The title that I chose to write my paper on "Social Participation of Children and Adolescents With Cochlear Implants: A Qualitative Analysis of Parent, Teacher, and Child Interviews". Today, living with profound deafness to most would seem unheard of. With cochlear implants being so readily available, some would wonder why anyone would choose to NOT have cochlear implants. The issue is that these devices need to be implanted very young and the Deaf culture frowns on those who choose to go the cochlear implant route. They say you are changing the child and that they are not loved as they are. They say the child will have learning and social issues. Questions arise when considering a cochlear implant, such as how will someone with a cochlear implant do in a social environment? How will they fit in with other hearing children? Will they go
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While all three groups felt very positive about the role of cochlear implants in the children's lives, the findings also indicated that difficulties remained. In the analysis of the data regarding areas of social participation, and social and emotional well-being, major themes emerged. One area was concerning social deafness where some struggled to hear and follow conversations in groups of peers (i.e., playground at school). One mother reported that her daughter actually says, "I don't like the playground.” Another mother, who had two children with implants, said, "They do well in one-on-one situations. School tends to be noisy and difficult and they tend to almost be loners. They look like they are loners; you might think they don't have a friend, but I think they actually choose to remove themselves from a really noisy situation and go off to the library and do that sort of thing. "For others talking on the phone was difficult. A 16-year-old boy said: "If I need to take a call I will. It takes time to recognize the voice and understand what they are
While all three groups felt very positive about the role of cochlear implants in the children's lives, the findings also indicated that difficulties remained. In the analysis of the data regarding areas of social participation, and social and emotional well-being, major themes emerged. One area was concerning social deafness where some struggled to hear and follow conversations in groups of peers (i.e., playground at school). One mother reported that her daughter actually says, "I don't like the playground.” Another mother, who had two children with implants, said, "They do well in one-on-one situations. School tends to be noisy and difficult and they tend to almost be loners. They look like they are loners; you might think they don't have a friend, but I think they actually choose to remove themselves from a really noisy situation and go off to the library and do that sort of thing. "For others talking on the phone was difficult. A 16-year-old boy said: "If I need to take a call I will. It takes time to recognize the voice and understand what they are