Coclhlear Implants

[Guest guest]

hi Ester from OZ.

Torin (4) has Bilateral Cochlear Implants He did have hearing in one ear and

none in other at new born screening. By 6 mth he had gone down to mod/sever

in the good ear, so my daughter started the CI process. Many deaf children's

hearing deteriorates shortly after birth. I assume your son problems were

caused by CMV infection as was Torins. the commonest cause of deafness in

babies after genetic is CMV.

The process is drawn out a bit and involves repeated assessments at an

implant clinic until they are satisfied that the child is deaf enough. It

drove my daughter mad, how many times can you check an ear which has never

heard anything to say he can not hear anything. At this point when we

started we did not know where we would go with torin. He did not sit

unsupported till 10 mth could not roll over and was a demon to feed, did not

sleep and screamed much of the day. The Neuro championed the CI's as he

feels that no matter what functional level a child has they deserve to at

least hear there surrounding. He was first implanted at 13mth in the

profoundly deaf ear. The surgery is remarkably simple with an overnight stay

and it did not seem to worry him at all. 2 weeks later they turned it on. He

looked startled and grinned and quickly joined in the tuning process which

involved him turning to look at a puppet if he heard anything it was very

funny to watch him cheat to try and get the puppet to show itself. As he got

older that was boring so when the puppet showed he would just wave at it and

not bother turning at all. So funny he is a bit of a clown anyway. Now he is

older he puts pegs in a box .

Sorry I digress. The process then goes on to language training and speech

training. Torin can understand what you are saying but unfortunately is

still non verbal. His hearing in the good ear dropped to profound and so

he had the second implant at 2 1/4. It to was straight forward and he had no

problems and the whole process was repeated.

A bit about Torin himself, he has PMG mainly on the left down to the peri

selvian fissure. He is a Hemi Cerebral Palsy down right side. he has very

limited use of right hand and he is a bit clumsy on the left. He walked at 2

1/2 and stood in the middle of a room at 3. He is sedated every night for

sleep. He still can not feed himself with a spoon well but can eat

sandwiches and biscuits alone. Just recently he was able to drink out of a

drink bottle so much more socially appropriate for him at school. He has

botox every 5 mths to open his hand and straighten his leg. and of course OT

and Physio. He attends a special Deaf Preschool and is in a normal classroom

and is able to participateate in all activities.

I can only encourage you to follow through and find out as much as you can

about CI's they are wonderful. There are issues of course such as coils

needing to be picked up as they get knocked off and other problems but to

have your child hear and hopefully develop language. I do not know your

child's issues but if you would like to chat do not hesitate to contact me.

Grandma Carol, Torin 4, PMG CP and other stuff, but the happiest little

redhaired boy in the world