Morgan Wongsuwan

Cochlear Implants
Cochlear implants allow for deaf individuals to gain some amount of hearing and are
hailed by many as a miracle of modern science. Infants born deaf are considered prime
candidates and early implantation usually results in better speech and hearing skills later in life
(Kral 2010). The general attitude of hearing parents with deaf children seems to be that
amplifying residual hearing or opting for cochlear implant surgery and having their child learn to
speak and make use of prosthetic hearing will lead to an easier life and better quality life; they
find it hard to imagine someone wanting to be deaf, a disability in their eyes (Hall; Rosner 2012).
Culturally Deaf people tend to see things differently. They see deafness and the use of signed
language as being cultural and linguistic differences respectively rather than disabling traits
(Lane 1996). As such Deaf people, and others with unkind feelings for cochlear implants, often
point to the risks of surgery, the language delay between birth and implantation, the fact that
implantation is often done on infants, and the lives of healthy, happy Deaf people who have not
been implanted.
In my opinion, the most important thing for all babies, be they hearing or deaf, is that
they begin to acquire a language right away. Rachel Mayberry, researcher at UC San Diego, has
shown that the time of first language acquisition has an effect on second language fluency. This
suggests that there are enormous cognitive benefits to early language acquisition. If a baby is not
exposed to language until she gets her cochlear implant at 2-years-old - or whenever that
happens to be - she has already missed out on years of linguistic development. For this reason I
am in favor of early exposure to ASL whether implantation is planned or not. I want to say that I
have nothing against implantation if its a choice someone makes for themselves, but too often
children are denied access to language before they are implanted and by the time someone can
make that decision for themselves the benefits of implantation are diminished (Oginni 2009). I
know more than a few Deaf adults who are happy with themselves and have explicitly said they
dont want hearing (Kinner 2012, Davenport 2012). It may sound strange to us, but deafness and
sign language are a part of their identity.
I think the lives and opinions of Deaf adults should be a factor for parents deciding
whether or not to implant their child because these adults have been there and have a better
understanding of what it means to be deaf than do hearing parents, but it does not come down to
what I think or what Deaf people think or even to what the deaf child her/himself thinks. I think
if deaf children have access to language from day one, then their families are on the right track at
very least.

Davenport, David. Personal Interview. November 21, 2012.
Kinner, Duane. Personal Interview. November 20, 2012.
Hall, James. "A Father's Love." N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.deafchildrencanspeak.com/teachmydeafchildtospeak2_811.pdf>.
Kral, Andrej, and Gerard M. O'Donoghue. "Profound Deafness in Childhood." New England
Journal of Medicine 363.15 (2010): 1438-450. Print.
Lane, Harlan L., Robert Hoffmeister, and Benjamin J. Bahan. A Journey into the Deaf-world.
San Diego, CA: DawnSignPress, 1996. Print.
Oginni, Paul. "UCI Research with Cochlear Implants No Longer Falling on Deaf Ears." New
University RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.
<http://www.newuniversity.org/2009/11/news/uci-research-with-cochlear-implants-no-
longer-falling-on-deaf-ears/>.
Rosner, Jennifer. "Teaching a Deaf Child Her Mothers Tongue." The New York Times 08 May
2012: n. pag. Print.