Thursday, May 21, 2009

Breaking news: Wisconsin CI Bill is now LAW!

Breaking News: The Governor Jim Doyle has just angered the entire Wisconsin deaf Community and signed the CI bill into law. Here is the link: http://www.madison.com/tct/news/452056

It is a sad day for the Wisconsin deaf community. In my opinion, the governor has just lost support of the deaf community. Will there be a legal challenge? Stay tuned. If AGBELL and their supporters celebrates here, I condemn them to God. Nobody has the legal right, not even a parent, of putting CI on a child's body ever! it si morally wrong!
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(below, I was just working on the article when I refreshed Madison.com link which is The Capital Times newspaper. I then saw the news as above. enjoy).

G'day Everyone!

Wow! That's just one word I can say today. WOW! Why?
hit on this link: http://www.madison.com/tct/news/stories/451696

Personally, I do not see this bill being worth the effort of passing and I urge the Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle to please VETO the bill.

A bill that supports children with cochlear implants is wrong. I don't get it. What's wrong with Parents not allowing their children to learn Sign Language, or deaf schools, or having hearing aids?

Are we seeing a bill like AG BELL supporting a child to become a near hearing adult in the future with a cochlear implant? It's wrong.

Why do doctors insist that a child will benefit with cochlear implants? It's like forcing a child by a decision of the parents and doctors to take care of an artificial device for life. The cochlear implant is *NOT A HEARING AID* it's like a pacemaker within your body. You have to take care of it.

There are certain things you can't do in life when you wear a cochlear implant.

When a child grows up, he/she is going to get mad enough to realize what's in them. Just because a doctor and parents figure that it would benefit them, it's still wrong.

There are two things I'd like to see added to that CI Bill. One: if it's going to cover CI, make it cover all types of hearing aids out there. We need a bill that covers hearing aids and repair abilities.
Two: add in an area when the child reaches of legal age of 18 years old, can demand for funds from the insurance company to have the CI removed from his body.

A cochlear Implant should be a PERSONAL decision for hard of hearing / deaf person to decide to have. I personally know two deaf friends that lived with hearing aids all their lives and it just finally failed them. They took the very risk to have a CI put in them. Getting a CI doesn't mean you'll have full hearing restored. But there are many risks with CI.

My own doctor said I can have CI if I want. But I rejected it as saying, look there is closed captioning, writing, email, VP, Cam2cam on the 'net, interpreters, support services in college, etc. (need I quote more?).

But, as I side the deaf community, I personally plead with Governor Jim Doyle NOT to sign this bill into law.

Lastly, someone at the Wisconsin newspapers "The Capital Times" needs to moderate their comments there. LOTS of firestorms happening.
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*sigh* from here on out, it's another firestorm in the deaf community. When will the hearing world learn that CIs and hearing aids only assist hearing impaired people. Totally deaf does not really benefit. But the fact is.. the deaf community benefits more with ASL, interpreters, and support mentors in schools, university, and colleges. But those that want to force the deaf become more hearing, they better hope they go deaf when they hit hell because it'll be their eternal regret.

Let's hope this summer we ask Gov. Doyle to reconsider his signature on the CI Bill. it's morally and ethically wrong.

thanks.

Semper FI.

10 comments:

RLM said...

Deaf Sherlock,

You surely have my greatest respect.

There are many flaws within the CI bill. Governor Doyle is a real idiot!!!!!

We will make sure to see that Governor Doyle and Rep. Cullen and others will be out of office and charged with crime against humanity.

That will be not the end of deaf activism stopping the absurdity and insanity of CI surgery on deaf children!

RLM

Unknown said...

Just don't do any thing stupid out there. But the Deaf Community of CI needs to get involved in politics and find like minded hearing allies that can help make things clear that the deaf community needs to be respected. Hearing people need to be educated better about the deaf community.

Anonymous said...

How misinformed are you? Not every Wisconsin deaf/hard of hearing is angered. I for one am happy. This is NOT a CI bill, for petes sakes. This is a bill that mandates private insurance companies in WI to cover hearing aids AND cochlear implants, should the parents opt for it. Illinois deafies are rooting for their legislators to do the same as well as Indiana. Many deaf people wear hearing aids, for years many insurance covers implants but not hearing aids, so it is about time that both are mandated to be covered by insurances. Remember, parents ultimately have the fundamental basic right to make decisions for their child.

