Cochlear Implant: Deaf Community

Cochlear implants have different implications depending on one’s standpoint. A cochlear implant is a device that converts sound to electrical impulses which is then transmitted to the auditory nerve, and then translated into sound by the brain. If this person is a member of the Deaf community, then this device has more meaning than just an auditory device. The history of the Deaf community and auditory technology is a complicated one, fraught with heartbreaking stories of coercion into wearing auditory technology regardless of their safety and well being, contrasted with testimonials from people who derive great benefit from auditory technology. In simpler terms, it depends on how one perceives being deaf, either as a disability to fix or cure, also known as the medical perspective, or as a cultural identity, with benefits of being [Page 130]bilingual and membership within a close-knit, collective community. For people coming from the medical perspective, utilizing auditory technology is usually the default mechanism for minimizing the impact of being deaf. Attempting to utilize auditory technology may require a great deal of time, investment, and sacrifice in order to be maximize benefits of wearing auditory devices and these auditory devices do not always work for all people. For those who consider being deaf as a cultural identity, complete and convenient access to a natural language (sign language) and membership within the Deaf community is considered to be more important than trying to hear.

Auditory technology has evolved over time from ear trumpets, which were used to amplify sounds for hard-of-hearing people by collecting sounds and funneling them into the ear canal. Wearable hearing aids were developed in 1936, and by the early 1950s hearing aids could be worn on the body, with a box strapped on the chest, and two wires from the box to an ear mold inserted in both ears. Today the most common hearing aids are worn behind the ear, or in the ear. Hearing aids amplify sounds from the environment, but are not clarified, so making sounds louder does not always mean that these sounds are clear to the user. Experience with and benefit from hearing aids vary greatly from individual to individual. For those with residual hearing, which means that they have access to a limited range of sounds, hearing aids may be beneficial. However, for those who are profoundly deaf since birth, hearing aids may not be as effective because the function of hearing aids is to amplify sound. Sound amplification does not always provide much benefit for profoundly deaf individuals because sounds are often more difficult to discern at very high volumes. For decades, people who were profoundly deaf were often expected to wear hearing aids, which transmitted sound at very high and often painful levels. Some were able to become used to that level of stimulation and derive some benefit from hearing aids, ranging from being able to discern speech sounds to awareness of environmental noise. Some found their hearing aids distracting and painful, lending to many stories told by deaf adults about when they would intentionally deactivate, lose or destroy their hearing aids when they were younger. With that in mind, benefit from hearing aids varies considerably from individual to individual despite intensive auditory and speech therapy intervention.

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