Diana Cruz

English 11000

Professor Conroy

29 October 2019

Should Parents Determine Whether a Hearing Impaired Child gets a Cochlear Implant?

Abstract

     Since 1972, many people have been implanted with a cochlear implant, a small device that is surgically implanted into one’s ear that provides a sense of sound to a person who is deaf or hard of hearing. Although the ability to receive a cochlear implant is revolutionary, for many the idea of getting a cochlear has a lot of stigmas attached to it, mainly from people of the deaf community. Hearing about this stigma can provide a loss sense of direction for parents who may have a child who can potentially receive a cochlear implant on what to do. Parents look into multiple different sources to see whether getting a cochlear implant is in actuality the best solution for their child. Parents tend to find the decision-making process extremely hard.

Parents First Instinct

     When a parent finds out that their child has a hearing impairment a lot of parents tend to look into courses of action they can take to help their child any way they can. During this process, parents tend to familiarize themselves with the concept of a cochlear implant. They begin to ask the question of “when would be the best time for a child to receive a cochlear implant?”According to the NIDCD “children who receive a cochlear implant during the time frame of 18 months-3 years are more likely to be able to hear and comprehend sound at a normal rate comparable to children with normal hearing.” This is because once a child is 3 years old they are at the stage in which language begins to develop. Although a person can receive a cochlear implant later in life the effects might not be as progressive as for a person who received a cochlear implant by the age of 3 and younger.

Medical Viewpoint

     The idea of getting a cochlear implant for many revolves around the thought process of deafness being a “disability”. From a medical view being deaf is seen as something that needs to be fixed. According to the insider article “Why deaf people turn down cochlear implants” “Many doctors who perform cochlear implant surgeries have been aggressively promoting cochlear implants as a cure.” They see this as something that is needed for children with a hearing impairment if they want to “fixed”. Doctors look at being deaf like every other disability in the world and do not see it in a light in which being deaf “shouldn’t” be fixed. Doctors being so pushy on the idea of cochlear implants are extremely influential in a parent’s decision-making process when it comes to determining whether or not a child receives a cochlear implant. After all, people believe doctors know “best” and although cochlear implants aren’t necessarily bad doctors should look into deaf culture and why being deaf does not automatically mean a person with a hearing impairment needs to be fixed.

Deaf Communities View

     Many people in the deaf community see getting a cochlear implant as a disgrace. As mentioned in the journal “The Right Not To Hear: The Ethics of Parental Refusal of Hearing Rehabilitation” Leaders of the Deaf culture have associated CIs with “child abuse” and “cultural genocide” because they can lead to implanted children leaving Deaf society. They don’t like the idea that getting a cochlear implant can isolate a child from deaf culture and can force them to assimilate into a hearing culture. Having a say in whether or not a child gets a cochlear implant without consent should be forbidden according to a lot of people in the deaf community. Getting a cochlear implant is seen as a disparity to some people because deaf culture has so much depth to it people would rather learn about how to “fix” something that’s not the most common thing in the world rather than have acceptance.

Interview

     An interview with Doug Lynch was done on November 5th, 2001. Doug Lynch received a cochlear implant. She received a cochlear implant at the age of 26. She got an autoimmune inner ear disease which caused her to be deaf. Doug was distraught at the idea of being deaf. At the time she also had to receive chemotherapy for her autoimmune disease but that had been slowly deteriorating her away. The chemotherapy was used as an attempt to treat her disease but it eventually caused her to become desperate and seek another form of “treatment”. This caused her to look into cochlear implantation. After researching a lot she concluded that she wanted to go through with the implantation. Later on, in the interview, she discussed that after the implantation she was elated to be able to hear. Getting a cochlear implant allowed her to live a fulfilling life. Her only regret was that she had wished she looked into getting a cochlear implant sooner.

Benefits of Cochlear Implants

     Getting a cochlear implant has improved the lives of many and has allowed them to have a widespread level of opportunities. In the documentary Sound and Fury, there was a family in which both parents were deaf and had a daughter named Heather who was deaf. The father was extremely against cochlear implants as he saw it as forcing someone to have to fit in with the hearing world. He wanted his family to stay deaf and especially his daughter to not receive the cochlear implant because he believes being deaf just means being alternative and isn’t something that needs to be changed. Her mother, on the other hand, was all for the cochlear implant even though she happened to be deaf. She was worried that her daughter would lack opportunities in the future and the cochlear implant could be a gateway for her to get those resources. The mother researched a lot and went to schools to see what life was like for kids who had received a cochlear implant seeing the person know how to speak and being able to communicate with her peers only drove Heather’s mom closer to the idea that she wanted her daughter to get a cochlear implant. Eventually, Heather did get a cochlear implant and was able to do many eventually be able to have clear speech, interact with hearing people and earned high grades. Even though she received the cochlear implant and is progressing well. Heather doesn’t necessarily consider herself part of the hearing or deaf world as said in her TED talk “ Not the hearing or deaf world”. Heather considers her world to be identified as the Heather world. With this, she is implying that her world is apart of both and a bridge should be made between the hearing and deaf world and coexist together.

