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From: osmigo@ut-emx.UUCP (rn)
Newsgroups: comp.misc,sci.med
Subject: Re: Deaf Comm and Cochlear Implants
Keywords: deaf implant cochlear
Message-ID: <35597@ut-emx.UUCP>
Date: 9 Aug 90 14:28:39 GMT
References: <[568]comp.misc@oldcolo.UUCP> <920@eplunix.UUCP>
Reply-To: osmigo@emx.UUCP (Ron Morgan)
Organization: Speech Communication UT Austin
Lines: 18

I want to thank Nico Garcia for his excellent post describing both sides
of the cochlear implant decision with regard to a pre-lingually deaf child.

No, by no means is the cochlear implant a panacea. It's quite common for
lay parents of deaf children to become very excited about cochlear implants,
as if it were some kind of "artificial ear" or something. Many parents make
this decision not out of rational deliberation, but out of desperation and
conflict in dealing with the experience of giving birth to a handicapped child.

Another consideration is that coclear implants are, as far as I know, 
permanent. You pretty much destroy the cochlea when you install a CI. If
a new, improved approach to neurological deafness develops in the future,
and this includes new types of CI's, it won't be available to those who
already have CI's. When thinking about putting a CI in a very young child
who probably still has many decades yet to live, this is a MAJOR consideration.

Ron Morgan
osmigo@emx.utexas.edu