Best of H+: Cochlear Implants and the Deaf Culture: A Transhumanist Perspective by Shaikat Hossain

Sign language is language that uses visual hand patterns to convey a meaning without using any vocal. It truly is a superb way of communication, although it was not always accepted in society. Wherever communities of deaf people exist, sign language develops. There was no

could you imagine a world where you aren’t able to hear a sound? Well, for hundreds of thousands of people this is unfortunately their reality. However, with advances in technology people are now able to hear for the first time and let me tell you, that’s certainly music to my ears. A new piece of medical technology known as the cochlear implant is a life changer that helps the deaf to live a normal life.

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.�

The documentary Sound and Fury by Roger Weisberg takes its views inside the rarely seen world of deaf culture for the family struggle over controversial medical technology known as the cochlear

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 Cochlear Implant is an electronic device that partially restores hearing in people who have severe hearing loss due to damage of the inner ear and who receive limited benefit from hearing aids (http://www.cochlear.com/wps/wcm/connect/au/home/understand/hearing-and-hl/hl-treatments/cochlear-implant). In some cases there are patients whose hearing did not adjust correctly, having a risk of developing a virus, complications after the surgery, the benefits of sign language without a cochlear implant and lastly children or adults with cochlear implants may not even develop a good speech. There are many positive and negative articles I have read on cochlear implants. As a parent you are not only putting your child at risk, you are also withdrawing them from the deaf community, the one they were naturally born into. I do not support cochlear implants, children should not be implanted until they are grown to the point where they can make their own choice

Since a forced cochlear implant would introduce the child into the hearing culture, this decision would limit the child’s opportunity to explore and learn more about the Deaf culture. One such example demonstrates this by showcasing a video containing an interview with the hearing parents of a deaf girl who has a cochlear implant; in this video, the parents stated that the reason why they chose to have their daughter receive the cochlear implant, who was at the age of three and a half, was because the child was struggling with her deafness and that the cochlear implant was the only solution that would fix the issue (“Cochlear Implants – A Cultural Threat”, n.d.). The main issue here was that the parents believed that the only way their daughter would have a happy life was to use the cochlear implant; there was little consideration given to alternative methods, primarily because she was at a young age. If a forced cochlear implant were to be given to all Deaf children early on in their lives, they would be given no choice but to accept the hearing culture; although they could have functioned well in the Deaf culture, the culture that they were born in, the mandatory cochlear implant forces them into a culture that opposes their

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

In today’s society there is an ongoing debate of weather children who are deaf should receive cochlear implants. A cochlear implant is a device that takes sound wave and changes the waves into electrical activity for the brain to interpret. Wire called electrodes are surgically implanted into the cochlear nerve which receives a signal from the microphone attached to the transmitter and speech processor. The microphone captures the sound from the environment and the speech processor filters the noise versus speech. Then the transmitter sends an electrical signal through the electrodes to stimulate the cochlear nerve. Every person has a different thought depending on their experiences in their life whether deaf children should receive cochlear

(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

The Bionic Ear has revolutionised the lives of deaf individuals all over the world, it is not only a great scientific achievement, but also a great progression in a socio-cultural context within the lives and communities of the deaf and hearing-impaired individuals. The Bionic Ear with the aid of IT has provided new capabilities and in turn gives individuals new choices of

In learning about the deaf culture I have taken on a new understanding about the people it includes. Through readings and the lessons, I have learned that being deaf has both its hardships and its blessings. The beauty of the language alone makes one want to learn all that he or she can about it. In this paper I will discuss the beauty of the language and the misconceptions the hearing world has about deafness.

The article “Parents of deaf children with cochlear implants: a study of technology and community” focus mostly on the clinical structures and how parents decide to use cochlear implant or not. The data shows that the clinic, the state and local school districts are working together to anticipate parental needs.

“I wanted to make the first thing you hear me asking you to marry me”. These are the profoundly astounding words Andrea Diaz heard her boyfriend exclaim to her after the receival of her first cochlear implant. A deaf woman, she had never before been able to comprehend her boyfriend's voice, and to her amazement she heard his first words proclaiming the desire to begin the rest of their lives together. This miraculous moment was made possible because of cochlear implants recent inception; and ability to stimulate the innards of one's ear in order to develop a sensitivity to sound wave vibrations, but it never used to be as popular choice of hearing aid as it is an expensive procedure with minute possible damage. It sparked much controversy in both the scientific and deaf community as it was considered an inhumane practice by researchers, and an embarrassment to deaf individuals as they felt it was not a problem that should be looked upon with pity as something that needs to be “fixed”. The cochlear implant has seen much innovation and technological changes since its recent inception; furthermore, the implant has aided the lives of the deaf community through new forms of communication, and seeks to be improved as time progresses.