Hear Again is right, deafdyke, I have tried to tell you that you don't know everything even including that dog can hear the sound from the CI.. absurd! I suggest you take back seat and be quiet and let CI users answers those question about CI. Please!
What it feels like while wearing the CI?
- Thread starter SpaceyUFO
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Hello everybody,
Thanks for reply me about your experience etc... firstly, I would like to talk about brain system works. I do believe that I can get myself a cochlear implant.
If someone grew up fluently talking using the voice or signing language whatever, and had nasty accident, had brain damaged like speech centre. What happened to speech centre, mostly are gone. Have to start all over again since when they were little. Same thing with movements e.g: learning how to walk, hold things, and etc. Thats why I do believe i can do start learning using my voice.
Still it won't stop me getting the cochlear implant. Im sure hearing the beautiful music can be heard which it would be wonderful! HAs are not powerful enough and i can assume that CI is powerful enough to be heard!
I wouldn't like to buy myself bone conduct loss hearing aids and can they be able to swim under the water while wearing the bone conduct loss hearing aids??? I don't think so!
Secondly, i do believe that having the CI has many advantages for future career!
Thanks for reply me about your experience etc... firstly, I would like to talk about brain system works. I do believe that I can get myself a cochlear implant.
If someone grew up fluently talking using the voice or signing language whatever, and had nasty accident, had brain damaged like speech centre. What happened to speech centre, mostly are gone. Have to start all over again since when they were little. Same thing with movements e.g: learning how to walk, hold things, and etc. Thats why I do believe i can do start learning using my voice.
Still it won't stop me getting the cochlear implant. Im sure hearing the beautiful music can be heard which it would be wonderful! HAs are not powerful enough and i can assume that CI is powerful enough to be heard!
I wouldn't like to buy myself bone conduct loss hearing aids and can they be able to swim under the water while wearing the bone conduct loss hearing aids??? I don't think so!
Secondly, i do believe that having the CI has many advantages for future career!
Cloggy
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Did she say that... LOL that's amazing.. A CI making sound....
But I guess that when you're not informed, you might come up with such nonsense.....
If you use bone conduction HA's then you probably don't have sensorial neural hearing loss but a problem in your ear canal or middle ear which causes the sound to not arrive at your cochlea? (hope that made sense) My understanding after reading up on different types of options for hearing loss was that was the reason. My sister who had middle ear damage in which the bones were damaged from infection and then reassembled after cleaning never regained hearing in that ear. She is probably a canidate for a bone conduction aide. When testing hearing they do do testing using a bone conduction device, for those of us who qualify for the CI we don't respond better using it. Only testing would tell you whether you qualify for a CI under current requirements.
As for washing hair, the implant is under the skin and the external part comes off like a HA so getting the head wet is not problem.
Bone Conduct Hearing Aid is like this....
CI is like Bone Conductor Hearing Aid, but Bone Conductor Hearing Aid is not implanted.
Actually some of the newer ones are. Well they actually have an implanted post that the external part is snapped into during use. I have a co worker who recieved one. This site will tell yo ua little bit more about it.
Hearing aids – Baha - bone anchored hearing aids
Entific
Ephesians2_8
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since you want to be a doctor,In my opinion, I think you should get two CIs. It will definitely help you through college.
Thanks for your input, but still I have to do first one cochlear implant for least three years time then next ear to have implant. It would be silly if i have it both same time, don't u think? Mmm yeah
Taric25
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Actually four things must work properly. You must have a working outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, and the nerve connecting the cochlea to brain must also work.
Some people are nerologically deaf. For these people a CI (Cochlear Implant) will do nothing! These people benefit from an ABI (Auditory Brainstem Implant). The ABI is designed primarily for patients suffering from Neurofibromatosis, a hereditary disease that can cause profound hearing loss through the growth of bilateral tumors on the balance nerves. Because the balance nerves are adjacent to the auditory nerves, tumor removal typically necessitates severing the auditory nerve. A cochlear implant cannot be used for these patients because the auditory nerve, once severed, is not able to carry signals from the cochlea to the cochlear nucleus in the brainstem. Also, ABI is beneficial for people with bilateral absence of the cochlear nerve or bilateral damage to the cochlear nerve. I know Deaf people who have received a CI only to lose their hearing again, a few years later, due to this nerological problem.
Many of my friends are reluctant to get the CI, because they are afraid they may have nerological problems develop, to make the whole procedure a waste, but are not so reluctant about getting more information about the ABI.
On a different matter, IMHO, I think many Deaf people are reluctant to get the CI because the BTE (Behinf The Ear) processor still makes you different. If you want to swim, sleep, etc., you can't wear the processor, and you're still deaf. Maybe when a rechargable or body-powered CIC (Completely In the Canal) ABI or Hybrid CI/ABI is developed, you'll see more Deaf consumers making appointments for an evaluation.
sr171soars
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Er...when I mentioned the inner ear, I sort of implied that fact as the inner ear does include the cochlear nerve (which goes on to the brain transmitting the info).
