Erratum

posed to sign language since her deafness was first diagnosed. She is exceptionally intelligent and is therefore able to make some sense out of this artificial "noise" that the average child could not. Although her speech has improved a great deal, I see her remaining sign-dependent for the rest of her life (which, as we professionals in the field know, doesn't have to be a handicap). Now I must deal with the parents of the two "failures". They've invested a lot of money and time in this "miracle cure". They are faced with seeing this one child improve and wondering why it couldn't be that way with their child. The implant has given these parents a reason to put off facing up to their children's deafness; it has delayed the grieving process and set them up for still more disappointment. They've experienced yet another crushing blow and desperately need someone to blame. But the parents still have to justify having had their children implanted, so they are not blaming the failure on the surgeons or on those who originally encouraged them to have the implant procedure done. They're looking for scapegoats, and these turn out to be teachers, speech clinicians and school administration. In my particular case, the parents are putting the blame on my special education director and speech clinician. I'm fortunate that I have gained their trust, or I too would have taken a share of their wrath. They are extremely emotional and irrational. In effect, they are going through the denial stage of grieving a second time. This can't be healthy! All this pain and disappointment is for what? Their children are still deaf! The sooner they are able to deal with that fact the better, for not only their deaf children but themselves. Now, let us discuss the children. I've got audiologists (who, coincidentally, work for Cochlear, Inc.) telling me that if I must sign, I should be using an artificially-based sign system such as Signing Exact English, and that the children should NOT be exposed to ASL at any cost! They are actually discouraging the parents from having anything to do with the deaf community, even to the point of causing an actual fear of deaf adultsl So what we have now are families refusing to sign with their children. They (the Cochlear, Inc. people) have given the parents an excuse to not have to adjust their lifestyles to accommodate their deaf children; they no longer have to work to keep up their signing skills because they think their children are now hearing. I can't help seeing it as a cop-out. The result of all this is that the children's learning stops and they are ruthlessly denied any natural form of communication. You might as well lock the children in a dark room until they are capable of communicating in a way that is acceptable and comfortable to the parents. This frightens me! As far as the physical effects of the surgery itself, all three of my students suddenly had balance problems which were not present before the surgery. One parent asked me if that would go away. I had a terrible urge to tell her, "We don't know. We're all waiting to see what will happen to your guinea pig... I mean child." Of course I didn't, but I wanted to. One more comment as a side note: I attended a workshop given by Cochlear , Inc. and I was apalledhy the way legitimate questions were skirted, avoided or completely discounted by the presenter. It almost made me sick to see this. If implanting prelingually deaf toddlers (babies, really) becomes any more popular, I think it will be time to get out of this field. I just can't sit back and watch this "bionic ear" destroy any more lives! Name Withheld Erratum The report "Communicative Interactions of Deaf and Hearing Children in a Day Care Center: An Exploratory Study" which appeared in the December, 1994, issue of the American Annals of the Deaf contained several errors: 1. The second author should have been identified as Lynne Sanford...