The power of a plan
Jan 09, 2009 @ 10:22 AM
An article in Good Housekeeping sparked my interest
and made me think. Recently, I was dismayed to read a
"professional" opinion about cochlear implants. A
speech therapist was "not impressed" with the results
based on five patients she had met. Five! Imagine
that! Not only that, but she had the gall to mention
this to the media and it became fodder for Deaf
Culture advocates.
You might ask why there were five patients with whom she had not been impressed. I can give you some reasons. The lack of appropriate planning by parents, professionals or the patient.
What plans?
1. Implant early OR be prepared for the fact that neural growth is slower in adults. "Failures" of the CI are often not failures of the device, the surgery or the electrode. They are the failure of nerves which simply are limited in growth after a certain age.
2. Plan to stimulate the auditory nerves or be prepared for them to be utilized by visual pathways rather than the auditory ones. Simply put, your eyes will become your ears. Once that is done, and if time has passed, the reversal is very difficult.
3. Parents of small children need to emphasize the auditory and plan to see results. I have seen the so-called "failures." While a child is never a failure-- the reason for less than stellar cochlear implant results often resides with parents who seem to lack the ability to "dream big" and see their dreams come to fruition. They hedge their bets, use too much sign language (but often not enough to consider it fluency) and rather than creating a child with normal hearing and speaking skills, they create a child with one foot in each world (signing and speaking) but neither feet fully in either.
Here are some quotes from the article which is about learning to use affirmations:
"A strong affirmation puts two powerful mental qualities into action: intention and expectation. Intention isn't just wanting, wishing, or hoping; it's the determination to act.. Affirmations focus our intentions, and, because we repeat them, keep us homed in on our goal. This increases the likelihood that we'll take steps to make our intention reality."
"The other powerful mental force that affirmations harness is the expectation that we will get what we want, even if we don't know exactly when or how."
"Expecting a particular outcome does something extraordinary in our brains. Researchers have long been aware that if you expect a medicine to work, it often will, even when it's only a sugar pill... These studies show that our brains create our experience of reality based, at least in part, on our expectations. "New research is showing that similar brain mechanisms are at work whether we're influenced by expectations coming from outside ourselves or we're generating our own expectations. What we think can change the structure of our brains through what scientists call neuroplasticity." "
Later tips include making realistic goals (so, if you are an adult CI recipient you would have different goals from a parent of an infant), suspending disbelief and believe the possibilities, imagining vividly, writing it down (sounds like an IEP!) and repeating it to yourself and even others.
Do you see your child as disabled? Do you pity them? Or do you visualise them as successful members of society? And, do you affirm that they can hear and speak? Why did you choose to implant? Do you realize how effective this technology can be?
I've been accused of having been particularly lucky and that my kids are "stars." Not so. Here is another blog entry which makes me think about the EFFORT and WORK which went into creating little hearing, talking boys:
https://communitychest.k12.com/node/3681
Mr. Saxberg talks about the book Talent Is Overrated and goes on to discuss the ways that Ben Franklin set about improving his own writing. No, he was not an automatic writer or a genius... he was willing to work hard and make this goals happen. The only reason that we need to work hard for a brief period (for us, it was 2-3 years) is because they had absent auditory function previous to being implanted. We have to make up for lost time. With a little hard work (not luck!) this can happen for many implanted children. Even adults can see results which they are happy with, given realistic goals.
You might ask why there were five patients with whom she had not been impressed. I can give you some reasons. The lack of appropriate planning by parents, professionals or the patient.
What plans?
1. Implant early OR be prepared for the fact that neural growth is slower in adults. "Failures" of the CI are often not failures of the device, the surgery or the electrode. They are the failure of nerves which simply are limited in growth after a certain age.
2. Plan to stimulate the auditory nerves or be prepared for them to be utilized by visual pathways rather than the auditory ones. Simply put, your eyes will become your ears. Once that is done, and if time has passed, the reversal is very difficult.
3. Parents of small children need to emphasize the auditory and plan to see results. I have seen the so-called "failures." While a child is never a failure-- the reason for less than stellar cochlear implant results often resides with parents who seem to lack the ability to "dream big" and see their dreams come to fruition. They hedge their bets, use too much sign language (but often not enough to consider it fluency) and rather than creating a child with normal hearing and speaking skills, they create a child with one foot in each world (signing and speaking) but neither feet fully in either.
Here are some quotes from the article which is about learning to use affirmations:
"A strong affirmation puts two powerful mental qualities into action: intention and expectation. Intention isn't just wanting, wishing, or hoping; it's the determination to act.. Affirmations focus our intentions, and, because we repeat them, keep us homed in on our goal. This increases the likelihood that we'll take steps to make our intention reality."
"The other powerful mental force that affirmations harness is the expectation that we will get what we want, even if we don't know exactly when or how."
"Expecting a particular outcome does something extraordinary in our brains. Researchers have long been aware that if you expect a medicine to work, it often will, even when it's only a sugar pill... These studies show that our brains create our experience of reality based, at least in part, on our expectations. "New research is showing that similar brain mechanisms are at work whether we're influenced by expectations coming from outside ourselves or we're generating our own expectations. What we think can change the structure of our brains through what scientists call neuroplasticity." "
Later tips include making realistic goals (so, if you are an adult CI recipient you would have different goals from a parent of an infant), suspending disbelief and believe the possibilities, imagining vividly, writing it down (sounds like an IEP!) and repeating it to yourself and even others.
Do you see your child as disabled? Do you pity them? Or do you visualise them as successful members of society? And, do you affirm that they can hear and speak? Why did you choose to implant? Do you realize how effective this technology can be?
I've been accused of having been particularly lucky and that my kids are "stars." Not so. Here is another blog entry which makes me think about the EFFORT and WORK which went into creating little hearing, talking boys:
https://communitychest.k12.com/node/3681
Mr. Saxberg talks about the book Talent Is Overrated and goes on to discuss the ways that Ben Franklin set about improving his own writing. No, he was not an automatic writer or a genius... he was willing to work hard and make this goals happen. The only reason that we need to work hard for a brief period (for us, it was 2-3 years) is because they had absent auditory function previous to being implanted. We have to make up for lost time. With a little hard work (not luck!) this can happen for many implanted children. Even adults can see results which they are happy with, given realistic goals.