Interesting but I think that is a bit of a stretch to imply it happens that often. Believe me, that is the kind of thing that would be known and stated as such in here and other places. They do require a CAT scan to determine if one does have all the necessary equipment to make it work. In other words, I can believe a couple of cases out of the thousands that have been done that this has been a problem. While it is a valid concern, it is rare...not common place and therefore not the first thing that people need to be worried about. BTW - Getting a ABI is much more problematical than getting a CI. Nobody gets one of those unless it is related to neurofibromatosis (at least that is the latest I heard). The odds for decent success is not that great with an ABI. I only know of the lady in Reader's Digest who started with a CI and had to go to a ABI. She had neurofibromatosis as you mentioned and remarkably she is doing pretty well with it but not on the level when she had her CI. If it is your only option, then it is a valid option to consider but only after ruling out all other options.
*Rolling eyes* I personally can attest that this is a very misplaced concern all around. It sounds like people are having vanity issues. If this were really a problem for them, they might as well find a hole in the ground and be done with it. I mean what price does one put on hearing? Most people think it is a HA not a CI unless they know what one is. It is no different that wearing a HA abeit a little larger and you can get them in colors. I just take it off like I did with my HA to swim, sleep, or whatever. Nothing really changed for me in that respect.
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As I read this thread, and from the people I know who have CI's, I get the impression that the CI effects each person in a different way.
One friend has had a CI since early childhood, and is now in late 20's (recently got an updated CI). He/she very rarely speaks, has speach that is difficult to understand, and uses an interpreter for receptive and speaking communication.
Another friend (also late 20's) got his/her CI a couple years. He/she was very oral before the CI, and still is. However, I haven't noticed much change in his/her voice, and he/she still misprounces many words, and is always say "huh?" to people in conversation.
A third friend got a CI as a child, and is now about 40 years old. He/she got an upgrade a couple years ago. He/she has always been very oral but also uses an interpreter receptively, and still speaks "deaf", and is hard to understand until you get used to listening.
All of them can hear paper rustle, birds chirp, music, all kinds of sounds, etc. But they still can't seem to understand speech.
Rush Limbaugh became deaf post-lingually. After he got his CI, he says he still can't understand music, and he still has to supplement his hearing with text during his radio program.
I'm wondering, what is the cause of this disparity? It seems like everyone in this thread is doing so much better than my friends and Rush. What makes the difference? Is it training, type of CI, therapy, motivation, or what?
One friend has had a CI since early childhood, and is now in late 20's (recently got an updated CI). He/she very rarely speaks, has speach that is difficult to understand, and uses an interpreter for receptive and speaking communication.
Another friend (also late 20's) got his/her CI a couple years. He/she was very oral before the CI, and still is. However, I haven't noticed much change in his/her voice, and he/she still misprounces many words, and is always say "huh?" to people in conversation.
A third friend got a CI as a child, and is now about 40 years old. He/she got an upgrade a couple years ago. He/she has always been very oral but also uses an interpreter receptively, and still speaks "deaf", and is hard to understand until you get used to listening.
All of them can hear paper rustle, birds chirp, music, all kinds of sounds, etc. But they still can't seem to understand speech.
Rush Limbaugh became deaf post-lingually. After he got his CI, he says he still can't understand music, and he still has to supplement his hearing with text during his radio program.
I'm wondering, what is the cause of this disparity? It seems like everyone in this thread is doing so much better than my friends and Rush. What makes the difference? Is it training, type of CI, therapy, motivation, or what?
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Taric25
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Vanity
Think about it. If we lived in a world where people communicated by writing notes back and forth on an overhead projector or blackboard, rather than speaking, Deaf people would have little language barrier. Blind people would. We don't live in such a world. People speak. Growing up, it is not Deaf people's problem that they cannot hear. It is that they cannot communicate. Only about 10% of Deaf children are born to Deaf parents, and about 80% of Deaf parents intermarry. That leaves only about 2% of Deaf children to have total access to communication with both a signing parent and a speaking parent, and that's only if both parents are actually involved in the child's upbringing. What about the other 98% of Deaf children? Many of them have very little language until Kindergarden. If we lived in a world where people learned to read and write from birth, and then in Kindergarden learned to listen and speak, Deaf people would have little language barrier. Blind people would. We don't live in such a world. People speak.
In my experiance, most people with CIs don't get enough post-implantation education to grasp spoken language. When I tell a Deaf person, "Oh yeah, she got a CI when she was younger. Now she uses the phone without relay." They're shocked, because to hear that is very rare indeed.
