1) State your position on cochlear implants. Defining any particular advantages or disadvantages you believe the devices have?
The continuing debate over cochlear implants is a subject that has very strong supporters on both sides. Some people view being deaf or hard of hearing as a disability, and some people see it as a blessing. In my opinion I think children born deaf should be able to participate in both hearing and deaf culture. The cochlear implant allows deaf individuals to communicate to hearing individuals with more ease, and daily activities that seemed impossible before can be possible, such as talking on the telephone. The disadvantages to the surgery include the high cost, possibility for infection, and it may not work right on a particular individual. Overall being able to listen to music, communicate with others, and hear everyday sounds outweighs the disadvantages.
2) What long term-effect, if any will Cochlear impant have on deaf culture?
…show more content…
My opinion is that the cochlear implant will not destroy the deaf culture but make it easier to live in both deaf and hearing worlds. There will always be people who view being deaf, and being a part of deaf culture as a beautiful way to live and I believe these people will keep the culture active for many years to come. In recent years, Sign language has been carried over to the hearing culture more through various outlets. Churches have been using sign language to give a deeper emotional connection to worship music and abc family even created a show that has a deaf main character. These changes are paving the way for Sign Language and deaf culture to become a leading culture in our
The movie “Audism Unveiled” was a very interesting and powerful movie. I never realized that deaf individuals are discriminated against. This could be partly because I have never been immersed in or educated about the deaf culture until this year. One of the things that struck me the most while watching “Audism Unveiled” was the many heart wrenching stories about children being unable to communicate with their own non-signing hearing families.. The deaf child would have to ask their family members, why everyone was laughing or what’s going on. The family members would just tell them “I’ll tell you later” or “Nevermind. It’s not important”, resulting in the individual feeling isolated. Personally, I agree with people saying that if a parent has a deaf child they should learn how to sign; communication is what brings families together. As a result, the most intriguing thing to me was the stories of family members never learning American Sign Language; leaving their family member isolated.
Lane, Harlan (1992). “Cochlear Implants are Wrong for Young Deaf Children.” Viewpoints on Deafness. Ed. Mervin D. Garretson. National Association of the Deaf, Silver Spring, MD. 89-92.
My response to this question is two-fold. Firstly, I believe that (for the most part), Deaf people actually like being deaf. While observing my neighbor (who happens to be deaf), I realize, he is never unpleasant, he keeps an unceasing smile on his face, is eager to help us hearing neighbors whenever applicable, and in general, he always looks for the silver lining in the clouds. I don’t think that I could ever work up the nerve to ask him if he’d desired the ability to hear. I’ve never seen him preoccupied with his inability to hear, so why should I. His deafness is a part of who he is. In our book, it mentions that being Deaf is a part of the individuals’ personality, an attribute just as important to a person that is right or left-handed. Why would Deaf people want to be hearing? If a person is born deaf, such as my neighbor, they don’t find themselves missing what they never experienced. Our book lends to us the illustration of someone who is
Many individuals have different views surrounding cochlear implants. Most of the Deaf community tends to be against them whereas most of the hearing community tends to be in favor of them. It is important to understand not only want a cochlear implant is, but how the different communities view the implants so that we can gain a better understanding of Deaf culture.
Cochlear Implants are frequently thought of as an end all solution to hearing loss, a cure for deafness. However there are a couple things wrong with this line of thinking: First CI’s are not a perfect replacement for fully functioning ears. Second, they will only work for a few deaf people.
Deaf Culture is often misunderstood because the hearing world thinks of deafness as a handicap. The Deaf are not given enough credit for their disabilities even though they are unable to hear. Being misunderstood is the biggest reason why they are not accepted in the world of hearing. The learning process for them may be slower and more difficult to learn, but they are still very bright individuals. The problem at hand is the controversy of trying to “fix” the Deaf when they may or may not want to be “fixed”. The hearing world should give Deaf people a chance to show their true talents and abilities of intelligence before rushing to assumptions, such as hearing aids will fix all Deaf people, because Deaf are dumb, have social problems, and
Societies could also come together so that it can enable D/deaf individuals to bond with and show hearing people how to communicate accurately and fluently. This will allow D/deaf individuals to feel like they belong in their community, which will make them feel a sense of security and also enables them to feel less isolated.
