A CI with young children is fine but with deaf adults, that makes no sense.
–Not with regular deaf people but people with sudden deafness could use it.
–What I mean is that you and I would get a CI now, that would not work. But children still need to develop...
...and I see it working better that way. But signs should stay I think.
–She has a question.
You need signs to get information.
–As a reassurance.
–Listen. It's never black and white.
A child that is handicapped will always be handicapped. With a CI people think that a child is completely the same as them, and that's not the case.
They're still damaged and they will never hear a 100% and will have to read lips as well.
Sign language together with sign-supported speech is fine. But sign language should be the foundation. You'll have it for the rest of your life.
They haven't researched how long a CI works. They've been doing this for just 20 years. Do you know what it's like in 50 or 60 years?
With a CI you don't know what the future will be like. But sign language will last you a lifetime.
So the combination of deaf and sign language is the best option.
–Many parents don't accept deafness. They feel that you need a CI in order to learn how to talk well.
–Many parents think that sign language is difficult. It is difficult to learn a new language, but if you try you can do it.
–You see that children become happy when you sign.
For hearing parents, who don't know anything about deafness, a CI is a quick fix. Like, we don't have to bother with it anymore.
But those parents should also see the other side and become aware of the possibilities that deaf people have.
It's not just about a surgery. They also need the other information.
–They'll lose income, they won't do that.
The amount of surgeries will reduce, they'll have less work and less money. It makes sense that they don't do it. Now they make a lot of money.
–Yeah, those doctors care about money too. They also don't inform people about the existence of deaf schools.
These children end up at regular schools where they feel lonely. –Often they only give positive...
–Doctors should also talk about the aids. For example a woman with a CI who had to be woken up by her husband every morning. Even though there are special alarms for that.
These people had never heard of them. This was an older lady who had become deaf.
–Yeah... I can imagine that a CI is fine for people with post-lingual or sudden deafness. They know what it's like to hear, and have always had hearing friends.
Becoming deaf is a shock to them. But for those who were raised deaf, pfff, horrible...
We are just toys. "Look over there, that one has a CI, luckily, oh how great!" That's no use to me.