You're right that there is a vanity aspect, but it's an improvement aspect as well. For example, some of my Hard-of-Hearing friends would like a life without buying batteries or having to take a hearing aid on and off. Only one of my friends has a rechargable processor, and it's only good for 9 hours. Basically picture the idea of getting Lastik, but apply it to hearing: no glasses or contacts ever again. Now image if you never had to remember anything behind/in your ear ever again. You took your HA to swim, sleep, or whatever. Nothing really changed for you in that respect. My friends want a change.
In the experiance of my friends, many of them get a CI and expect that their newfound ability to hear will grant them English. Nothing could be further from the truth. In my experiance, few people with CIs go through extensive speech therapy, oration, learn to cue (Cued Speech), and take ESL (English as a Second Language). My friends that do have a CI cannot hear and speak like Hearing people. They still require text or sign. I personally know absolutely no people with CIs who use Cued Speech, and I live right by Alexander Graham Bell Montessori School in Mount Prospect, IL where all students, Hearing and Deaf, all cue.
Think about it. If we lived in a world where people communicated by writing notes back and forth on an overhead projector or blackboard, rather than speaking, Deaf people would have little language barrier. Blind people would. We don't live in such a world. People speak. Growing up, it is not Deaf people's problem that they cannot hear. It is that they cannot communicate. Only about 10% of Deaf children are born to Deaf parents, and about 80% of Deaf parents intermarry. That leaves only about 2% of Deaf children to have total access to communication with both a signing parent and a speaking parent, and that's only if both parents are actually involved in the child's upbringing. What about the other 98% of Deaf children? Many of them have very little language until Kindergarden. If we lived in a world where people learned to read and write from birth, and then in Kindergarden learned to listen and speak, Deaf people would have little language barrier. Blind people would. We don't live in such a world. People speak.
In my experiance, most people with CIs don't get enough post-implantation education to grasp spoken language. When I tell a Deaf person, "Oh yeah, she got a CI when she was younger. Now she uses the phone without relay." They're shocked, because to hear that is very rare indeed.
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How do they get this education? Is it easily available? Does the hospital where they get the CI surgery provide resources? Who pays for it? Do you have a website for this education? That's interesting.
Taric25
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Post-Implantation Education
This education is easily available. First of all, many ESL (English as a Second Language) are easily available at any college, and a growing number of ESL classes are free. Your local government, public health department, department of education or school district can give you information about cheap or free ESL classes in your local area. Second of all, almost all insurance or public aid will pay for speech therapy. The hospital, where the patient gets the CI surgery, may have speech therapists on staff, or you may choose to use a speech therapist at another facility, if your insurance allows it. Third of all, National Cued Speech Association is the website for the NCSA (National Cued Speech Association).
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Thank you for the information.
I guess I was thinking that the CI process would include speech therapy as part of the follow-up "package".
The other problem is, I, as a hearing person, don't feel right about approaching my friends and saying, "You really could benefit from some speech therapy." Unless they ask me for suggestions, I can't give them this information. Until they feel the need and desire, then there isn't much that can be done.
sr171soars
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All of the above. You're right that everybody is different in how they do after getting a CI. It is interesting you say that about Rush. He was hearing until his hearing went south. If anybody should do well with a CI, it would be him.
I surmise it really comes down how one's implant is placed in the cochea and how one does utilizing it. Another factor that can't be ignored is the state of technology at a given time. Those who get a more recent CI do much better than those of earlier years. In another board, there are a couple of people who gotten a second CI (bilaterial) or an upgrade noticed a significant improvement over the old. Also, if one had been hearing or HOH and developed speech early on in life, do better as they already have the critical pieces of speech development down.
Remember the hierarchy for doing well with a CI is generally as follows
1) Prior hearing after speech development (the older the better usually)
2) Children implanted before five or so
3) HOH with strong oral background and can understand speech (my category)
4) Hearing but deafened before speech development (and not oral oriented)
5) All others
sr171soars
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*Dryly* That would be the ideal world. Unfortunately, one has to take what is available.
Oh...I wouldn't say there hasn't been a change. Compariably speaking, there is no comparison what my HA was doing for me and afterwards what my CI is now doing for me. It has given my "hearing" life back in so many ways. Just the fact that I can't swim or take a shower with one or not sleep with it (one can but like most people sleeping in quiet is much preferred) is totally irrelevant. That is if you will a minor inconvenence and well worth the "cost" to hear again. I hear so much more and miss so much less, use the phone all the time, carry on coversations in noisy social settings and the list goes on. Nobody can tell me there was no change.
Patience is the key as who knows what the future will bring. But in the meanwhile in today's world, I will take those limitations and laugh all the way to the bank.
