It seems more cochlear implant speech processors are getting stolen from kids these days. In the latest case, a kid left the implant in a sneaker while going swimming. After the theft, the Cochlear company replaced the stolen implant.
While Cochlear is to be commended for stepping up to the plate, my criticism is reserved for the children and their parents. In my opinion, if a child cochlear implant user is going somewhere that they can't wear the implant (e.g., swimming) they should leave the implant at home! I would not dream of leaving a $10,000 speech processor in a locker, whether it was locked up or not. Recreation centers are not responsible for thefts, and thieves can break into lockers.
Furthermore, a secondary black market for stolen speech processors does exist. I have found low-priced speech processors on ebay and Craigslist, and have read about how the black market exists to meet the need of some people for inexpensive replacement speech processors.
Bottom line kids, don't take your implant anywhere that you must take it off and put it down, even if only for a short time. Go without the implant in those situations. Leave it at home. (I leave my processor at home when I go swimming anywhere, and Bob leaves his hearing aids at home when we both go swimming.) You're deaf. Deal with it.
I assume these processors come in serial number that will trace back to the owners (or at least have their name stored in processor memory for mapping) .
I planned on selling my bodyworn processor.
you are as dumb as you are deaf. If i travel from home to the pool without my implant, i’ll be run over by a bus before i get there.
uh, Bob? Want to try that again?
Even hearing people get run over by buses and they don’t always hear them coming.
Crossing the street and walking the sidewalk doesn’t always involve hearing. It involves looking around much of the time. Even hearing people know enough to look both ways before crossing and to watch what’s going on around them. Think about how blind people cross streets.
Still want to call us dumb?
Bob Travis needs to hang with more deaf folk who don’t use implants. We can teach him to look both ways before he crosses the street!
It is very common for deaf kids to lose their hearing aids, often on purpose. I wont be too surprised if kids lose their cochlear implants on purposes. My parents forced me to wear hearing aids and I was not happy. So I lied to my parents that I lost them. THREE TIMES! They finally got a hint that I didnt want to wear them.
@Bob Travis: Most deaf people are not run over by a bus for decades and have a long life without wearing a hearing aid or cochlear implant. Unless you want to kill yourself.
For Bob Travis:
I feel sorry for you if you think that your implant is going to help you get to the pool without getting run over by a bus! Deaf people have been able to go to the pool for centuries just fine without implants (or even hearing aids). How? BY USING THEIR EYES! Your eyes are WAY more important for you in getting there than your (fake) ears are!
Bob Travis, that’s because you forgot the rule of thumb when it comes to crossing the street. Look to your left, right, and left.
I’m afraid I have to leave a comment here.
First to say your deaf. I was very surprised how you ended your post. It sounds very harsh.
I am a hearing aid user and I’m afraid even if I bought them, I would not leave them at home, because like Bob Travis said. I’m more likely to get run over before I get there at the swimming baths.
I use my eyes to see, but I have come across situations even with hearing aids in, that when I come to cross the road, that was clear at the time I looked, I have been pulled back because I nearly got run over. So to be without my hearing aids….No way. I rather not swim if that was the case.
Bob Travis, if you get run over by a bus because you didn’t have the CI on, you’re dumb as you look. Didn’t your parents teach you to look both ways before crossing the street? (last line removed by editor)
Little bit of self-hating Deafness there, Bob Travis? I know plenty of people who are totally Deaf, and interestingly, none of them has ever been run over by a bus. Perhaps you are as blind, and world-blind, as you are Deaf.
Bob Travis,
Is the person still dumb and get hit by a bus if her processor got stolen on her way back home?
It is important that children or parents of children who are deaf and CI users to remember that yes, they are deaf. Sometimes, the CI will not work, get lost, stolen, break and such. It is important that they learn what to do when their CI processors fail or go missing.
(e
are you joking? seriously..are you? god bless cochlear corp-thank God they “get it.”
what is wrong with you?
ps- do you have children?