Tucker, Bonnie. “Deaf Culture, Cochlear Implants, and Elective Disability.” Hastings Center Report. 28.4 (1998): 1-12. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
The medical field is notorious for providing cures to deafness, such as cochlear implants, which then leads people to believe that it is something that must be fixed and therefore labels deafness as a disability. While Tina Gianoulis was comparing the similarities between Queer and Deaf experiences in her article mentioned earlier she declares that, “most painfully, both groups have traditionally been forced to try to become “normal”. Well-meaning parents, determined that their children not be labeled “different”, have sent thousands of deaf children to speech pathologists and mainstream schools where they spend their youth feeling lonely, bewildered, and deficient.” which is the negative effect that the deafness should be cured thought has on those that actually experience hearing
...t is also nice to see that people are no longer ashamed to be deaf, but instead they are proud of who they are and are willing to stand up to any one who attempts to make them feel lesser. The Deaf Culture has become a lot stronger, but we still have a long wase to go.
Deafness itself has historically been viewed as a physical impairment, similar to blindness, and both cognitive and motor impairments. Though today, deafness is considered a trait, not a disability. The debilitating effects of deafness can be helped through hearing aids, cochlear implants, assistive listening devices, and through the ability of speech (and visually reading others lips). Any traits that group members share can be perceived as positive by people in that group. So if deafness is seen as a disability, then people who are deaf carry the stigma of “lacking” a typical human characteristic. Although people in the Deaf Community say they are bound together by deafness, they also say that being deaf is a distinctive perspective on the world.
In mainstream American society, we tend to approach deafness as a defect. Helen Keller is alleged to have said, "Blindness cuts people off from things; deafness cuts people off from people." (rnib.org) This seems a very accurate description of what Keller's world must have been. We as hearing people tend to pity deaf people, or, if they succeed in the hearing world, admire them for overcoming a severe handicap. We tend to look at signing as an inferior substitute for "real" communication. We assume that all deaf people will try to lip-read and we applaud deaf people who use their voices to show us how far they have come from the grips of their disability. Given this climate, many hearing people are surprised, as I was at first, to learn of the existence of Deaf culture. To me deafness is not a defect but a source of connection. Imagine yourself deaf, growing up with a beautiful language, visual literature, humor, and theater. Imagine taking pride in your identity without any desire to become a member of the majority culture. For many deaf people, their community is a comforting relief from the isolation and condescension of the hearing world. However the Deaf community is far more than a support group for people who share a physical characteristic. Members of the Deaf community may have hearing levels that range from profoundly deaf to slightly hard-of-hearing. But no members of the Deaf community are "hearing impaired." Inside this community, deaf people become Deaf, proudly capitalizing their culture. Hearing people suddenly find that they are handicapped: "Deaf-impaired."
In my life, I've had a major setback that has changed how I live life day to day. When I was five, I was diagnosed with permanent hearing loss. I have hearing loss in both ears, mostly in higher frequencies, but I still have some hearing loss in the lower ones too. Since I was 5, it has only gotten worse, just in the past year there has been drastic changes in the frequencies that I can't hear. Hearing loss affects me day to day, for example if anyone whispers something to me, nine of ten times I can't hear what they are saying. My academics also get affected because sometimes I can't hear what we have for homework over all of the background noise of people packing up, so sometimes I just don't do homework because I never heard it in the first place. Not doing homework because I can't hear it affects my grades as I will get zeros for not doing it.
Throughout the film, we see that Heather is thrown into the middle of a battle between her parents and her grandparents. Heathers parents do not want her to receive the cochlear implant, whereas her grandparents think it would be a great idea. With little information at the time being known about these implants, and with Heather being so young, she did not have much of a say when it came to her perspective of receiving it. One thing Heather made clear though, is that she wanted to hear. However, Heather was not aware of the benefits and disadvantages of this implant, and was making her decision solely on the fact that she wanted to be able to hear the sounds we take for granted each and every day. What we see as the video goes on, is that Heather
Davies, Paul. (2005). Implants stir fight over deaf education. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved May 1, 2005, from http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/nation/3125477