The case study regarding Sharon Duchesneau and Candace McCullough and their son Gauvin is a very complex scenario to try to analyze and figure out whether or not it was morally right for them to intentionally make their son born deaf. Deafness to some may be seen as a disability or handicap and to others may be seen as a cultural identity. There are a number of factors that are needed to determine whether it was morally justified what Gauvin’s parents had done. After reading the case study thoroughly and doing further research I have a strong opinion towards this situation and believe that it was morally wrong what Duchesneau and McCullough had done. In the case study, there were many issues that could have came into question when figuring …show more content…
I think what Gauvin’s parents decided to do was wrong for many reasons. First of all, intentionally making your own child come into this world with a disheartening disability is a terrible thing to do. And yes I do think that deafness is a handicap, rather than an enhancement. Having any disability is already an unfortunate thing, but it also comes with many obstacles. Someone with a disability, like deafness, will always struggle when it comes to things such as school, working, and making friends. They will struggle far more than “normal” people with no disability would. Also, I agree with Kant in which people have the right to freedom of choice. It 's unfair to Gauvin that his parents made the decision for him to be deaf for the rest of his life, and making sure he 's not able to do anything about it. I personally believe what Duchesneau and McCullough did demonstrated ethical egoism. They did what they did through self-interest. They didn 't look at the type of future Gauvin would have or the struggles he would go through, instead they were inconsiderate and only thought about themselves. Opponents may argue and say that it was morally justified what Duchesneau and McCullough had done. They argue that being deaf is not a handicap, but a cultural identity. The main argument that they use is that hearing parents, who have a deaf child, fit their child with hearing aids or cochlear implants is no different than deaf parents wishing to have a deaf child like themselves. I would argue back and say that these are two completely different scenarios. If your child is born deaf and you want to provide them with a hearing aid to help them hear you are not hurting them like you are if you intentionally want to make your child deaf. Using hearing aids and allowing them to hear is doing them a favor because they
Just like members of other minorities, such as Hispanics and African-Americans, Deaf people experience some of the same oppression and hardships. Although the attempts to "fix" members of and obliterate the DEAF-WORLD are not as highly publicized as problems with other minorities, they still exist. Throughout time, hearing people have been trying to destroy the DEAF-WORLD with the eugenics movement, the mainstreaming of Deaf children into public hearing schools, and cochlear implants.
In Ben Jarashow’s Journey Into the Deaf World, he explained Deaf culture and how it feels to be deaf within the world of those who hear. People who are born deaf have a loss of what is commonly viewed as the most important sense, hearing. This leaves them with four senses instead of five; most important sense now being sight followed by touch. In return, this means that a language must be developed that is based heavily on sight. In the United States, it was not until 1960 that American Sign Language (ASL) was recognized as its own language.
Is it wrong to make a child deaf by design? How much leeway should parents have in selecting the characteristics of their child (when it comes to aspects of identity)? Should they have any? These are just a couple of difficult questions posed by Sandel. Presenting a similar case, Sandel discusses the case of an infertile couple seeking an egg donor. They sought a very specific type of donor, going as far as requesting an achieved SAT score. In both of these cases, the outcomes are still susceptible to a certain degree natural variation and uncertainty. Does this element of unpredictability add to the moral correctness of these cases?
Cochlear implants can affect many children from the age after birth to twelve. This implant does affect children emotionally. Infants to toddlers don’t even know what is going on, they are to young to understand that they are deaf. Parents not accepting the fact their child is deaf and does not want to be part of the hearing world. Many parents whose child are born or become deaf do not want any contact with the deaf community; they just want to “fix” their child. Sad part is that the child has no idea is...
The documentary of “Through Deaf Eyes” has open my eyes to the deaf culture. The movie has made it “click” that deaf people are just that people and individuals like me. Deaf community has its struggles just like everyone else. They struggle with growing into who they are as a person, harmful situations, and feeling a sense of belonging. They just speak a different language like Italians and Hispanics. Communicating with a different language does not make them lesser than a hearing person. When able to learn to communicate, the deaf are able to learn and gain knowledge just like a hearing person. The only difference is they have to learn more and work harder to achieve their goals and gain knowledge, which a hearing person learns just by hearing their surroundings.
