Wednesday, September 16, 2009

A Cochlear Implant Journey Video

This is a must see video! It describes the hearing loss journey of Josh and Sam Swiller, their cochlear implant surgery, activation, therapy, and life afterwards perfectly....and is almost identical to my hearing loss experience and results. It is captioned, too!

What a gift technology has given to the deaf and hard of hearing....Enjoy!



Soundproof Trailer created by filmmaker Rebecca Haimowitz.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a terrific video. Thanks so much for sharing that Laurie! It made me cry in parts, because I so remember all the WORK, and people not understanding that choosing the CI was a tough choice! I get such a hard time by the culturally Deaf acting as if I "chickened out" on embracing my deafness. Learning to hear again and using the miracle of the CI was the BRAVE choice! Thanks again for sharing this story...

Laurie said...

I agree, Denise! It made me cry and smile at the same time. I felt like I was IN the video...not watching it.

diber said...

Thanks for sharing this!

I love to see the experience of adults with the CI. :)

Dianrez said...

Important to note: the brothers had progressive hearing loss, so that means they had hearing memory before their operations.

It has been documented that the CI surgery has better results with people who previously had hearing than with people who never had it.

What remains to be seen is if this observation also holds true of children implanted early.

Laurie said...

Hello Dianrez,

I think you will find that children who have supportive parents and those who have kept their auditory nerve stimulated have had great success with cochlear implants. But like they said in the video, it is a huge decision and a process that one has to go through to hear with a CI. Everyone is different and it all depends on many factors. I would encourage you to visit some of the links in my sidebar on the right and read the stories of children with CI's as well as adults.

Also, it is important to note that 80% of deaf children are born to HEARING parents, who do not have much contact with the deaf world and only want the best for their child.

Sam said...

Interesting! Thanks for sharing.