It was an insult..and frankly, if you are Deaf/or a member of the hearing impaired Comunity, then YOU should have been insulted.

This is typical of the historical attitudes of hearing people towards the Deaf Communitry. Go asks any reputable historian in Deaf History.

Raphael J. St. Johns

I believe in the term audism, it is real. I wanted Naomi to think about how audism can affect a Deaf child’s life and cause the child to be manipulated physically just to be able to hear and be deemed able to think abstractly with speech skills. I believe parents or CI advocates feel that audism is just a term coined by us in defense of what they are doing.

Jean, it was an excellent comment by you and informative. I learned something.

“Audire” (“to hear” in Latin) is a word found in the Bible. Philosophers St. Augustine (354-430 A.D.) and St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) learned from the Bible that without “hearing” the Word of God, a person’s soul cannot be saved. Thus the word, “audire,” has become a buzzword for centuries.

The concern was spreading all over Europe and reached the Renmaissance Italy. Meanwhile, Mathematician-Physician Geroloma Cardona not only refuted the Bible thumbers concerning “audire” but also debunked Aristotle’s claim that deaf people were uneducable and incapable to reason and asked that — to reduce the burden of the government — deaf people be dumped in the woods. Cardano, who was a great friend of Masterpainter Leonardo da Vinci who had deaf friends, had proof that deaf people could do anything! He pointed at his deaf son who could read and write through not the ears but through the eyes.

Two centuries later, L’Abbé de lEpée proved how correct Cardano was after discovering a deaf teenager named Jean Massieu could think abstractly about God without able “audire” (to hear).

Today’s hearing people like AGB and his followers distort the concept of “audire” in the Bible. They interpret that being unable “to hear” is inferior to those who can hear. Thus some hearing people become audists. Deaf people who support audists’ theory are what I have coined (approved by Dr. Harlan Lane) a term: “Audists’ deaf protéges”. Audire, audism, audist.

from MZ most recent to this one now

i wonder if MZ can create a blog entry where folks can just discuss the perceived pros / cons of CI and also what type of research we want to see done and shared

i feel badly that i am feeling a need to respond to the comments more than the original stories being shared

aaron – i thank u for sharing your story and i am sorry for the pain you have experienced

re: folks tossing out terms anti-CI and audists – pls use with caution. name calling doesnt normally foster dialogue

none of us are black and white beings – we are complex

CIs are complex because:
1. their impact is relatively unknown
some experience great “success in speech, hearing, and English written/reading acquisition”
some do not

some experience physical side effects
some do not

some experience psychological / emotional effects
some do not

a few questions for the parents with kids with CI:
where are the dads??????

why is a support group still needed after the decision to implant is made and the CI is “successful”

to AARON – u r in my thoughts and prayers – be well

thanks

peace

p

Although parents have best of intentions of trying CI implants for their Deaf children, I still feel it is ignorantly wrong.

Why? I have simple reasons, and these reasons are impossible to get around (or avoid):

1. I have heard legit stories about physical suffering after CI implants, facial contortions and other side affects due to several factors which I believe to be:

A. Surgery is not guaranteed 100% to be precisely perfect and without side affect or accidents, or are absent of complications. Anything can happen. Do you want to subject your dearest and most precious child over a remote possibility that something can go wrong? Is that how much you love your child?

B. Here is an example. Some people can stay underwater for up to 1-2 minutes, and others who are supremely fit can for 3 mins. Another example is, some people get sick more often than others, with a more suppressed immune system. Others can stand up on their two feet longer than others that need to sit down after extended periods of times.

My point here? NOT every child can withstand a major surgical procedure. Every skull and physical being is a bit different in comparision to the person sitting next to them. Why assume CI implants results are the same for everyone? And even if you don’t assume so, why do you outweigh the risks associated with undergoing major surgery in the quest of enabling your child to hear and speak the way you feel a CI implant will change ones’ life?

2.Naomi, don’t you for a moment feel that a very young child should have the privilege of deciding if they want their skull invaded by a surgical drill, if they want a piece of their skull to open? Do any of the “CI” parents ever consider that their child might want to decide later in life, without any pressure, without high hopes in the illusion that it would please the parents?

Naomi, I am glad I was born in 1965. Because, my parents might have subjected me to CI implantation without asking me. I am just fortunate. To this day, I don’t want one. I want digital hearing aids.

