The Pros And Cons Of Cochlear Implants

A cochlear implant is beneficial to a student with a hearing impairment or deafness. It would allow the student to have communication options that they otherwise would not have. While it is recognized that people with deafness have their own ways of communicating and their own culture, a cochlear implant would not necessarily change their culture as much as it would just advance their communication. While many people have deafness or hearing impairments and communicate with sign language, the majority of the population uses spoken language. The cochlear implant is meant to open up doors and opportunities, just as learning any new language would. People learn new languages all the time. It helps them communicate with people who they otherwise

Teachers must be ethical and not allow their personal feelings to interfere with their professional etiquette (Salvia 2010). The teacher could provide the students parent with information and assessment from the classroom and present it to the family. Then, the teacher could allow the parent to use this information to maybe help them make the decision themselves. When the parents of the student evaluate the assessment scores of their child, they may conclude a cochlear implant could help her performance. Or maybe the student is doing well, and the parent will think a cochlear implant is unnecessary. The decision must be made by the parent. It is not the teacher’s role to become involved in persuading a parent to make a specific decision about a cochlear implant especially because teachers are not qualified or knowledgeable enough make a recommendation about an assistive technology medical procedure. The law can have an impact on whatever decision the parent makes. If the parent wants to know specific details of how education laws will influence their child’s education they should consult a Special Education attorney (Dayan 2013). The Special Education teacher must be aware of laws pertinent to Special Education (e.g. part 200 and 300, 504, IDEA, etc.), and follow and utilize these laws. The teacher should be familiar with how the laws are different (for example part 200 is state

According to IDEA an assistive technology device is “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability.” However, the exception is any “medical device that is surgically implanted.” Cochlear implants can improve some functional capabilities of a child with a disability and it IS a surgically implanted medical device. However, during the procedure electrodes are surgically inserted into the patient’s cochlea… a medical device is NOT surgically implanted. While, electrodes are not typically considered “medical devices”, when in sync with other medical devices outside of the cochlea, it takes on the role of serving as a “medical device” of that network. This is why there is debate about whether or not a cochlear implant is assistive technology. The gray area comes into play with whether or not they are considered assistive technology because the law is specifically stating that the medical device must be surgically implanted to be considered assistive technology. Thus, because an electrode is only a medical device when the head set and transmitting coil is attached externally, it is questionable as to whether or not this would qualify as “medical device being implanted.” When the external features of the implant are removed (they can be removed at any time),