Hearing what we take for granted
An international conference, organised by The Ear Foundation was held in Nottingham this week to ask the question “Why are cochlear implants only provided in one ear?” Would it be acceptable for an optician to fit one lens to a child with poor vision? Leading international experts, as well as parents, provided evidence of the remarkable benefits that result from restoring hearing in two ears and give reasons why implanting two ears should now be considered for deaf children.
Sue Archbold, Education Co-ordinator at The Ear Foundation says: “We brought together some of the most experienced professionals in the world, together with parents, for this one-day conference, to explore some of the issues and challenges they represent and bring us up to date with the current knowledge.”
Hearing is something which most of us take for granted, but many children are not so lucky and are born profoundly deaf. Since the government introduced the Neonatal Screening Programme, babies are screened for deafness within a couple of days of being born. This means that they can be referred as quickly as possible for the best treatment or hearing device to allow them take part in a hearing world.
Cochlear implants transform the lives of deaf children by partially restoring their sense of hearing. Implanted children can understand speech and some can even use a mobile telephone.
Having only one implant has its limitations. Typically, only one ear is implanted, leaving the other ear deaf, so the implanted child misses out on speech in one half of its sound space. Two ears help understand speech better, especially in noisy situations, like a classroom. There are concerns, therefore, that this may hold back language development and how well a child does at school. With one ear, children have no sense of direction and cannot tell where warning sounds are coming from – putting them at risk, especially in traffic.
There is so much more to add to this debate on bilateral cochlear implants, so please do add your comment.
Comments
I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at this conference and show them what astounding progress my son Tom has made with bilateral implants.
After only 3 months with his second implant activated Tom is 'age appropriate' with his spoken language and understanding. That's 'age appropriate' for ALL kids!
I've posted a couple of videos on my blog that show Tom talking and listening... they are testament to what bilaterals are capable of. He is just one example of what is possible and why the argument against funding because of lack of evidence is now unsupportable.
Now how do we convince NICE and the funding bodies?
Posted by: Jason | March 9, 2007 05:44 PM