And, Naomi, considering the enormous cost of CIs, a hearing man came up to me today and mentioned that his buddy’s daughter had a CI implant, because of pressure from family, audiologists, professionals, and CI company representatives. The result? Thousands of dollars were spent, and she wore them for only 6 mos before stopping to use it, stuck with the surgical procedure for the rest of her life. The money could have been used to feed the poor or to purchase MANY digital hearing aids for the needy.

One story I heard about in Jack’s vlog “The Ugly Truth of CI,” I heard that the CI recipicient had vomiting episodes from severe headaches in the months (and years?) following the surgery. Since his wife gave account of what happened, I assume the vomiting episodes continued for years, while his wife had to drive him to the ER.

And for what? In the quest to hear better and to attain more accurate speech skills, simply.

Does any of these details disturb you to the least?

Do you understand what the word audism means, or do you think this term was coined by the Deaf cultural thinkers? Is this word a real word, or is it a word used to appease to Deaf people who feel that the system tries to cintrol them?

Is audism a word that was coined specifically for paranoid Deaf people who feel that the system fails them?

Or is audism a word that is more fanatical, extremist, and anti-hearing?

Or is audism a legit term? A legit problem?

Can you go back to the 1880 Milan Conference and study the consequences of the decision to clamp down on ASL and to promote oralism? Did you know that some Deaf people lost their jobs, some as writers, some in the medicinal field, some in the educational field, and other professions? Did you know that some were taken to asylums? I don’t have all the details to write down, but this is just an example of what may have happened to some Deaf individuals after that fateful 1880 Milan Conference.

And what CI parents are doing, if the 1880 Milan conference folks knew of the medical/technology advances that would happen today, is to prove them right and to look the other way in seeing Deaf people lose their professions and be taken away to asylums.

In other words, is that humane? I equate the 1880 Milan Conference to CI implantation that can have tragic results in some cases. I don’t think it is humane.

And, some care more about their dogs. Animal rights activists are more loud than the anti-CI people, I believe.

Parents who got CI’s in their children’s heads are controllers.

Good job, MZ!

As for the reference to using a hearing person to look at the video, Melissa meant for those who don’t hear to use someone who can hear her daughter speaking to get an accurate evaluation of the girl’s speech, what did it sound like, not necessarily on what the girl was saying. Yes, she could have provided a transcript, but I don’t think the words were what Melissa was alluding to. I don’t think she meant to put d/Deaf people down.

BTW, Jodi addressed you as 76 because your comment is #76 in this blog, I don’t think she meant to slight you in the least. Many commenters/ bloggers do it all the time.

These CI community bloggers/commenters are new to DR, so give them the benefit of the doubt. Yes, they need to learn some sensitivity about the deaf community, so give them some time to feel their way around on DR. Some of them will pick it up with gentle reminders, but jumping on them angrily at first mistake is not conducive to any dialogue.

I have inquired many CI adults about their experiences and they all had positive experiences and didn’t have any pain. I got the same answers from many parents with CI children. I think the CI failures may be due to poor surgery, wrong map, and many other possible factors. However, I met one deaf adult who just received CI and he told me that he was not used to hearing all the sounds all day and he got exhausted at the end of the day but he enjoys the CI. Also, many of CI adults I met told me that they wished they received CI as young children or toddlers so that they can learn to listen better with the CI. Those are one of reasons I decided to give my daughter a CI as a toddler since hearing aids didn’t benefit her and I don’t regret my decision as she s been progressing very well in both ASL and spoken English.

I’d like to hear the accurate statistics of CI successes and failures in both children and adults, too. However, I have researched on CI extensively and inquired CI professionals and that led me and my husband to decide to give CI to our daughter.

The writer(Melissa) asks us to go check out HER site, then informs us that we need to get a hearing person to look at HER evidence to truely understand HER point-of -view!! GO figure!!!!!!!!

As for your question: I am sure there are alot of other ways she could have handle this,i.e. contacting people at Deafread. OR she could have provided a transcript to Misha Zena to publiish-I am sure that Eliizabeth would have publish it-instead she forces us to go out of way to get to try to see her Point-of view!

Total lack of sensitvity! And an insult.

And by the way- my name is Raphael J. St. Johns -not “76″