I’m just someone with severe hearing loss trying to make a decision that’s not clear cut for me. The article gives one point of view which I appreciate. I’ve followed the discussions between CI recipients here and I appreciate the insights from those too. I’m not badmouthing the technology. It’s obviously amazing. Is it the right path for me to take right now? I don’t know.
Edit: You were referring to the article, not my post? It’s late here and I’m not firing on all cylinders! Good night!
Correct.
People with hearing loss will know when it’s the right time for CI. That’s if CI is available and affordable.
We each have to figure that out, it is elective.
I wonder sometimes if CI is given to those who are not ready for it. Most complaints come from those that still have borderline hearing but for most it’s a blessing and much appreciated.
The thing is, even though the CI is lower resolution, with the way the electrical stimulation spreads there’s a gradient of excitation, and I’d have to dig into it, but the brain can probably learn to use that–frequency is usually a place code, but localization (in humans) is not so the brain is already using comparative population neural firing and I can certainly imagine how that could be implemented for the stimulus received by CI but I’m not sure the work has been done at this point. Additionally, a CI is low resolution compared to the normal, functional ear and that is not who we’re implanting. After about 65dB HL of hearing loss there are basically no more functioning outer hair cells and they play a huge role in frequency acuity. Inner hair cells are also lost, with associated ganglia loss.
Sometimes normal hearing folks listen to CI audio simulators online and think that that is the experience of people with CIs, but it’s really not. The brain is amazing. Sometimes I have to pause and remember that we don’t even really see colour or detail outside the small foveal area of the eye, and yet as I sit here there certainly seems to be detail and colour in the periphery. Brains are cool.
Yes, brain is amazing. I think I’ve mentioned this book before: The Thinking Eye, The Seeing Brain
It is mind boggling.
I went back and looked at this guy’s profile. I was definitely wrong on my assessment of him.
My apologies.
Neville’s comment about CI being low resolution to normal hearing people but excellent for those with damaged hearing is saying pretty much what my thoughts are. If the article said more of this it would have come off different to me.
Piling on, to echo the sentiments above. I’m a bilateral CI recipient. Agree completely with the idea that the individual is the only valid “decider” about the timing of implantation. The insurance companies (etc) set criteria for consideration, altho what they’re considering is NOT utility to the recipient, they simply decide the criteria for payment. My intuition is they’re basing this on something like litigation avoidance. Whatever they base the decision on, it’s almost certainly not humane good will.
If one is already trying to cope with an 80 or 90 db loss, there is no agony about the absence of a child’s voice. It was gone a long time ago. There is instead a chance to again have a conversation with another person, or to hear birdsong, and so on.