Cochlear implant

Tue Dec 9 09:13:56 UTC 2008

Hoi,
I have been looking for soundfiles that emulate a CI in a noisy background
because this is where hearing is hard anyway. I am interested in getting the
article about the CI fixed and have it more reflective of what it is and
what it does and what its limits are.

I am interested in the CI for my own reasons, but in order to get a more
balanced opinion, in order to make it less of an economic issue, improving
the article is more effective. Statistics about CI users and where they are
schooled are important. It is also important to know to what extend a CI
actually works. This requires statistical analysis where CI wearers are
compored with normal children and children who have an hearing impairment
and are receiving specialised schooling.

When the CI when proves a technical failure by some, they at least
acknowledge that there are technical failures. When there are no numbers
about the rate of such failures, there is no objective way of assessing the
CI, there is not even an opening for further study of these failures. This
would be a valid statement on the WIkipedia article.

When the observations about the CI are not transparent, this is in and of
itself a valuable observation. In my opinion for the CI Wikipedia article to
provide good information a neutral point of view is really important. Given
your observation about the economic arguments for the CI it is extremely
important that this information is balanced. Wikipedia is read by parents
they wil talk to doctors about the possibility for a CI for their child.
When parents are better informed, it will push doctors to learn more about
what is to them just an operation.

The key thing to remember is that it is not about the CI, it is about how it
functions for a person. The CI does not work for everyone. It is vital to
understand for whom it will work and what factors are involved. I totally
agree that language development is what makes a person function in society.
As much as possible needs to be done to make this happen optimally for each
person.
Thanks,
     Gerard

2008/12/9 Franz Dotter <Franz.Dotter at uni-klu.ac.at>

> Dear Gerard,
>
> I would like to warn you of the expectation to get "objective"
> information from sound files which "demonstrate how the CI works. It is
> ok for me that we get some illustration for that, but this will create
> no possibility for decisions on only "objective" criteria. Seen as a
> whole, the Wikipedia article tells some of the problems which occur with
> an assistive aid which is not so "simple" like a transplantaion or
> replacement of an organ, but has to do with language perception and
> learning.
> There is no doubt that a CI in most cases allows the persons implanted
> to hear something. But the crucial point (especially with implanted
> children) is, whether or to which extent spoken language can be
> perceived in a way that it becomes understandable and learnable. One of
> the biggest problem here is that we have to cope with economy = selling
> products. Reporting about CI success does often not obey the rules of
> medicine science accepted elsewhere (e.g. concerning the different
> grades of success). Many presentations on CI's are more like advertising
> than scientific reports.
> We often find only indirect statistics when e.g. it is told that a
> certain percentage of the implanted children is only able to go to the
> school for hearing impaired and a second percentage cannot do even that.
> My concern is not the successful cases but are the cases where the CI
> does not work in a way that spoken language can be acquired. These cases
> are hidden to societ AND science. The situation of the children is worse
> than any other because when they got the CI, everyone expects that it
> will work per 100% (even this is told by some surgeons). The argument is
> then that either the children or their parents are "guilty" for this
> failure; never it is the implantation, some lacking anamnesis or
> anything else. One of the best examples of a science which works in this
> unbearable way, is Graser, Peter: Sprachentwicklungsstörungen bei
> Kindern mit Cochlear Implant. Heidelberg: Winter 2007. This author
> argues that the CI is always working. If it is not successfull, the
> reason has to be inside the phonological apparatus which doies not work
> adequately, he says.
>
> My orientation is also not "objective", because my opinion is that
> every individual child which is barred from a language development
> necessary for a full life, is one child too much. And a wrong
> undersanding and handling of CI's can also lead to this situation. If
> you are interested, I can send you an article of mine concerning an
> inclusive environment for all people with hearing handicaps.
>
> Best Regards
>
> Franz Dotter
>
> University of Klagenfurt
> Center for Sign Language and Deaf Communication
> Funded by: Provincial government of Carinthia, Bundessozialamt
> Kaernten, European Social Fund
> Head: Franz Dotter (hearing)
> Collaborators: Elisabeth Bergmeister (deaf), Silke Bornholdt (deaf),
> Christian Hausch (deaf), Marlene Hilzensauer (hearing), Klaudia Krammer
> (hearing), Christine Kulterer (hearing),  Anita Pirker (deaf), Andrea
> Skant (hearing), Nathalie Slavicek (hard of hearing), Natalie
> Unterberger (deaf).
> Homepage: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/zgh
> Deaf server (in German): http://deaf.uni-klu.ac.at
> Fax: ++43 (0)463 2700 2899
> Phone: ++43 (0)463 2700 /2821 (Franz Dotter), /2822 (Andrea Skant),
> /2823 (Marlene Hilzensauer), /2824 (Klaudia Krammer), /2829 (Christine
> Kulterer)
> Email addresses: firstname.lastname at uni-klu.ac.at
>
>
> >>> "Gerard Meijssen" <gerard.meijssen at gmail.com> 12/06/08 2:06  >>>
> Hoi,
> I have been really happy with the replies so far. I have listened to
> soundfiles from websites, I have downloaded a program and played with
> it. I
> learned just now that in the Netherlands a cochlear implant has 22
> channels,  much more then I heard on the website. So all in all I was
> not
> able to come to grips with what it sounds like. Given that the emotions
> in
> the discussions around cochlear implants run high, I think it is
> really
> important to get more objective information out. When you read that
> the
> article on the cochlear implant on Wikipedia needs expert attention,
> that it
> needs reference sources, I can only urge better information that will
> help
> people appreciate this emotive issue.
> Thanks,
>     Gerard
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant
>
> 2008/12/1 Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijssen at gmail.com>
>
> > Hoi,
> > I have been in a number of discussions about deafness, signing and
> > SignWriting. Quite often, the Cochlear implant is mentioned as this
> > brilliant thing that makes deafness go away. My understanding is that
> while
> > it provides an amazing difference, in essence it is still a crutch.
> Now my
> > discussions are between hearing people. What I would love to have is
> a few
> > sound files that give an approximation of what a Cochlear implant
> does for a
> > deaf person.. I would like to have three sound files, one of a
> person
> > speaking English in a quiet background, the other of a person
> speaking
> > English in a noisy background (no music, just people talking) and the
> last a
> > sound file with 30 seconds of music followed by 30 seconds of the
> same
> > fragment as it was recorded.
> >
> > I would be surprised if such sound files do not exist .. One extra
> > requirement, these files need to be available under a free licene
> because I
> > want to use them in the Wikipedia projects I am active in.
> > Thanks,
> >       Gerard
> >
>
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