A Brief Note On The Deaf Culture And Hearing People

Cochlear Implants are an object that is very controversial in the deaf community. “A Cochlear Implants is a device that provdes direct electrical stimulation to the auditory (hearing) nerve in the inner ear.” (“Cochlear Implants”) Cochlear Implants bypass the damaged hair cells, and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. Depending on when the Cochlear Implant is implanted it allows people to hear sounds, and sometimes even their own voice. While it does not cure hearing loss or deafness, it does allow people to hear. On more technical terms a Cochlear Implant includes parts like a microphone, speech processor, and a transmitter which each play a different part in the Cochlear Implant. The microphone picks up sounds, sends them to the speech processer, and then the speech processor analyzes and digitized the sound signal, thus sending them to a transmitter worn on the head. The debate of whether or not Cochlear Implants are right in the deaf community is one that has been going on for years. People believe having Cochlear Implants are a good thing, because they allow deaf people to communicate with hearing people, it allows people who are not helped by conventional hearing aids to be helped, and it creates new possibilities for deaf people. However there are also people that argue that having a Cochlear Implant is a bad thing, because it proposes the idea that deaf people need to be fixed, it can give deaf people false hope, and it proposes the idea that deaf people have a

Cochlear implants are becoming more and more popular now. Even babies as young as 12 months are receiving a cochlear implant. For hearing parents it’s more convenient to have their child get a cochlear implant rather then to learn sign language. Hearing parents usually just look for the simple way out because they don’t want to have a child who is “different.�

To implant or not implant? Many parents’ who are hearing that have deaf children contemplate this question. Because they want to fix the “problem” of deafness. For they want the best for their son or daughters and the “best” is to hear. For those of the deaf culture, they believe a parent who implants their child is abusing the child. Deafness is not a “problem”, but a way of life. Who is right? Unfortunately, there is no right or wrong answer, there is no manual, or signs that say “this way will lead to a better future”; it’s a personal judgement call.

Most doctors recommend that children with cochlear implant only use spoken language as a method of communication so they can maximize the benefits from the cochlear implant. However, the popular method of communication for children with cochlear implants is total communication which is the integration of oral communication and ASL. Although Heather Artinian was fluent in ASL before she received her cochlear implant, she was able to communicate with hearing and deaf people through both ASL and spoken language after years of intensive speech therapy (Aronson, Sound and Fury: Six Years Later). When cochlear implant users take it off, they cannot hear any sounds so they are technically still deaf. Even though they are able to hear sounds, cochlear implant recipients will not be able to identify themselves as hearing individuals. When they bridge the gap between the deaf and hearing world, they can still be a part of both cultures without defining themselves as a part of only one culture (TedX: The Heather World). Therefore, the cochlear implant can be a great device for deaf people who want to stay in the Deaf community but still be able to take advantage of additional opportunities in the hearing

A subculture is defined as a subdivision of a national or the main culture that has a unique and integrated network. The Deaf subculture has its own network, language, which is the official sign language coupled with shared attitudes and beliefs. The Deaf subculture has many subcultures that are divided by various aspects. Some are divided by racial differences while others are divided by the communication method they use. Vision plays a dominant role in the Deaf subculture. They prefer using the American Sign Language (ASL), which has its own syntax and grammar structures. The language relies on visual gestures, but it is not universal and does not have English word order.

Those that oppose cochlear implants argue mostly from a minority standpoint. The deaf community feels that as the minority, the hearing majority is threatening their way of life. “The deaf community is a culture. They’re much like the culture of the Hispanic community, for example, where parents who are Hispanics, or shall we say deaf, would naturally want to retain their family ties by their common language, their primary language, which is

When your child is born, you want to make sure they're healthy. The doctors tell you that your child cannot hear and that he/she is a perfect candidate for a cochlear implant (CI). You have to decide, as a parent, whether to give he/her an implant and to be oral, not to give the implant and to be Deaf, or both. My decision is to give my child a CI, teach he/her to be oral, sign language, and being Deaf.

(n.d.). Part one: the deaf community and cochlear implants my child can have more choices: reflections of deaf mothers on cochlear implants for their children. Cochlear Implants: Evolving Perspectives. Retrieved February 09, 2018, from http://gupress.gallaudet.edu/excerpts/CIEP.html

Sign language, cochlear implants, or both? It is the debate that has plagued parents of young deaf children all over nation. They are torn with the decision between potentially restoring the hearing of their child or immersing them in the beauty of Deaf culture. It seems that no matter what decision they make, there will be backlash. The Deaf community feels like a member is being taken away from them, and hearing people cannot understand why someone wouldn’t want their child to have the ability to hear. Though we cannot fully understand what it is like to be faced with this choice unless we have been in this position, we can explore the pros and cons of either side. So what is it that leads to some parents to make the leap for cochlear implants and turns others towards the sign language side?

