lost my hearing at 14...and I'm still not fluent with ASL...I can converse, but need them to move their lips at the same time...strange?...I dunno...Even when I have an interpretor, I do ask them to please move their lips along with using ASL...otherwise, I get lost in translation...
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I find this easier to follow conversation also.
 
Bummer. I hope I don't lose hearing in my other ear. I know it's hard to learn a new language as an adult, but I didn't know there's a hard limit on how proficient someone can get.
 
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