A cochlear implant (CI)

A cochlear implant (CI) is an electronic device that is surgically implanted into a person who is profoundly deaf or seriously hard of hearing in both ears in order to give them a sense of sound. (Ray et al., 2014). Since the year 2014, many individuals who developed deafness in one of their ears after learning to talk have undergone experimental Cochlear implant surgery. (Ray et al., 2014). Because these implants have some electronics and a microphone that are located outside the skin, they are said to have bypassed the usual hearing process. In most cases behind the ear, and which transmit signals to an array of electrodes that are placed in the cochlear and this results in the stimulation of the cochlear nerve (Ray et al., 2014). In spite of being done under general anesthesia, the implantation of the cochlear implant devices attracts some risks such as wound infections, damage to the chord tympani, damage to the facial nerve, otitis media disease, and mastoiditis amongst many others (Ray et al., 2014).

In spite of the cochlear implant being seen as a significant step towards a solution to deafness, there has been controversy around these devices. One of the strongest objection against the cochlear implants innovation has emerged from the deaf community. A significant number of the individuals in the deaf community see the cochlear implant as an affront to their culture whereby they feel threated by the hearing community who turns out to be the majority in the society. These fears have been captured in the film Sound and Fury 2000. Statistics show that 48 million people who make about 20 percent of the Americans report some degree of the hearing loss (Mitchell, 2016). Furthermore, one out of three people at the age of 65 have a hearing loss (Mitchell, 2016). Therefore, the deaf makes up a significant part of our society today.

Background Information of the Film ‘Sound and Fury 2000.’

The YouTube film ‘Sound and Fury’ is a documentary that expounds on the issues that surround what is described as the controversial cochlear implant, a medical operation which allows the deaf people to hear through an operation. The main participants in the film are the adult brothers of the Artinian family, Peter who is deaf and Chris who is hearing, together with their wives and children. The family resides in Glen Cove Long Island where over a period of two years, they experience conflicts, frustration, and pain as they carry out research on the pros and cons of giving their children the ability to hear through the Cochlear implant. Although both parents in the Artinian’s family are hearing, their mother has some slight hearing loss. Peter marries a deaf woman with whom they bore three children who turned out to be deaf. The parents of Peter’s wife are also deaf. On the other hand, Chris marries a hearing woman. They gave birth to three children, a set of twin boys and a girl. One of the boys is hearing-impaired. In the film, the problems come to a head when the deaf daughter of Peter, Heather decides that she would like to have a cochlear implant. Heather is five years old, an age that is deemed favorable for the implant in addition to her curiosity about hearing and the world. She desires to have an active childhood where she is able to hear her friends. On the other hand, Chris together with his wife decided to have a cochlear implant on their son, who is deaf, at the age of one year so that he can be able to learn speech from the beginning.

Lessons Learnt from the Film

One of the major lessons learned from the film is enduring love, tireless responsibility to children, and family devotion. The documentary presents the audience with a controversial journey that parents have to go through while making choices that concern a child with hearing loss. The film ends with the family of the six-year-old Heather arriving at a decision to offer her the opportunity to carry on with the cochlear implant. We see the family being painfully divided over the issue of the implant to the extent that they resolve to move their family to a deaf community in an effort to raise their children in the signing deaf world. In this stand-alone follow-up documentary, it comes to our knowledge that Heather finally gets the implant at the age of nine years (Mcgrew, 2016). It is encouraging to see how delightful she is in her communication skills and speaking ability. Her speech is understandable, and despite being the only deaf child in her mainstream school, she does take classes with every other student, is popular with her hearing peers, stays top of her class, and plays volleyball and basketball. We see her growing and learning through speech and lip reading, and she is able to glide smoothly between the signing deaf world of her parents and the hearing world that she is now a part of. In spite of being profoundly resistant to the implant, Heather’s father talks about how, with education and observation, he has learned the usefulness and impact that the cochlear implant has had on his children, and he expresses his gratitude that they have it (Mcgrew, 2016).

Another indispensable lesson learned in the film is passion and abuse. The couple that was against the idea of their child having a cochlear implant seemed to really have a love and passion for the deaf community that they were part and parcel of. The passion and love are so immense in that one cannot really imagine the connection and bond that these deaf individuals have with each other. It is through this passion and love that we see the parents turning out to be insensitive about the desires of the deaf daughter to have the ability to hear. Whereas, it is understandable that every parent would love their children to be like them, denying them their desires amounts to an abuse of their innate cravings. The members of the deaf family were so close to each other such that it evokes the thoughts that their status quo would make them closer than would if they had the ability to speak and hear.

Whether I would give a Deaf Child a Cochlear Implant and the Reasons Behind my Decision

Whereas giving my child a cochlear implant would be the best decision that I would make regardless of the family status, that is either hearing or deaf; I feel that the cochlear implant could be successful only in a family that is hearing or rather non-deaf in this case, Chris family. The reasons behind this stance are the dilemma of how a child would develop speech and talk in a scenario where both parents are deaf and thus cannot communicate with each other through word of mouth. Thus, even if the cochlear implants stands out to be the best option for a deaf kid, the situation is impractical in certain situations. It is therefore important for a youngster to have a non-deaf family in order to carry on with the implant and if not, then it would be more difficult to learn how to speak.

Pros and Cons for Cochlear Implants

Pros

Regaining hearing. The main advantage of a cochlear implant is that it provides a deaf person with an excellent opportunity to regain some if not all of the hearing. It elevates the level of communication, enables to have a fuller life, and a more functional life.

Relief from hearing loss. Despite the age factor heavily weighing on whether a deaf person is eligible for the cochlear implant, it is a sigh of relief from the hearing loss.

Safer. The opportunity to hear as enabled by a cochlear implant gives an opportunity for those who receive it to be safer. In other words, the ability to here will enable these individuals to hear the impending danger situations such as car accidents and construction sites as well as make them aware of the dangerous situations (Ray et al., 2014).

Cons

Surgical risks and complications. Medical conditions prior to the cochlear implant may cause more complications or hinder healing.

Physical Activity Limit. Individuals who are subjected to the cochlear implant are limited on some activities such as water recreation, water sports, and high contact sports amongst many others (Ray et al., 2014).

References

Mcgrew, J. (2016, April 27). Sound and Fury 2000 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdIoSNwNfVs

Mitchell, R. E. (2016). How Many Deaf People Are There in the United States? Estimates From the Survey of Income and Program Participation. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 11(1), 112-119.

Ray, J., Proops, D., Donaldson, I., Fielden, C., & Cooper, H. (2014). Explantation and reimplantation of cochlear implants. Cochlear Implants International, 5(4), 160-167.