Why a CI???

Jiya has had a cochlear implant on her right ear for about 3 months now and her left ear's been activated for about 2 weeks. For most part, we just get curious stares at her implants when we are at a public place. Sometimes, we get a simple question "Whats that on your baby's ear?" And my reply is a relatively simple "My daughter was born deaf. This is a cochlear implant and it helps her hear better." It was only once that a got a question "But why did you get those?" My reply was "Because I want her to hear".

Getting the implant, as some people believe, is not necessarily the easy way out. I have put my career on a hold in order to drive her to endless AV therapies and mapping sessions. Also, its not easy to see your baby go through surgeries.

On the other hand, the decision to not get an implant is as difficult. After we found out that Jiya was deaf and before we opted for the CI, I was always wondering about what kind of life it would be to not be able to hear the sounds of nature. What if she can never hear a car coming her way or someone following her on an empty street? How will she deal with everyday stuff...grocery shopping, calling family and friends, getting a job ...? How would our immediate and extended family (all hearing) communicate with her? Even if unintentional, will she feel left out at family get togethers? The above included, there were many reasons why we decided that we wanted her to get the CIs early on.

In order for the auditory nerves to develop in a pattern similar to those of normally hearing people, is is necessary that the CIs be implanted at an early age. Else, there is always a chance that other senses such as the vision may take over those areas of the brain.

Another reason was the developement of spoken language. The greater the age at implantation, the lesser the chance that the child will develop age appropriate language. I am sure that there are late implanted kids who are doing phenomenally well. But what if my kid is not one of those lucky few. didnt want to take that chance.

And then at what age do the children become mature enough to make their own decision. Is it when they are 5 or 10 or 15 yrs old. Delaying the surgery in order to get the child's consent is as good as making a decision on her behalf.

Another reason why we wanted the implant was that there is a possibility that we may move to India in the future. ASL is not used there. Jiya would have to start from scratch to learn a new sign language. With English being used worldwide, moving to any part of the world becomes easier. Over there, there exist no services that are even remotely close to Early Intervention. The onus lies on the parents, depending upon their financial standing, to get the best possible services for their deaf child. In many cities, due to lack of resources, classes for the deaf are clubbed with classes for the blind and at some places even with those children who have severe learning disabilities. In these circumstances what is the chance that she will have a curriculum that suits her specific needs? Absolutely zero.

We all differ in our needs, our situations, our circumstances and our goals. Based on these, we make the decision that we hope will suit our needs the best. Whatever decision we make for our children, lets hope that when they are old enough they are happy with these decisions. If not, lets hope that they understand the circumstances under which they were made and strive to make the best of whats available to them.