suppose ur child is deaf....?

Question

suppose you have a deaf child, would ya put cochlear implant in that child at early age, or let themselves to decide if they want one or not?

how abt hearing aids?

would you send that child to deaf school or to regular public schools?

wat kind communication you would preferred your child to communication YOU as parent? oral or communication in ASL?


do you believe there are cure for deafness? if so, then why?

also, do you think there should be a law, which all child who are deaf/hard of hearing, which require parents to learn ASL, and if they dont, charged them with lanuague abuse right as part of child neglect?

btw lol, im deaf. im juss doin survey

Answer 1

Hello Joker,

Perhaps a poster who is entirely deaf will be able to give you a more complete answer, but I am severely hearing impaired and wear one hearing aid. (I am profoundly deaf in the other ear and an aid is of little help.) Maybe I can offer a few insights?

If I had a deaf child, I would find out first just how serious the impairment is likely to be. If the child is completely deaf, I would go ahead and get the cochlear implant at an early age. Language skills are learned at a VERY early age. It would help them adapt as much as possible to the majority of people who are aurally aware. The implant would supplement whatever they are able to pick up from lip-reading, body language, and so forth to enable the child as much range for communication as will be possible in their lives.

I would ALSO encourage the learning of at least one 'dialect' of American Sign Language. (Yes, it is a complete language and it does have dialects.) Again, the purpose is to enable the child as much range as possible.

If, as an adult, the child decides that he/she wishes to live in a totally ASL world as some do, they have the ability to 'turn off' the implant and since they have already learned ASL and something of the culture, they will have the ability to move seamlessly into the world of the deaf. If they have some hearing ability with the implant, they might be able to function well enough in the land of the hearing if they so choose - thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

If the child is able to learn and grow at regular school, then I would send the child there. If it proves that the hearing ability is insufficient to enable her/him to maximize what the child is capable of achieving there, then quite happily, the alternative exists.

In order to enable a move into the ASL world, I would find activities and friends for him/her at the local organizations for the deaf. It will enable the child to find friends and allow the child to use the ASL they are learning in order to establish relationships.

If there is a "cure" for deafness, it might not be available in our lifetimes. But as Einstein said "The limit of our understanding is not the limit of all there is to understand." So it will likely be possible to have the condition 'cured' in the future. Science is already finding ways to use computers to enable the disabled to control muscles that the nervous system no longer controls... and possibly walk again. Why couldn't hearing be helped?

We don't hear with our ears and we don't see with our eyes... we hear and see with our brains. Ears and eyes are only the sensory receptors that send the information to the brain. Fix the receptor and voila... you have hearing. That's what the implant is designed to do though I think it is still at a fairly primitive level. However, it is the only game in town so far.

I doubt a law is required. My mother didn't bother to learn ASL nor did she send me somewhere to learn it. What she did do, since my hearing loss wasn't total, is that she spent hours teaching me to lipread and ways to cope with being impaired. Parents will WANT to communicate with their child and that's something that can't be legislated.

If parents are ignoring something as fundamental as their child's communication needs, then they are likely to be abusive in other ways... and there are already many laws on the books that deal with parental neglect.

Hope my opinions were of some help.
Tara

Answer 2

I am not completely deaf, but am in one ear. Here's my two cents, for what they're worth.

I had a hearing aid, it did NOTHING for my deaf ear, basically a waste of money. If the doc thinks it'll help, give this a try first. He didn't think it would help me and it didn't.

Cochlear implants are a big step, I'd say wait a little longer until s/he is older and can help make the decision. There are some serious risks with this surgery, so make sure you do a lot of research and talk to a couple doctors.

Deaf school wasn't an option for me, but there's definitely a sense of community there. Again, I would perhaps let the child help decide. I could lip read from a very young age and got along pretty well. I even cheated on my hearing tests because I was watching the doctor talk. : ) Kids find ways around impairments or "disabilities."

I think there may be a cure for certain types of deafness, but in my case, my ear's a lost cause. I have learned to look at the benefits it gives me--I save money on earplugs, I can sleep or study almost anywhere by covering one ear, etc. It is ok and acceptable to be deaf. One just has to learn to embrace it because odds are it won't change.

I don't know about the law thing, but I would definitely make sense that the parents know ASL...how else would they communicate with their child?

I hope I gave you some useful information. Deafness can be frustrating, but also provides a whole nother outlook on life. Be thankful for what you have, that's the way I look at it.

Answer 3

You have so many questions and each is very important but has a different slant on how your child's life would go. I strongly suggest you go to a meeting where people who have lived with their own or a family member's serious hearing limits can talk to you openly and honestly about those choices.

The cochlear implant is not as perfect as people think. The sounds the person hears are not the same as a person with average hearing abilities. Sign language works in a community of those with hearing deficits, but in a world of hearing the majority of people do not sign.

Putting a child in a specialized school may give them a sense of community but does not allow the child to develop a rounded social circle, adjust to people's inappropriate and rude responses in a less threatening manner, and not allow them to develop friendships with neighors, etc.

No, a law does not need to be made. Look at the actress with hearing loss and see that she signs, reads lips, but lives within the average community. If you haven't read any of the books like The Miracle Worker or other books on Helen Keller, do because you will get an insight to help you make the decision. Ms. Keller went on to become a diplomat, etc., and she not only lost her hearing as a child (age 2) but also lost her sight.

Your choices are hard and few have walked the walk you are taking. Use the professional resources and those of the deaf community to help you make this life altering decision.

Again, your choices are hard.

Answer 4

If your child is deaf there are support groups out the butt with all kinds of help for you--other parents that went through this are there for you. What about the doctors---and don't you want the best and most for your child??? Go for all the best that is out there---millions of deaf kids have normal lives with the technology that is out there.

Answer 5

Both my children are grown and out of my house and come back to visit when they can. Both are respectful, polite,joyful, gregarious, trustworthy, and beautiful. I have been told by many people ever since they small, that we have the best behaved and lovable children. They are normal, in that we have given them a spanking and a "good talking to" whenever they need it and sometimes we have a family disagreement, but we have overcome those "normal" things. My son is a policeman in Texas and my daughter is working in LA and we always talk to them every week and end our conversation with "We love you" So we have been bless.