Problems Associated with Cochlear Implants

     Cochlear implants have caused external problems for children and adults alike. In the journal “The Effect of Cochlear Implants on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Initial Baseline and 18-Month Follow Up Results for a Prospective International Longitudinal Study” “Cochlear implant users have more peer issues.” A Lot of kids who receive cochlear implants have been bullied by peers and sometimes children might not have the most advanced speech even when receiving a cochlear implant. Children can be looked down upon as being different and possibly face emotional trauma in the future. According to the journal Pragmatic Language Skills: A Comparison of Children With Cochlear Implants and Children Without Hearing Loss “children with cochlear implants have problems with contingency, the ability to maintain the topic of the conversation and to add new and relevant information.” Their social skills aren’t as heightened compared to children who have good hearing.

Far from Perfection

     Although cochlear implants can provide oneself with a sense of sound. Cochlear implants can create a lot of background noise which can confuse the person or not allow for a recipient of the cochlear implant to focus. Cochlear implants can also potentially cause leaks of fluid around the brain, permanent ringing, and can cause dizziness. These issues can affect many people’s daily life.

The Aftermath of Receiving a Cochlear Implant

     Some people who receive cochlear implants wish they had never received them. For example in the Insider article “Why deaf people turn down cochlear implants” A child named Brandon received a cochlear implant at the age of 3. Over time he developed a hate relationship with the cochlear implant by attempting to “accidentally break the cochlear implant or flush it down the toilet.” He would turn the cochlear implant off often and would even get in trouble for doing so. Brandon stated, “I was repeatedly warned by my parents that the cochlear was ‘essential’ for me to assimilate into the society and that I would have a very successful future with it, which wasn’t true.” Forcing a child to get a cochlear implant just to fit in with the hearing world can often provide oneself with a lot of resentment.

The Future of Cochlear Implants

     Although cochlear implants are life-changing devices if a more advanced device comes out in the future then the people who have received cochlear implants do not have the option to use this device. This is due to when the cochlear implant is put into the ear the nerves in the ear are permanently damaged so that the electrical signals can be transmitted.

Conclusion

     The concept of determining whether or not a child with a hearing impairment should receive a cochlear implant is a tough one. In a sense, it seems like a Russian Roulette because you never know what your child would think once receiving the cochlear implant and how they live there life. There is not necessarily one right or wrong answer to whether or not a parent should have their child get a cochlear implant. What one can do is honestly do as much research as possible, look into people’s stories, and hear from doctors. Don’t just make a decision right off the back just because a doctor believes a cochlear implant is a “cure” or just because someone received bullying, or has had the best experience with a cochlear implant overall. Look into all the sources available. Determining whether to take action and get a cochlear implant is not an easy task but research is the best mechanism to help along with the decision making process.

Works Cited

Works Cited

Sample Essay https://academic.oup.com/jdsde/article/15/2/162/551818

Byrd, Serena, et al. “The Right Not to Hear: the Ethics of Parental Refusal of Hearing Rehabilitation.” The Laryngoscope, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4493436/.

“Cochlear Implants.” National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 15 June 2018, www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/cochlear-implants.

Denworth, Lydia. “Deaf Culture and Cochlear Implants: Genocide or Salvation?” Time, Time, 25 Apr. 2014, time.com/76154/deaf-culture-cochlear-implants/.

Huber, Maria, and Clara Havas. “Restricted Speech Recognition in Noise and Quality of Life of Hearing-Impaired Children and Adolescents With Cochlear Implants – Need for Studies Addressing This Topic With Valid Pediatric Quality of Life Instruments.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 27 Aug. 2019, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02085/full.

Lynch, Doug. “Interview with Doug Lynch Cochlear Implant Recipient, Director of Marketing at Advanced Bionics. Doug Lynch.” AudiologyOnline, 5 Nov. 2001, www.audiologyonline.com/interviews/interview-with-doug-lynch-cochlear-1783.

Praderio, Caroline. “Why Some People Turned down a ‘Medical Miracle’ and Decided to Stay Deaf.” Insider, 3 Jan. 2017, www.insider.com/why-deaf-people-turn-down-cochlear-implants-2016-12.

Sarant, Julia, et al. “The Effect of Cochlear Implants on Cognitive Function in Older Adults: Initial Baseline and 18-Month Follow Up Results for a Prospective International Longitudinal Study.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 15 July 2019, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00789/full.

Socher, et al. “Pragmatic Language Skills: A Comparison of Children With Cochlear Implants and Children Without Hearing Loss.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 19 Sept. 2019, www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02243/full.