2nd implant

[Guest guest]

Hi Lacey,

I really think you need to concentrate on making your son use the

implant he has. If he's getting sound and learning speech, the speech

areas of his brain are going to be stimulated anyway. But I think it is

very important that you don't sign to him unless his processor is off.

Ask the speech therapist to help you with this. And perhaps someone from

AGBell in your state can give you some hints as well. If you want him to

be oral, you must be oral with him, and insist that he use his voice as

well. Right now he has no reason to. A few hours a day at the

babysitter is no substitute for a parent talking to him all the time. I

have found so called " Total Communication " to be more signing than

anything else. There is nothing wrong with signing, mind you, but if you

want your child to be oral, he's going to have to learn to speak, and

hear, and just having an implant or two isn't enough.

Audio verbal therapy is a good thing for your child as well. And if

you can learn how to suplement what he learns in AV sessions, you can

help speed up the process. Remember, as he grows up, he is going to have

to interact with hearing and speaking people, so he needs to hear and

speak himself to compete on a level playing field.

I was implanted in an ear that had no hearing and no stimulation for

20 years, and it worked just fine. Who told you 4 was the age where you

have to implant? Discuss this with your audiologist and the implant

surgeon. But I think the thing to do is get him to use the implant he

has, rather than getting another one for him. I don't think timing is

crucial for a second implant, but check with the authorities on that.

Good luck,

The Original

From: Lacey <lacedoxie@...>

Subject: 2nd implant in 3 yr old?

Thanks to those of you who wrote to me. My son is in a Total

Communication pre school 4 days and gets speech therapy daily from a

woman who is Very familiar with implats. She is changing her method of

therapy due to this recent report by the audiologist that said my son

wasnt making use of his implant. My sons childcare provider also 4 days

a week speeks VERY little sign - like 10 words max, so I thought that

would give him some Oral time. So I am still stuck wondering what to do

about a second implant since he is approaching a magic age of 4 -which I

have been told is a crucial age for implantation. One of you said " a

second implant wont make a non speaker - a speaker " ,good point, but

what about retaining the use of that nerve? Any more thoughts, Lacey in

CA