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Sidebar - Cochlear Implants and Deaf Culture |
When George Garcia received his cochlear implant (see main story), he was immediately ostracized by his deaf friends, who seemed to regard his decision to have the implant surgery as a kind of personal repudiation. Their reaction was not unique. There is strong opposition to cochlear implants in the deaf community, a fact that many people in the hearing world find surprising.
Many members of the deaf community are content with their unique culture and do not regard deafness as a disorder to be cured. Within the deaf community, particular scorn is reserved for the practice of placing cochlear implants in young children. The National Association of the Deaf, for example, maintains that there is no evidence that deaf children who receive implants early are better able to acquire English or have greater educational success than other deaf children.
But a consensus panel appointed by the National Institutes of Health reached somewhat different conclusions (JAMA 274:1955, 1995). The panel acknowledged that there is far more evidence of the value of cochlear implants in children or adults who were deafened after learning language than in those who were deafened before learning language. Nevertheless, the panel suggested that consideration be given to placing implants in children under age 2. By the age of 2, children have already passed the critical period for auditory input in language acquisition.
The two perspectives can still be better reconciled. Some headway is being made by those, both hearing and deaf, who recognize the value of bilingualism. Deaf people--even those who have excellent results with implants--can continue to be fluent in sign language and remain part of the distinct and rich deaf culture, while at the same time participating more fully with in the larger hearing culture. |
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