It is hard for me to understand why there is still some opposition to cochlear implants when they have proven to be so effective in many patients with hearing loss. According to the National Institute on Deafness, there are seventeen out of every one thousand children under the age of eighteen who are deaf. Yet a large number of these children are not receiving coclear implants. Twelve thousand babies are born each year with some hearing loss.
I realize some of this is cultural and perhaps religious. Some individuals feel, I am told, that this is the way they are supposed to be and don't feel it is natural to be able to hear if they are not supposed to hear. I don't understand that kind of thinking.
I had one child whose mother had essentially given the little girl to a relavtive, but would not sign a release for the child to have a cochlear implant. We had the child tested by one of the best otologists in the U.S. who felt the child could hear if cochlear implants were put in. We could had had it done at no charge to the mother, but she wouldn't agree.
There is some increase of incidence of meningitis with coclear implants, but this is a treatable disease. I wish parents and people had a better understanding of these implants. Patients and parents I have spoken with say the implants have made all the difference in their lives or their child's life.
It is hard for me to understand why there is still some opposition to cochlear implants when they have proven to be so effective in many patients with hearing loss. According to the National Institute on Deafness, there are seventeen out of every one thousand children under the age of eighteen who are deaf. Yet a large number of these children are not receiving coclear implants. Twelve thousand babies are born each year with some hearing loss.
I realize some of this is cultural and perhaps religious. Some individuals feel, I am told, that this is the way they are supposed to be and don't feel it is natural to be able to hear if they are not supposed to hear. I don't understand that kind of thinking.
I had one child whose mother had essentially given the little girl to a relavtive, but would not sign a release for the child to have a cochlear implant. We had the child tested by one of the best otologists in the U.S. who felt the child could hear if cochlear implants were put in. We could had had it done at no charge to the mother, but she wouldn't agree.
There is some increase of incidence of meningitis with coclear implants, but this is a treatable disease. I wish parents and people had a better understanding of these implants. Patients and parents I have spoken with say the implants have made all the difference in their lives or their child's life.