CI Circle Weekly Round-up June 6-12

We've got a fun and craftsy blog post in the works that should be ready soon. Stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, here's a brief round-up of talk on the CI Circle Yahoo Group for parents. (And thanks to all who have voted in our survey above. The survey continues for a couple of weeks.)

Missing Gina Maser
Parents asked where to get a bilateral bodyworn harness for Advanced Bionics processors. Once upon a time, a mom named Gina Maser would make custom harnesses for people. She is no longer in the business and is sorely missed. Some parents say the harness made by Advanced Bionics works well for them. Others make their own, sometimes using an old geniune Gina harness as a template.

Speech Apraxia
Some deaf children who hear great with their CIs have difficulty pronoucing words due to speech apraxia (also true of some hearing children.) The signs of apraxia were discussed. Parents of children with apraxia of speech recommended finding professionals who specialize in this area.

Northeast Cochlear Implant Convention (a.k.a. Sturbridge)
The schedule of talks is out! Visit the convention home page and click on the tabs at the top of the web page. Keynote speaker is Josh Swiller, author of The Unheard - A memoir of deafness and Africa.

Buff wear!
Several parents reported getting the buffwear headwear that we mentioned last week, and are pleased with it.

To CI or not to CI
A new list member wondered whether or not to get an implant for her child and when, and whether to get one implant or two. Readers urged the new member to get an implant or two for their child if the child is audiologically a candidate, and to do it sooner rather than later. (We have an earlier blog post on the bilateral question.)

Hi-Res 120
A parent asked when this strategy would be FDA approved for children. Several members said their children have been using it for quite a while already and that it is available.

Choosing a brand
The common question of which CI brand to choose came up again. This generated some slightly heated discussion, though did not degenerate into a full scale brand war. CI Circle News readers may be interested in an old blog entry on this topic.

If you are the parent of a child with (cochlear implant(s) or if your child is about to get (a) cochlear implant(s), join the dicussion at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cicircle There is an individual email option, digest option, and 'no email' option (read posts via yahoo website.) Additional information and resources viewable by group members and non-members alike can be found at http://www.cicircle.org