CochlearWorld.com » CI Stories

Cochlear Implant Stories From Down Under

Mark — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:32:39 +0000

I got some feedback on my post about documenting Cochlear Implant Success Stories. There is a modest collection of stories available on the Cochlear Awareness Network website. They are a group of volunteers based out of Australia that tell their cochlear implant stories, raising awareness for these wonderful changes in their lives.

Got a cochlear implant success story to tell? Post it!!

Cochlear Implant Success Stories

Mark — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 05:23:53 +0000

While working on CochlearWorld.com over the past couple of months, I have noticed that a lot of the cochlear implant resources on the internet are targeted at one of two things: helping people who are trying to solve a particular problem related to their cochlear implant, and/or providing basic educational information about cochlear implants. That is the kind of thing that I love about the the internet. It is truly magical that you can have a discussion about a speech therapy support issue in Dallas at 2AM on a Saturday and find out on Sunday that three people in Europe are facing the same issue. Still, I have the feeling that fewer resources are dedicated to documenting the amazing positive impact that cochlear implants are having on people’s lives. A notable exception are several great cochlear implant blogs (Toes comes to mind).

So, I have an idea for a project – let’s build a collection of all the most wonderful cochlear implant success stories from across the globe.

There are some stories collected here and there, but I have yet to find a really comprehensive and growing repository.

I will never forget the first time I walked into the Callier Center in Dallas. Up to that time in my life, I had limited contact with the deaf community. My three-year-old daughter had been deaf for 1 month, and I knew very little about cochlear implants. I felt sorry for myself and my daughter. I remember that audiologist (Jennifer) talking to me about cochlear implant technology and telling me that “everything would be OK.” The thing that stands out in my mind are the stories she told about a 1st-chair violinist and a highschool tennis champion – both with a cochlear implant. I knew that if other people were having success with this technology that we could too. The stories made it real.

So, I have created a new forum dedicated to great stories about how cochlear implant technology is making the world better.

I am imagining at least two kinds of contributions there – original stories that have yet to be told and links to or reprints of stories that are already published.

Visit the Cochlear Implant Stories area of the CochlearWorld.com Cochlear Implant Forums and tell your story today!

Also, leave me some feedback on this post, and tell me what you think.

Is it a Cell Phone or a Bell?

Mark — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:58:04 +0000

This happy cochlear implant story in the Charlotte Observer made me smile. The 11-year-old girl in the story talks about learning to distinguish a bell from a cell phone ringer. The story reminded me so clearly of when my 3-year-old daughter got her cochlear implant. In her case, she was being asked to distinguish between a toy giraffe and a hippo. I’ll never forget when she pointed to the giraffe. One day she could hear, a week later she was completely deaf, and 4 months later she could hear again. What a rollercoaster!

The girl in the Observer story was deaf a birth and did not get her cochlear implant until age 11.

Another Cochlear Christmas Story

Mark — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 05:59:37 +0000

I love all the cool Cochlear Implant stories that make it into the media these days. Yesterday, the Great Yarmoth Mercury reported on a Cochlear Implant success story with a twist. The family was overjoyed because their seven-year-old was singing for the first time in her school Christmas play – something she had not been able to do before. The twist is that the family has recently raised money to help buy auditory equipment for the local clinic and hospital that will be used to help other kids. This is a really cool way for them to give back. The family the grandparents have raised £1,800 for the paediatric audiology department at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston.

UK Audiologist Has Cochlear Implant

Mark — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:11:21 +0000

The University of Queensland in Australia is graduating Australia’s first ever auidologist with a cochlear implant this month. Bill Raymond was born with a severe hearing disability and received his cochlear implant at age 13. When Bill was born, his mother was told that Bill would probably never talk or attend school. Just prior to making the decision to get an implant, Bill met an 11-year-old hearing-impared girl with a cochlear implant that could talk on the phone. That did it for Bill, and he has never looked back.