Bob, are you for real?!
Gee, that is what eyes are for… to look out for oncoming traffic. Buses are kinda hard to miss, y’know.
I’ve been deaf since birth, and have never used cochlear implants and never will… yikes. No bus has run over me, last I checked.
Bob… Did your mother not teach you to look before crossing? Folks walking through town don’t hear the bus coming. It’s just white noise.
Trust me, you don’t need to hear to get around.
To Bob Travis…
HUH?? Do you close your eyes when you walk across street? You’re a lot dumber!
To Bob Travis …..
I’m assuming you were not being sarcastic. Don’t you realize how ridiclous you sound when you said “…traveling to the pool without your implants you get run over by a bus before you get there?” I suggest you look both ways before crossing the street.
Uhm … more hearing pedestrians been hit by a bus than Deaf pedestrian. I do not recall when the last time I heard about a Deaf pedestrian being hit by a bus. Perhaps 1966? Or was it 1970?
I would not worry too much whether not you have your hearing aids on or your cochlear implants on. Just be aware of your surroundings and do not be text messaging while walking anywhere outside either crossing the streets or rail road crossings, etc. Already, this year alone, I have slammed on the brakes of my car because of some hearing idiot jaywalking across the street without looking either way while on the cell phones either talking ot text messaging.
I told my hearing husband about stolen implants, he said we should protect it like we do with wallets. I told him that it is easy block credit card and replace our wallet, but it isn’t easy to replace our CI… where am I going to get $10,000? We can’t even afford a new car if it got stolen (not only that, we have learn how to deal with being car-less).
it take awhile to order a new CI processor so we have to learn how to deal with the silent no matter what. I agree with you, Jamie. if a child don’t know how to deal with silent, she probably be grieving (such as “why do I have to be deaf?!? I hate beign deaf!) like hearing person who just became deaf.
When I cross the street, I keep looking both ways as I cross. I don’t stop looking. I don’t use my ears (HA or CI) to listen at all because they don’t work for me. We live in a very noisy world, So any car approaching me doesn’t sound much different from cars leaving away from me so I can’t distinish. And honks lost it’s purposes because people keep using it for the wrong reason.
Many kids are being hit all the time (especially in nashville, TN) and they are hearing! I guess they have been so numb to noises and honks that they don’t use their ears anymore. Parents should be teaching them HOW to LOOK for approaching traffics. I was in nashville, and my hearing husband nearly hit someone who jump in front of him. He is hearing, but was using a cellphone. This guy wasn’t paying attention and definitely didn’t hear us coming.
beth, it is you who don’t get it. it isn’t fun to watch children deal with their deafness when their processor get lost or stolen, or they have to have a reimplanted… telling them to leave it home is a whole lot better than it being stolen and they have to go without their hearing for a week or more!
First of all, I wear a cochlear implant and I tend to leave my CI home when I am going to the gym or something. Bob, I can look both ways before I cross the road and I have never been hit by a bike, car, bus or a random passerby. Broaden your horizons and stretch out your boundaries of your peripheral vision. You may find that being deaf ain’t all cracked up to be. I pride in having excellent observation skills and have embraced being Deaf. That can be taught to children as well.. they must embrace that the world doesn’t stop when they cannot hear. After all, silence is welcome in this noisy world, right?
Secondly, the black market exists because replacement parts are exorbitantly expensive. I have to admit that the CI companies are operating on the verge of greed with their high prices. They are very capable of bringing down the retail costs of this equipment, so they need to do so. When I got my CI, I got a very fancy starter kit- come on, they could do away with the fancy marketing and make their equipment more affordable.
I love it ::You’re deaf! Deal with it!::
Parents need to teach their children to be responsible. We don’t normally give children $10,000 of electronic equipment and expect them to take care of it all by themselves. Parents need to be proactive. If the kid is going on a bus, then HELLO! Parents need to step up to the plate (or at least take them to the pool or have a responsible adult with their child). Good one Jamie! Sometimes blunt is the answer…and you were not harsh, you were honest! I love it!
being able to afford a CI for your kid is just so great. Pls dont take it forgranted. do what it takes to help your kid take cae of it. some folks cant cant afford one.
I don’t think you are using the right approach to your diasbilities.
For my little child my teaching is : everywhere with your CI. I am not going around the world without my ears even if they can not steal it.
Yes! leave it at home and look both ways crossing the street. My son’s two hearing aids cost 5,000 and of course, insurance does not cover it. Bob, seems your getting slammed pretty bad here. go for a walk, stick your I Pod buds in your ears and cross the street without looking!
The comment “You’re deaf! Deal with it!” kind of threw me for a loop. This is an often used comment in my family because my being deaf is just a small part of me, meaning that I am the sum of many parts. I think the “!” threw me off when included in the blog.
The folks who have responded to Bob Travis and Beth are on the dot. It essentially doesn’t matter whether you have your hearing or not. The responsibility of teaching a variety of skills to exist in the real world (not hearing world) to children is through parents and examples set by adults. I can imagine a deaf person being run over if they were not using their visual senses to observe traffic etiquette. The same rule applies to hearing people because once someone (any person) focuses on one object rather than multitasking (and it can be inherently risky doing that anyway), the other senses become dulled.
People must deal with being who they are. If they have CIs, they are still deaf (or hard of hearing). Everyone still has a point, even Jaime mentioned it, anything can happen – breakage, stolen, or someone borrowed the equipment. We need to be able to be adaptable. When out there, I can adjust with or without my hearing aids. I believe my being deaf and being a sum of all parts gives me greater versatility and adaptable behavior when out there in the real world.
Sometimes stupid is as stupid does. It doesn’t matter who.
For instance 2 years ago, Miss Deaf Texas was hit by a train before the NAD Conference. She was not paying attention not because she was deaf but because she was using her phone. The train did toot the horn (I don’t know if she was wearing hearing aids or not, tho, so can’t say “SHOULD”). It was freaky because I live about less than a 100 yards from tracks and I would be more attentive than that.
Ignorance is the number one reason why many are not able to adapt easily to situations or environments which them come in (thus history repeats itself). Technology, yes while cool, beneficial and easy, is a crutch and cripples the ability to naturally fit into the natural world. “It’s my way or the highway” attitude is prevalent. It’s the natural world’s highway, not ours.
Please remember that reality is far more real than our own little ‘worlds’.
Hello, I am NOT Deaf if I am wearing my speech processor. So, why should Bob and I leave our speech processors at home? Should I be scared that some low-life is going to take off with it? Why should I give up my freedoms?
By the way, Bob Travis is only 9 1/2 years old. Wake up people, not everyone on here that posts is an adult. You guys need to think before posting so quickly. Educate, not destroy someone by writing nasty little comebacks. Plus, New York City is not Richmond, VA so yeah, buses and taxi can come out of nowhere in New York City. For an 9 1/2 yr old, NYC is kind of scary. So lighten up already!
We need to stop insulting each other. Its not constructive and it is just plain mean. If something has value it may be stolen. People need to learn how to take care of their valuables, especially if it is something they can’t afford to replace.
Randy, you still have a hearing loss, implant or not. Your freedoms are not given up. You’re merely saving your own life by using a basic visual skill to see if vehicles are near you and will pass by. It matters not where you are. You have to look both ways before crossing the street. Listening on its own doesn’t do much if anything. Even blind people need help with this at times.
Bob’s 9 1/2 years old you say? I give him credit for writing that comment on his own. I’ve seen comments with much worse writing than that.
I and the others on here still would recommend that you remove your hearing aids and implants and leave them at home. Doing that, you reduce the temptation for theft.
I agree with Hardly Hearing. I’m a hearing person, and see people darting out in front of traffic, all of the time. It’s not because of hearing loss, it’s because they are dumb enough not to look when crossing the street. Leave the implants, and hearing aids, at home when you go swimming.