Taric25
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Speech Therapy
Many Deaf people know absolutely nothing about Cued Speech. One of my Hard-of-Hearing friends was absolutely shocked, when he saw it for the first time. At first, he was laughing, but he was later interested. When I was watching the captioned/signed video with him, there was one girl with a CI with perfect speech. As soon as I heard her speaking, I said, "Wow!" He asked me, "What?" I signed, "That girl has perfect speech. If I didn't know she had a cochlear implant, I would not know that she was Deaf." Another example happened when we were at Deaf Nation Expo, and we saw a Deaf woman with a CI speaking. I overheard her, and I signed, "Wow!" My friend said, "What?" I signed, "That lady has really good speech."
At first my friend thought negatively about CIs, but after he sees that, not only are Hearing people accepting of people with CIs, they are impressed by them, he is less akward about learning about CIs. It may be hard to convince a Deaf person (who does not speak) to participate in speech therapy, but in my experiance, Hard-of-Hearing, Oral Deaf, and Latened Deafened people are rather intrigued by it. For example, when my friend used his CapTel (Captioned Telephone) to call me, I asked him to call me back with STS (Speech-to-Speech) relay. He did, and I understood him much better. He saw everything the STS CA (Communication Assistant) re-voiced on his CapTel display. If the CA said something wrong, he made sure to speak it more carefully, or spell it, so I would understand. He asked me, when I came over, to help him pronounce the words that the STS CA had difficulty pronouncing. We used Tadoma (Tactile Throatreading/Lipreading [Oralism for DeafBlind {He placed one hand on my throat, and the other near my mouth}]) with Lipreading until he pronounced the word correctly. He was astonished that his speech was so different, and he became more interested in speech therapy. He asked me why it's so hard for me to teach him how to say certian sounds, and I explained that English spelling doesn't always show how to pronounce the words. The spelling and the pronounciation can be totally different. A dictionary shows a pronounciation key. Then I refered back to Cued Speech. I signed, "If you knew Cued Speech, I could teach you how to say any word right away." "Yeah," he said, regretfully.
You're right, that statement may be hard to approach. However, you could go about it a completly different way.
Many Deaf people know absolutely nothing about Cued Speech. One of my Hard-of-Hearing friends was absolutely shocked, when he saw it for the first time. At first, he was laughing, but he was later interested. When I was watching the captioned/signed video with him, there was one girl with a CI with perfect speech. As soon as I heard her speaking, I said, "Wow!" He asked me, "What?" I signed, "That girl has perfect speech. If I didn't know she had a cochlear implant, I would not know that she was Deaf." Another example happened when we were at Deaf Nation Expo, and we saw a Deaf woman with a CI speaking. I overheard her, and I signed, "Wow!" My friend said, "What?" I signed, "That lady has really good speech."
At first my friend thought negatively about CIs, but after he sees that, not only are Hearing people accepting of people with CIs, they are impressed by them, he is less akward about learning about CIs. It may be hard to convince a Deaf person (who does not speak) to participate in speech therapy, but in my experiance, Hard-of-Hearing, Oral Deaf, and Latened Deafened people are rather intrigued by it. For example, when my friend used his CapTel (Captioned Telephone) to call me, I asked him to call me back with STS (Speech-to-Speech) relay. He did, and I understood him much better. He saw everything the STS CA (Communication Assistant) re-voiced on his CapTel display. If the CA said something wrong, he made sure to speak it more carefully, or spell it, so I would understand. He asked me, when I came over, to help him pronounce the words that the STS CA had difficulty pronouncing. We used Tadoma (Tactile Throatreading/Lipreading [Oralism for DeafBlind {He placed one hand on my throat, and the other near my mouth}]) with Lipreading until he pronounced the word correctly. He was astonished that his speech was so different, and he became more interested in speech therapy. He asked me why it's so hard for me to teach him how to say certian sounds, and I explained that English spelling doesn't always show how to pronounce the words. The spelling and the pronounciation can be totally different. A dictionary shows a pronounciation key. Then I refered back to Cued Speech. I signed, "If you knew Cued Speech, I could teach you how to say any word right away." "Yeah," he said, regretfully.
Perhaps you and your friends should look into seein if you can still get into the Envoy clinical trial. The Envoy is a completely implantable HA. A middle ear implant. They implant the power source and 'computer' part under the skin like the part of a CI that is implanted. The part that is under the skin is thicker then the CI part. They figure the batter will last for 5 yrs, then a new one will need to be implanted....much like those with pacemakers need to have their battery replaced every few yrs. If you want 'change' then perhaps you might be willing to help make that change happen. There are risks of course. The requirements are mild to servere bi lateral sensorial nueral hearing loss and having worn HA's for a minimum of 6 months.
Hearing Aids, Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Hearing Impaired - Envoy Medical
I have a daughter participating in this trial.