Cochlear Unites
These are real life examples (positive and negative) of the after effects of Cochlear Implantation. Thank you to all who contributed and none of these stories will be taken from context. 


Testimonial 
We've had a busy year. On January 8, Andrew had surgery for theCochlear Implant. On February 1st he had the device hooked up. After only a couple of weeks, he heard the phone ring and pointed to his ear--it was unbelievable, but it became very consistent. Then he recognized other sounds, starting responding to his name, even when he's in the backyard. His favorite sound became airplanes and helicopters...he could hear even the most distant ones...Andrew also has been receiving lots of therapy the last year...and sees his oral speech teacher once a week. His vocabulary is really multiplying, over 250 words. In November he started recognizing and naming four colors--red, yellow, blue, and white. He also can differentiate sounds--such as a whistle, drum, and a tambourine, or a guitar, cow, bird, and fire engines. He utters two and three word sentences. His growth is very miraculous to us.

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Testimonial 
The Video below is a captioned video that does have sound, but its only music and so it isn't pertinent to the actually information this personal experience allows us to understand. There is one part in this movie where the boy actually says his "ABC's" perfectly. He doesn't sound like he has any speech problems whatsoever and so it really sheds some positive light on a Cochlear Implant.


Testimonial 
"I've found that everyone (even hearing people) have their challenges in group conversations. However, I sometimes hear things that even hearing people can't hear, and that can be more difficult. I hear the doors closing outside, chairs scraping on the floor, papers ruffling, phones ringing from downstairs, all kinds of different noises (from very far away) in closed door group meetings, and it's very distracting.I still require the use of a remote computer assisted realtime translation (cart) service provider for very large meetings. It is a personal choice I have made because it's what I need to do my job well. You still have the right to accommodations if you need them! Don't let a cochlear implant allow you to think you are hearing. You will never be considered a hearing person, even with a cochlear implant.

People interrupt other people, and several people can talk at once. Even hearing people have difficulty with this. Hearing one voice with a cochlear implant is challenging. Hearing several at once can almost seem impossible, and I do get frustrated. But, it's a different kind of frustration than what I had with a hearing aid. It can be about hearing too much, too little, or not being able to balance what you need to hear. You have to train yourself to close off sounds you don't want to hear versus the ones you do. Hearing people can do this easily, but cochlear implantees cannot."

 -Tammy 
Read more at http://deafness.about.com/od/tammygetsanimplant/a/tammyoneyear.htm  

 Not all of its bad. But it really goes into detail about the worth and use of it from a business woman's perspective. 

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I am posting this site because it has about 10 to 15 personal stories of cochlear implant recipients. Enjoy!

http://www.medel.com.ar/ENG/US/50_Resources/10_testimonials/999_testimonials.asp


The most moving testimonial if you have a few days that I have come across is the book Rebuilt by Michael Chorost. He even includes a medical appendix for the ear and diagrams for the cochlear implant. A short bio is available under "Suggested Reads".

If you really want to see how this topic is so controversial, please watch the following video and it will open you eyes. Please in addition to this though read all of the comments. It will help you make the right decision on getting your child the cochlear implant