Sign Language, Cochlear Implants And Turns Others Essay

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? To fully understand why this is a popular debate, we must first explore Deaf culture. Dr. Beth Sonnenstrahl Benedict from the Hands and Voices organization states that â€Å"The America n Deaf community values American Sign Language as the core of a culturally Deaf identity† (Benedict par 1). Language is a crucial aspect of a culture, and American Sign Language unifies the Deaf community. Although it is often dismissed as a language, ASL has its own unique sentence structure and vocabulary that make it different from English or any other foreign language. Many believe that allowing a deaf child to learn sign language is essential to them embracing their deafness as well as buildingShow MoreRelatedWhere Do I Fit In? Essay1488 Words   |  6 Pages American Sign Language(ASL) has been for many years the main way the deaf communicate and is also extremely important to the deaf culture. To the hearing world, being deaf was always considered a handicap and for that reason they came up with what is called a cochlear implant, causing great debate within the deaf culture. The invention of the cochlear implant has the deaf worried that their culture will be destroyed , while the hearing world find that it will better there lives, not realizing thatRead MoreCochlear Implants : The Deaf Or The Hearing?1331 Words   |  6 PagesCochlear Implants Who really needs cochlear implants, the deaf or the hearing? Do these implants actually fix someone who isn’t ill? When you are no longer consider deaf, but are not hearing either you are essentially isolated. So why go through with a painful procedure that fixes nothing but the amount of work the hearing have to do to communicate? What exactly is a cochlear implant? A cochlear implant is a device that is surgically implanted into the head.. What the cochlear implant does is itRead MoreA Brief Note On The Deaf Culture And Hearing People1338 Words   |  6 Pageshave the options of hearing aid, cochlear implants, an auditory brainstem implant, an auditory midbrain implant, or use ASL. 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Therefor e, the attempt to be normal threatens Deaf communities. The term normal is created by our society. According to Lennard Davis, â€Å"The idea of norm is less a condition of human nature than it is a feature ofRead MoreDeafness And Other Communication Disorders Essay1761 Words   |  8 PagesAccording to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), approximately 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with hearing loss in one or both ears. (Quick Statistics About Hearing, 2016) Children who have impaired hearing face a unique set of challenges, and as with many disabilities, early intervention is vital to their success both academically and socially. There are a few different categories of hearing loss in young children. 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This is why it is crucial that hearing loss is detected early on, because the earlier it is treated, the more likely the child is to develop listening and spoken language skills appropriate for their age. Children that are born deaf are already at a disadvantage as the typical childRead MoreImprovements in the Quality of Life of the Hearing Imp aired: Modern Technology Impact2019 Words   |  9 Pageslarger impact on society. Cochlear implants and hearing aids are the two assistive listening technology devices that can change the lives of many in the deaf and hard of hearing community. Short Message Service (SMS), teletypewriter (TTY), Relay Service, fax, and computers are other ways of open communication the deaf have easy access to. Even with skepticism, technology is rising to become a major item in the lives of the deaf. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders