Deaf baby hears mama for first time....heartwarming video

[Philosoraptor]

http://pogpog.com/v/8-month-old-deaf-babys-reaction-to-cochlear-implant-being-activated/

[mainer]

1. That brought tears to my eyes

What an amazing thing, to watch the kid go from disconnected to ...laughing!

[Philosoraptor]

4. I'm just an old crank, but it got to me

[ProdigalJunkMail]

2. i saw this a few days ago...

and the one thing that has me baffled is that mom is not ecstatic. I know people show there emotions in different ways...I would have been a blubbering mess at that reaction. so sweet...

sP

[LisaL]

7. I imagine she was concentrating on not freaking the child out.

It's good to have a presence of mind like that.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

11. crying for joy in front of your child will not freak them out

I have never EVER seen a child freak out cause their parents cry for joy...

[Raven]

3. I'm grinning from ear to ear! n/t

[hlthe2b]

5. Some deaf families elect not to perform this surgery to let their

babies hear, believing I think, that the deaf world is simply a 'different' world and not a disability. Seeing this video, I would like to think they might rethink that.... Very heart warming.

[LisaL]

6. The difference in the child's behavior before and after was amazing.

[Gin]

8. sweet....sweet...sweet

[Hawkeye-X]

14. Because we have enough evidence to think that cochlear implants are a joke

I grew up deaf in a hearing family. I went to a deaf college, and saw many fucked up, sad deafies who did not want the cochlear implants. If you want more on this, just ask me.

[hlthe2b]

16. Actually, yes... It is a subject about which I am not well informed.

The only public example of a CI recipient is Limbaugh and I have heard some reportage that his hardly works at all. Of course, given that Oxycontin is undoubtedly behind his deafness the pathology (and thus prognosis for CI) might be quite different than for one born deaf from the myriad of natural causes.

Please share your thoughts and perspective.

[Hawkeye-X]

17. Ok, here's a story straight out of college.

I knew this deaf guy originally from Russia, moved to New York years ago. He had been waiting for cochlear implant since he was 14 or so. When he finally got the surgery done while we were in college back in '95, he realized what a mistake it was. No longer was he able to stay friends with many of the deafies, he was also being taken advantage by a very gay middle aged man who had partial hearing loss, but qualified enough to enter the older adult college course (he was from PA, as I recall - graduated that year), sexually abused him while they were roommates. Then his battery was in low power (these batteries are supposed to be good for 20 years) - so he wasn't able to hear his roommie's advances. Campus Safety was called, and the middle aged man denied these. The deaf guy dumped his CI for good, less than 6 months after the surgery, got drunk, and stayed drunk throughout his college years. He was never himself again.

Kind of sad isn't it? Think of it as another analogy - an Arab teenager was forced to move to the United States by his dad, learn English. When he returned to his country somewhere, he was shunned as an outcast because he knew English.

That is what it's like.

I have had surgeries on my ears, but it never worked. I qualified for cochlear implant, but I decided I did not want it. I embraced my deaf identity, and so did my wife. My son is hearing, and will get the best of both worlds - his grandparents are hearing, parents are deaf.

He is a child of Deaf Adults (CODA)

Hawkeye-X

[hlthe2b]

18. I can understand why an adult or older child wouldn't want a CI

It might well be a bit like opening Pandora's Box, with no way back...

Thanks for sharing..

[malaise]

9. That's lovely

Thanks

[NikolaC]

10. K&R

That was a wonderful and touching thing to see.

[AwakeAtLast]

12. My uncle was one of the first in the country to get an implant

He was not born deaf, but lost his hearing gradually and by 17 was totally deaf. He learned to lip read. I still remember the day he heard a joke from across the room and the sound of his laughter. We all stopped and looked at him because it was so awesome. I was about 10 at the time.

This video brings back that memory. Thanks for a great link!

Edit to add: We knew he heard the joke and didn't lip read it because he wasn't looking at the person who told it. That was what was so amazing!

[leeroysphitz]

13. best thing I've seen in weeks. thahks for sharing. n/t

[librechik]

15. thx! (sniff) nt

[Scurrilous]

19. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Omaha Steve]

20. Made me cry too

K&R!