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
The term minority refers to the membership within a cultural minority group, but also encompasses other groups that lack equality, such as people who are Deaf and hard of hearing. Deaf and hard of hearing people are classified as a linguistic and cultural minority because of their inability to hear. Hearing loss may be inherited, or be a result of complications at birth. It may also occur as a result of chronic ear infections and or certain infectious diseases. Hearing loss can also be a natural consequence of aging. As we get older our hearing ability worsens and a common reason is exposure to loud noise. Over 5% of the world’s population – 360 million people – has disabling hearing
Social model of disability states that most disabling part of being disabled is the society and culture. Society is defined as people who interact in such a way as to share a common culture. According to Charles Taylor, culture and society should be preserved. Thus, Deaf Culture should be preserved in order to avoid misrecognition and the harms associated with it as well as preserve differing societal values. Therefore, members of the Deaf culture should be allowed to create deaf babies if they please and we don’t have the rights in deciding what life is worth living and what life is not worth living.
Shaw, David. "Deaf By Design: Disability And Impartiality." Bioethics 22.8 (2008): 407-413. Academic Search Complete. Web. 23 May 2014.
In the United States today, approximately 4500 children are born deaf each year, and numerous other individuals suffer injuries or illnesses that can cause partial or total loss of hearing, making them the largest “disability” segment in the country. Although, those in the medical field focus solely on the medical aspects of hearing loss and deafness, members of the deaf community find this unwarranted focus limiting and restrictive; because of its failure to adequately delineate the sociological aspects and implications of the deaf and their culture. Present day members of deaf culture reject classifications such as “deaf mute” or “deaf and dumb”, as marginalizing them because of their allusions to a presumed disability. (Edwards, 2012, p. 26-30)
Deaf people often occupy an uneasy position in society. Since most children with hearing impairments have hearing parents, their family members frequently oppress them by taking over the decision-making processes regarding their well-being (Andrews 27). For ex...
(Moskowitz, 2010) The Christian church was the driving authority in the treatment of the Deaf. Their belief was that deafness was decided by God, likely as a punishment- perhaps because of a parent’s sin, this led to the hiding of deaf children. (Kyle, 2000) Even though it was thought that because deafness was a punishment that it could not be cured unless through a miracle. Still, priests would attempt to treat the ears of the deaf for over a thousand years. This included going to harsh and torturous lengths in the effort to gain the ability to hear and speak. It was the church’s views that prohibited deaf people from owning land, receiving an education, and from marrying. (Kyle, 2000) Before there were deaf schools, it seems that deaf people lived in isolated communities where there was little contact between signers. Residential schools provided safe signing zones where children were able to learn more about their language and culture. For many, a residential school was their first introduction to sign language used widespread or even the beginning of their language development as only 5 to 10% of deaf children are born into deaf signing families (Schembri and Lucas,
From a deafness-as-defect mindset, many well-meaning hearing doctors, audiologists, and teachers work passionately to make deaf children speak; to make these children "un-deaf." They try hearing aids, lip-reading, speech coaches, and surgical implants. In the meantime, many deaf children grow out of the crucial language acquisition phase. They become disabled by people who are anxious to make them "normal." Their lack of language, not of hearing, becomes their most severe handicap. While I support any method that works to give a child a richer life, I think a system which focuses on abilities rather than deficiencies is far more valuable. Deaf people have taught me that a lack of hearing need not be disabling. In fact, it shouldn?t be considered a lack at all. As a h...
Imagine seeing people speaking, moving their mouths and not being able to hear anything. Welcome to the world of deafness. The journey for someone who is deaf can be challenging, but those challenges can be overcome with perseverance. Today I am going to share with you the story of my journey with deafness and see that if I am my disability. It is an experience that has shaped my life through body, mind, and spiritual matter.
My instructor had informed us about people with hearing impairments and disorders, but I never thought much about it. After this assignment, I realized how hard it is to have your hearing impaired. I had the luxury of being able to take out my plugs and fix my impairment if I became to overwhelmed or stressed. Those who are impaired do not have such luxury. I did not expect as much of a psychological element to this assignment as there was. There were times where I felt anxiety stirring inside of me. I became anxious if I missed something. The first day back with un-impaired hearing was memorable. I kept thinking to myself how hard short conversations would be if I was impaired. Moving forward, I have a better grasp of what hearing impairment really is and how hard it is to live with. I will be more conscious of my hearing because I never want to experience fulltime