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Estonia's population is 1.34 million people. 200,000 of them suffer from hearing loss
There are 2000 profoundly deaf people who use sign language as their mother tongue
15-20 babies every year are born either profoundly deaf or hard of hearing
Typically (90% of cases), deaf children are born into families where the parents are hearers
Deafness is caused by a genetic mutation (35delG)
In Northern Europe the frequency of this mutation is 1:79, in Estonia 1:22
This means that every 22th person in our neighborhood bears deafness gene
Tuule, 4 years (sister) Maru, 6 years (brother)
Some aren't born deaf. If someone is not born deaf, there is no magnet attached to his head, into his head...
A MIRACLE
Katrin Vanagas Mother of 3,5-year-old child
My family is all deaf. Our deafness is inherited
My child is a fifth-generation deaf
I am a fourth-generation, my father is a third-generation deaf and grandparents and before them were deafs
We are all happy. We live in a world of deafness
What do deaf people think of cochlear implant?
Many deaf people are against implanting
Currently there is no deaf family in Estonia who would have implanted their child
It never even crossed my mind. Our deafness is inherited
The community of deafs stick together. They have their own culture and they wish to keep it
Kaia Maripuu Speech therapist
When implanted child is with very good intellect, the speech development
is quite similar to speech development of a child with normal hearing
It's a pumpkin. - Pumpkin!
Do you know, what pumpkin is? - I've eaten a pumpkin...
So, whether it is a big pumpkin? Or is it small?
It's fat!
Who is it? - A bear!
Wait, I did not quite hear, tell it again! - A bear!
Good, but still use your finger, it will be even better! - A bear!
Well done! So, oh, look who is here... Which one do you want here?
For a deaf child, after all, all the phonemes from "a", "e", "i", "p", "m"...
...all one at a time to be set, and then only begin to shape the words
I can hear the voice of a bird. I can hear the sound of a clock
Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Tick-tock
Love is...
Mommy! - Yes?
I know where babies come from!
When in love, two genes meet and become one. When two invalid genes meet, a deaf child will be born
Information about the world is much more accessible. We never know what our child wants to do in the future
In the future there may be a situation where our child says that maybe he does not want to have the implant anymore and that he likes to be deaf instead
Nothing stops him from being deaf then
At the same time he might feel that he has received so much support from the implant, that he will choose a profession...
...which is associated with his well-developed auditory perception
We really should leave all possibilities open for the child
Especially as a miracle thing called cochlear implant exists
Today, a deaf child does not have to live in silence all his life