It is a happy day for many deaf/hard of hearing people in WI.

Anonymous said...

candy, you don't know what hearing audists will do to the deaf kids? You have NO IDEA. In a long run, CI kids plays their roles as a child poster and grow into audism toward deaf people who do not have CI and prefers ASL.

They will not listen. Their eyes will shut forever.

AUDITS are all fools. Candy, YOU--I hope, educate them about ASL and CI speech+listen would help to write in English. YOU have to work HARDER to prove that they CAN'T forbid ASL applied to a deaf child receive CI!

SICKO! IMPLANTING a 6 months old baby...is a child abuse!

Unknown said...

Candy, What I want to tell you is this, The wisconsin bill may cover both hearing aids and CI, but it should state that parents should exhaust resources to try the hearing aid first before heading into CI on a kid.

I was 5 years old when a doctor jammed a hearing aid on me. I fought, screamed, cried. Yes I even busted a few hearing aids to prove I don't accept it. In my opinion it was child abuse. Because without sign language I was FORCED to hear.
When you put a CI on a baby that's deaf, your are FORCING a child to hear. A CI should be the last resort.

Now with this, the deaf community is divided again with these types of bills becoming law. Every deaf community and deaf clubs are going to be divided.

Should have NTID and Gallaudet University taken the lead on this and speak out against it? Yes. But our great college institution leaders are silent and we are left to fight and be divided. The last course is legal challenges.

For a CI kid to grow up not knowing they are legally deaf will learn what it's like to have a rough life compare to us, hearing aid users that finally got accepted.

As I said before, hearing aids, we can take them off. But for CI? Good luck if you got the money to have it all taken out.

Anonymous said...

It is interesting how people will use their experience and then try to use it as an example for all to follow. Our experience should NOT be a benchmark. I had hearing aids since I was six and I can not EVER live without it! Sure, I sleep without it, but you know what I mean (I hope!)

I'm not going to respond to Hedor. I mean, really, there are MANY culturally "deaf" hard of hearing people with all kinds of hearing loss. We can't apply one method to all deaf people. Not every deaf person should be required to know ASL, let them choose. Parents have the fundamental rights, that is a GIVEN and the Supreme Court also recognizes that. But, all in all, it's clear that there are a few others with opinions like yours and I'm not going to argue but, if that's how you feel, so be it. Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Jim said...

The only thing that darn on me is not the CI issues but hearing aids. Hearing aid has to be replace just about every 4 or 5 years. Insurance companies don't get it that hearing aid is an aid to help deaf people communicate and it is not consider a luxury. Insurance companies only pay for hearing aid once for accident but they don't pay them for the life of the person who needs them. That isn't fair in my opinion that the insurance companies ignore the deaf commnity need of hearing devices other than the CI.

Unknown said...

Candysweetblog:

First of all, my experience is NOT a benchmark of an example, but a fact of how I feel as a child forced to live with something that I do NOT understand to have.

But I do understand of living with these hearing aids are part of my life now. I am happy to take them off and be totally deaf and normal in life. But please look at my next post. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

To all and sundry out there who are sick of Doyle--and I know that's a lot of you as his popularity rating is only 35%--join the recall effort! Elections are for hiring; recalls are for firing! We cannot wait for another year of his scorched-earth policies, to do further damage to WI. Go to www.recalldoyle.com, and help us make history!

Joseph Pietro Riolo said...

I am fine with your opinions on cochlear implant for deaf babies and children. It is your freedom of expression.

But, I want to caution that your rationale for deciding that it is morally and ethically wrong to place cochlear implant on deaf babies and children is still weak. There is another argument that it is morally and ethically wrong to deny deaf babies and children the opportunity to hear with the aid of technologies. That argument is also weak but it is a little stronger than your position. This is possibly one reason why Governor Jim Doyle signed the bill into law.

I read your next post and you mentioned about the Almighty giving deaf babies. I know that there are two sides to this perspective. On one side, we should accept the deaf babies as they are without changing them. On the other side, the Almighty also gives us the knowledge to develop widely various technologies and He gives the parents the right to use the technologies to help their deaf babies.

In other words, there is no black and white morality and ethics on cochlear implant for deaf babies and children.

Joseph Pietro Riolo
josephpietrojeungriolo@gmail.com

Public domain notice: I put all of my expressions in this post in the public domain.