Cochlear Implants do work???
As I am a failed implantee. I wanted to express my concerns on how the hospitals and cochlear companies release success rates in their statistics. Actually, they never wanted to show their FULL statistics and only expose statistics BASED on most successes.
I have asked an audiologist at Johns Hopkins about the statistics on successes and failures for the patients who were pre-linguals and post-linguals so I can look at real hard data. She responded that there is no such data to release and cases do vary greatly on individual basis.
I do not believe in her claims. I really do think that cochlear companies should disclose all statistic data to the public. Or have an independent statisticans to survey on all implantees about their satisfication with the implants. I believe somewhere about 1 to 5% of deaf prelinguals were successful implantees as compared with postlingual adults with higher rate.
As well as AgBAD, the most heated talk in the DeafRead-sphere. I believe likewise that AgBAD are trying to suppress ASL and advocate oralism. There should be some kind of statistics on the success rates between ASL and oralism. I do believe that ASL do fare well and is more successful than oralism.
I do think likewise cochlear companies and AgBAD prefer to suppress the real data and continue their own propaganda.
It is all about MONEY and POWER after all, folks.
I have asked an audiologist at Johns Hopkins about the statistics on successes and failures for the patients who were pre-linguals and post-linguals so I can look at real hard data. She responded that there is no such data to release and cases do vary greatly on individual basis.
I do not believe in her claims. I really do think that cochlear companies should disclose all statistic data to the public. Or have an independent statisticans to survey on all implantees about their satisfication with the implants. I believe somewhere about 1 to 5% of deaf prelinguals were successful implantees as compared with postlingual adults with higher rate.
As well as AgBAD, the most heated talk in the DeafRead-sphere. I believe likewise that AgBAD are trying to suppress ASL and advocate oralism. There should be some kind of statistics on the success rates between ASL and oralism. I do believe that ASL do fare well and is more successful than oralism.
I do think likewise cochlear companies and AgBAD prefer to suppress the real data and continue their own propaganda.
It is all about MONEY and POWER after all, folks.
posted by Mike at 8:47 AM
13 Comments:
You couldn't have said it any BETTER!! :-)
The truth is here......YOU!
You are SO right. Like I said, again - you said it PERFECT :-)
Thanks!
This seems to support my darkest suspicion...that the CI people are suppressing statistics that give an unfavorable picture of their successes, or lack of them.
Come on, CI people! Stop hiding behind vauge statements and weasel expressions like "it varies with the individual"!
Use your grants and pay independent and unbiased researchers to document the truth! Use the truth to improve your product and services, or explain why not.
People are subjecting their young children to invasive surgery based on subjective statements and hopeful expectations, and are only getting an uncertain future. They deserve to have hard statistics, no less.
In the past 2 weeks at our booth at the Orange County Fair, weve had a good number of young deaf people with cochlear implants visiting us.
Theyre almost like hearing people. They talk like them, they act like them, and they have high paying jobs, and some of them already have families some have deaf kids that also have cochlear implants.
Thyre not worried about their implants failing bcause they can be replaced.
Since its inception in Fall 2000, Gallaudet's Cochlear Implant Center has yet to release a report with the statistics about implanted pupils. Equally strange that Gallaudet's demography study on implantées in the USA as well as overseas has yet to release to the public. It is my understanding that a number of implantees in New Zealand are legion.
Thank you for bringing up this subject! I've been frustrated lately with CI dialogue because it seems to be parents, teachers, and administrators speaking up on behalf of kids who are "doing just fine."
I've always believed that if you want to understand what it means to be deaf, you have to ask a deaf person; likewise, if you want to understand the cochlear implant (and I really do!), you have to ask a person who has one.
I'm getting tired of seeing people speaking on behalf of others so again, I really appreciate this topic you've brought up and I look forward to reading responses from people who can share genuine experiences. :)
It has come to my attention that Gallaudet University has abolished the research center..I have not been to Gallaudet in YEARS I just wondered if that was true; IF it is true; that may be one reason why Gally doesnt have any statistics on the CI success or failures..
anon #1,
same thing I got this information about Gallaudet did abolished that research on CI failures and success!
from Anonymous number 2
I have been asking as many CI implantees as I could find several questions for my personal quest in making a decision whether I should go for it or not.
I would love to do an independant survey to get the percentage based on several criterias - pre-linguistics and post-linguistics, age, etc. And then publish it on the internet for everyone to see.
If there is an opportunity for me to do a research on this - there is no stopping us!
I would love to do an independant survery and create a published report on my findings relating to this sensitive issue.
If there is an opportunity, there is no stopping us!
I second Drolz about the importance of getting it straight from the Deaf people themselves and demanding the real numbers and accountability of the people who push for CIs.
Thank you, Mike, for coming forward and posting the challenge.
Gallaudet University do not dismantle the Gallaudet Research Center at all. It probably do not have any priority on the research datas on CIs.
Why not any of you check out with the National Institute of Health (NIH) to see if they do have the total statistical data on the successes and failures of CI surgery, etc.
Could you fully explain what you meant by being the failed CI user? In what way? Thanks.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
Mark,
I second. Gallaudet's implanted students' being silent is beyond my comprehension.
Anon #1 and Anon #2:
I think the research is continued in the Department of Audiology and may be expanded upon the completion of SLCC. One of its long-time departmental members has claimed that there is no future for ASL.
Thanks everyone. I even had a friend who had been CI implanted and he never talked about it. He prefer to move on with his life and involve with Deaf community. But he would have contribute like I did on why implant failed on me. I prefer to step up and make the statement than to regret for others to get implanted. If my friend decided to step forward and tell his story, I probably would have been educated about it and gain awareness. But he never did. I guess I had to do it.
OCDAC,
You said "Thyre not worried about their implants failing bcause they can be replaced."
Well, my audiologist said that my implant are working fine by testing thru her computer. It was failure due to the structure of cochlea which was damaged by spinal meningitis. I had researched and found that patients who has had spinal meningitis are proven ineffective with the implants. Why are doctors/audiologists concealing the facts about patients with spinal meningitis. They knew I had spinal meningitis before they proceed operation on my ear. Why?? It is all about money that they care about, not patients. Really sick.
Deaf Mom,
Sounds good idea to do independent statistics, but problem is hospitals and cochlear centers do have full data on patients and that is a true statistic data. Where can we find people who have implants? Some of them are not active in Deaf community, some of them are regular hearing before they became deaf, some of them are silent about it like my friend. So that would be missing vital data for the statistic purpose. So hospitals/cochlear centers do have real statistics, we have to find a way to force them to reveal the statistics thru legal action or introducing a legisature bill thru your U.S. congresspeople.
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