Go to deaf

r/deaf•6mo ago

TheresJustNoMoney

Why don't all deaf workers get cochlear implants to make them hear again / for the first time ever in their lives?

Hearing with questions

I had a coworker who was completely deaf working at Tyson Foods as a fellow taco packer. I don't have much knowledge with hand gestures. I didn't know how to gesture "Why don't ear doctors give you cochlear implants?" And didn't think at the time to ask others who deal with him regularly why he couldn't have a hearing implant.

So why aren't some deaf people given cochlear implants? If for reasons other than "insurance won't pay / no insurance / deductible is too high?"

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Edit 1: Sorry if my word choices seemed kinda rough. I have disabilities of my own, ASD being one of them, and I am working on improving my communication and social skills as much as possible. I know I probably have a long way to go still.

 

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[–]deaf-ModTeam[M] [score hidden] 5 months ago stickied commentlocked comment 

Low quality post.

Not every one it's a candidate for an implant.

I was profoundly deaf for about 15 years before I got implanted. Two main reasons: 1) I couldn't afford it, I'm American. 2) I don't need it. I already had/have a decent job and a family. I don't need to hear to live.

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[–]dualvansmommy 11 points 5 months ago 

First off; hand gestures is pretty insulting to describe a deaf person language which is sign language. What you are sharing here, is a very ableist viewpoint.

why do you think deaf people need to be implanted? why should we want a surgery that is very invasive for odds, that is not all that great to restore hearing. Also news flash, even AFTER getting implanted, we're still deaf!

it's actually a choice for many of us that don't want cochlear implants.

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[–]JuneFrancesdeaf on the right 8 points 5 months ago 

1. Invasive surgery with a long recovery time.

2. There are different types of hearing loss, a CI can't help everyone.

3. CIs don't "fix" hearing.

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[–]RepublicNorth5033 13 points 5 months ago 

The same reason you don’t have a common sense implant. Because you don’t want one.

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[–]lovedietcoke 2 points 5 months ago 

STOP this is the best.

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[–]TheresJustNoMoney[S] -8 points 5 months ago 

Why would any deaf person not want a cochlear implant in the first place? If I were to ever go deaf, I would work on getting a cochlear implant as soon as humanly possible.

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[–]JahkralCODA 2 points 5 months ago 

They have a LOT of drawbacks is why

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[–]Ok-World-4822HoH 2 points 5 months ago 

That’s because you’re used to sound and miss the sound whenever it’s quiet. A deaf person is the opposite. They’re used to silence and when they’re offered a device to have access to sound it can be very overwhelming. When they go back to their normal, aka silence, it feels like relief.

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[–]RepublicNorth5033 1 point 5 months ago 

That’s your choice for your body. You don’t get to make choices for other people’s bodies.

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[–]momma99 5 points 5 months ago 

Oh wow! That took my breath away and not in a good way. To answer your question, its because I don't need "fixed".

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[–]coddiwomplecactus 3 points 5 months ago 

Listen buddy, I really hope you have good intentions and are hoping to educate yourself. However you are coming across as very condescending. Check your tone and open your mind and I bet this community would willingly educate you. But your tone right now is gonna get you dragged through the mud. 

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[–]TheresJustNoMoney[S] 0 points 5 months ago 

I have disabilities of my own - My ASD can sometimes make my word choices sound rough, but I'd like to keep working on improving it as much as ever possible.

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[–]FunnyBunnyDollyDeaf(SwedishSL) 2 points 5 months ago* 

I’m born before the CI era

As adult CI is harder to adjust to and even use properly if you’re born deaf and having no reference to hearing

It is invasive surgery and they won’t always allow for adults to get (paid for) precisely due to not always useful outcome

It requires many years of training to understand the sounds

CI don’t make deaf people hearing. The person is still deaf.

And for deaf autistic people like me, sounds adds to sensory overload may leading to meltdowns. This is why I won’t do hearing aids. They overwhelm me and I have to rip them off to get relief.

Deaf people don’t exist for hearing peoples comfort.

Now if I could wave a wand and get perfect hearing magically and also including understanding the sounds and also erasing memories of discomfort of hearing then maybe but I might still decline as I’m fucking glad I don’t have to deal with noises and sensory overload from them! Deafness is a bliss.

Deafness is the smallest of my problems, I don’t really think of it that way. At most I’m annoyed over lack of accommodations but then the lack of accommodations to my other actual disabilities is more important for me

I hope you’re genuine now and is open minded. Accept our answers. If you do, then I don’t have problems with you. If you try to oppose us then I have a problem with you.

I see you’re ASD. Use that as comparison. What do you think if someone said something like you just said now but regarding your autism?

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[–]TheresJustNoMoney[S] 0 points 5 months ago 

This is why I won’t do hearing aids. They overwhelm me and I have to rip them off to get relief.

Wait, do hearing aids and CIs not have volume knobs to let you hear as much and as little as you want?

Or in 2025, a smartphone app connected to those hearing devices where you can turn the volume of those up and down on your phone, and turn them off and on at anytime?

What do you think if someone said something like you just said now but regarding your autism?

I wish there was an equivalent to a cochlear implant for my ASD (formerly Asperger's) and other disorders. But therapy, life experiences, and learning from my mistakes (and more preferably others' mistakes) is apparently the best I've/we've got.

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[–]FunnyBunnyDollyDeaf(SwedishSL) 1 point 5 months ago 

There’s volume knob yes, but if your sensors are used to SILENCE, even the smallest sounds are annoying, and if you lower too much, it isn’t possible to understand. Also I never managed to decipher the sounds and tie them to actual speaking. It is just all uniform noise to me, like someone just generating a single tone uniform noise beep beep but raising or lowering volume. So to me it was utterly meaningless, and just a source of highly annoying and unnecessary sensory input.

I won’t touch on your second reply regarding ASD, as it is your own experience and I respect your take, it is valid for you. Just please don’t apply it to everyone else, okay?

As for myself I don’t want to cure my autism, because if I do that, then I wouldn’t be me anymore. My own thoughts, my ideas, the core of me. But what I do want, is to have better accommodations and respect. And maybe a little better physical health, but that’s another matter entirely.

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[–]RepublicNorth5033 1 point 5 months ago* 

Just like deafness, there’s nothing wrong with having ASD. You are existing in your body the only way you know how.

We live in an ableist society. We are constantly told we are not good enough, particularly those of us who have disabilities that are visible to non-disabled folk. Those people don’t get to set the standard for us. Sometimes however, as people with disabilities, we have internalized ableism.

I’m sorry that you have had experiences in your life that make you think you would be better off with a cure for ASD. I am content in my body, in spite of my deafness. It doesn’t bother me, and it doesn’t matter to me if it bothers others. That wasn’t always the case and I was incredibly self conscious for a long time.

I wish you the self acceptance you deserve.

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[–]gothiclg 1 point 5 months ago 

ASL works fine and doesn’t require anyone to get surgery. Making the assumption that cost is not an issue I personally wouldn’t want to take the risks of surgery for something that isn’t 100% necessary to allow me to communicate. Many surgeries should be chosen based on what the patient views as a personal benefit and that’ll be different for everyone.

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[–]Ok-World-4822HoH 1 point 5 months ago 

Because there are different types of hearing loss. Being deaf doesn’t mean you’re automatically a candidate for a cochlear implant. Asking that question can be quite offensive depending on the person as even if you are a candidate it doesn’t mean you can hear well enough. You have to train yourself to hear. There is a pretty intensive hearing training (based on observations, haven’t experienced myself) involved that takes about a year. Some deaf people don’t want that or hate the way things sound.

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