Now that I am taking this ASL class, I have been better educated with many different aspects of Deaf culture and the Deaf community. However, if you are in the media world I do believe that they should know better since they are more exposed to all kinds of different cultures. Hopefully, with time and better education of society in general, the offensive words will gradually fade away.4. What are advantages and disadvantages of deaf people using hearing aids or cochlear implants? What are your thoughts on both of these devices?The advantage of hearing aids is that they can pick up some sounds which make a deaf person feel more aware of what is going on. There are digital aids that can be programmed to pick up the frequencies of speech but these are designed for users with moderate deafness. The disadvantage of hearing (digital) aids is that severely or profoundly deaf people do not benefit from digital aids. Others feel that they are uncomfortable and they do not like wearing them.Hearing aids have been accepted as part of the Deaf culture because they are removable and they do not involve invasive surgery.The advantage of having a cochlear implant would be that is allows the recipient to hear a wider variety of sounds and possibly develop better speech patterns however, it is unknown what the long-range effects of this device may do to the tissue and nerves of

Some deaf people also believe that their condition is both natural and cultural and in no sense medical. Therefore, implants only constitute acts of genocide, endangering the continuation of the Deaf community (Edwards). Deaf people view those who agree to the surgery and get the implants as artificial deaf persons, as opposed to those who choose to be original deaf persons (893). Even though hearing persons try to cure those who are hard of hearing, most deaf individuals consider that they do not need their help, as they do not have any disability, and simply have a different language and culture than the rest of their community.

The thing that surprised me the most is learning that most Deaf people would not want to be able to hear again if they were given the chance. Most people would think that a person with some kind of disability would do anything to get rid of it, but that is not the case with many Deaf people. This idea is slightly confusing to me because I am very certain that I would be willing to try to be able to get some kind of hearing back; it would not have to be fully back, but having some kind of hearing after being deaf would be something that would excite me. I guess that I am confused and do not understand because I am not deaf, nor do I have anything wrong with my hearing. Many deaf people enjoy the silence. When they get a hearing aid of some kind, they will use it for a select few things, but most enjoy when they can turn off the hearing aid and have complete silence surround

In light of Deaf Culture, it is truly fascinating how often hearing people rely on auditory information to obtain knowledge from their environment. An environment, in which all cultures live, typically releases some sort of auditory sound such as music, animal, human, and transportation noises. Likewise, the hearing culture has access to the latest information that our world continually creates or changes. The Deaf Culture does not have access to this auditory information that I have mentioned, but that does that make them any less of a culture. Instead of culturally evolving around auditory information, their culture matures through the sharing of information and stimulation of the eyes. Additionally, almost everything that I and the rest

Deaf culture and Hearing culture are both cultures that are similar and also different. Deaf culture and Hearing culture are similar and different in these ways are communicate, driving and movie theater. First, both of cultures could be similar and different, there is about communicate; both of them know how to social but Deaf people cannot hear and Hearing people can hear. Hearing people use speak and listen and they don’t really much body movement and facial expression, however, Deaf people uses ASL (American Sign Language) and they always moving their bodies, hands, arms, heads, and outwardly show expressions on their faces. Second, both of them can driving but Deaf people got less crash than hearing people does. Because Deaf people have

CI’s were manufactured in order to create ease of function in day to day lives of deaf people but has conjured up ethical and social issues amongst specific cultures. Across different cultures there are opposing and parallel beliefs regarding cochlear implants and the benefits and harms regarding the process of implanting one. Many deaf communities within western cultures such as America and Australia view CI’s as unnecessary and offensive towards deaf culture. According to a majority of cultures, receiving CI’s is seen as inappropriate and takes away a person’s identity. Heather Artinian, in the annual TED conference who is a deaf person who wears cochlear implants explained that receiving cochlear implants places the individual between two identities, neither deaf nor hearing. This is because once receiving her cochlear implants, the deaf community within her western culture no longer perceives her as a deaf person because, following receiving the implants, she was able to hear sounds and communicate in ways which deaf people who hadn’t received the implants could not. She too described that she was also not part of the hearing culture as she was not considered as a hearing individual due to being born deaf and despite receiving the CI’s, is still regarded as deaf opposed to as a