Wow, the attitude in here is awful! I am a late deaf. I know how much the hearing aid used to help. So I am sure it’s the same for those who have a CI. But you Travis, you are young and still have alot to learn in life. Never calls those of us who are deaf “Dumb as you are deaf?” Many of us are very proud of who we are and we have learned so much in life. For you are in the younger gap! Needs to learn from those who have already walk in your shoes and have a little more experienced. We are far from being Dumb! I remember what it was like to be able to hear with the help of a hearing aid. If I had gone swimming, I took the hearing aid off. It was that simple! They say the CI’s would give me the same as replacing the hearing aid. No, thank you! I am very happy being who I am a deaf woman and I have so much to be thankful because the deaf community had taught me what I needed to know to be more independent without hearing with the hearing aid. (just as you wear your CI.)
As for leaving the CI or hearing aid at home. There is such a thing called insurances, for if the hearing aids or Ci device would gets damage or stolen. That can help the parents because the devices do cost so much.
But I feel bad from Bob Travis , he’s young and we need to remember that he still has alot to learn. Maybe he not really happy being who he is and feels the CI is like a baby blanket that gives him security and because of that he may feel everyone needs to have a security blanket.
Still let’s change the attitude here and remember we all do not feel the same, just be happy with who you are and that you can do things as others can…….just because we do not hear. There is a quote here and I love it, which I will share with all of you…. “Hearing loss may change your life, but your life need not be any less rewarding or fulfilling because you have a hearing loss.” Does that make any sense to you because it surely does for me. Whether you wear a hearing aid, Ci or being deaf what ever kind of hearing loss you have…. without those devices you are still very much a deaf person. That doesn’t mean your life can’t be rewarding. It’s all you want to make it. Most of all, stop judging others.
I do not believe Bob Travis is not 9 and half years old. He wrote on the comment almost one clock in the morning. Would his parents let him to stay up all night?
I seem that he just lost to link to the reality world and seem that his parents do not train him enough to learn his basic instinct of survival skill. I can see that he already fall into colonialism by supremacy hearing people.
Mr. Bob Travis being 9 and a half years old. How old are you Mr. Randy Travis? There were no statement of age, so I don’t know whether it would be valid for me to take Mr. Randy Travis’ word for it. I agree with John, but then the real world has changed in one generation or two where parents would (generally speaking) allow their kids stay up late (looking at myself…) making comments that reflects on their personal experience.
Let us define ‘dumb’. It’s historical roots come from ‘mute’. The last few generations have changed the meaning to it’s contemporary roots of ‘ignorant’ or ‘unintelligent’, meaning that one has no idea of what they’re doing whether they are aware of it or not. Even an intelligent person can be dumb, commonly called lack of common sense. Oh well.
Humans by nature are adaptable; however, society restricts that adaptability by strengthening attitudes that are anti-diversity.
I would like to offer an example. Let’s say a black person wants to become a white person (heard of in South Africa). It’s called bleaching skin. ‘That’s dumb.’ – this means ignorant attitude because Africans are naturally dark to protect themselves from the harsh sun, bleaching themselves would be definitely dumb as in unintelligent terms because they’re removing the protective layer that biology, evolution (you name it) gave them.
So it would be essentially dumb-ignorant to not use your other senses regarding the environment as equally dumb-unintelligent to be unable to adapt to situations where your ‘crutch’ was taken away.
We all have to live in the real word; regardless if hearing, deaf, black, white, amputee, blind and etc. There are those little worlds; they are all part of the big world…the real world.
Mr. Bob Travis, if you are truly 9.6 years old, thank you for your insight. Keep in mind that life has many more surprises for you down the road.
the discussion about using and not using hearing aid and implant devices,is informative for me and useful, in my country the myth like this are also prevailing too much even the use of H.Aids is not so comman.