Here's continuing coverage of cochlear
implants and kids.
May 2000 - Controversy
over Kids and CIs
November
2000 - The National Association of the Deaf issues a position
statement on cochlear implants. The publication of this article
caused considerable discussion among our readers; several of their
responses are included here as well.
December 2000 - Want to learn the real positions of a
couple of the major national hearing loss organizations? Then check out
the debate between their directors as Donna Sorkin and Nancy Bloch Debate Cochlear Implants.
December 2000 - Unless you've been living in a cave somewhere, you've
probably heard about the movie "Sound and Fury", which
explores the issue of cochlear implants for children. From everything
I've heard, it's an excellent movie that does a good job of presenting
both sides of the issue. Follow the "Sound and
Fury" story.
February 2001 - A University of Michigan study
determines that early implantation results in increased language for
children.
January 2007 - Ear
implant success sparks culture war
January 2007 - Film
Explores CIs for 65-Year-Old Couple
July 2007 -
Politics,
Technology, and the Future of Deafness
October 2007 -
Benefits of Cochlear Implants for ASL Users - Part
One
November 2007 -
Benefits of Cochlear Implants for ASL Users - Part Two
June 2008 -
Deaf Coalition Protests Cochlear Implants at AGBell
Conference
May 2009 -
Documentary Explores the Decision to Provide Cochlear
Implant to Kids
May 2009 -
Not everyone happy with mandated insurance coverage for
hearing devices
July 2009 -
Cochlear Implant for Kids Debate - Australian Edition
September 2010 - Deaf Education: Changed by
cochlear implantation?
June 2011 -
HLAA Convention Keynote Address: The Rest of the Artinian Story
August 2011 -
Not all deaf people want to be 'fixed'
August 2011 -
Where is Heather Artinian today?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December 2000
Most of you have probably heard of a movie called "Sound and
Fury" that examines the impact of a cochlear implant decision on a
family with deaf and hearing members. I haven't seen the movie yet, but
I've heard that it does a pretty decent job of presenting various
perspectives on the cochlear implant issue.
For a real-life debate about the cochlear implant, point your browser
to http://www.thirteen.org/soundandfury/cochlear/debate.html. Donna
Sorkin, Executive Director of Alexander Graham Bell Association for the
Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Nancy Bloch, Executive Director of National
Association of the Deaf present their perspectives on several topics
related to cochlear implants. Both women present logical and cogent
arguments to support their positions. I think everyone, regardless of
his current opinion, will find food for thought here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Doctor's Guide News recently reported that the younger children
are when they receive a cochlear implant (CI), the better they will do
on speech recognition tests later in life. This result is based on a
University of Michigan study that is called the "largest and most
carefully designed study of its kind".
The article contends that this study adds to the "growing proof
that eligible hearing-impaired children should receive cochlear implants
as early as possible if they cannot benefit from hearing aids." The
study found that children who were implanted between the ages of two and
four developed significantly better speech recognition than those who
were implanted later. The study also found that, regardless of the age
of implantation, the longer a child used the CI, the better the speech
recognition scores became.
The study group consisted of 101 children who were implanted between
the ages of two and 14. They were divided into two groups, so that the
effects of implantation age could be separated from the effects of
length of use. One group had their speech recognition skills tested when
they turned seven, regardless of the age of implantation. The other
group had their speech recognition skills tested three years after
implantation. The results demonstrated that both age of implantation and
length of time as a CI user were strong indicators of speech recognition
skills.
Dr. Kileny, head of audiology at the University of Michigan Health
System (UMHS), and the study's lead author, explained that better speech
perception performance with longer and earlier use of an implant is
probably linked to the effect that cochlear implants have on the
developing auditory nervous system. "Basic research has shown that
the nerve cells involved in the auditory system require early and
constant stimulation in order to develop important connections and
patterns of activation necessary for speech perception." Thus, Dr.
Kileny argues for implantation as early as possible.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved implants for
use in children as young as a year, and clinical trials in 12- to
24-month-olds are now in progress at UMHS and elsewhere. It's too early
to have completed a detailed study of children under two, but such a
study should be available in a few years.
Here's continuing coverage of cochlear implants and kids.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January
2007
Could
the end of sign language for deaf children be in sight? A spate of new
studies has shown that profoundly deaf babies who receive cochlear
implants in their first year of life develop language and speech skills
remarkably close to those of hearing children. Many of the children even
learn to sing passably well and function almost flawlessly in the
hearing world. These findings may sound like a triumph to audiologists
and the hearing parents of deaf babies. But they have done little to
convince those in the deaf community who maintain that it is unethical
to give deaf babies cochlear implants, which bypass damaged areas of the
ear and stimulate the auditory nerve directly. Full
Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2007
Part 1 of
this two-part series examines access to soundscapes and warning sounds,
tinnitus relief, and improvement in quality of life.The cochlear implant
(CI) is a well-accepted option for deaf children and adults. In most
cases, the major goal of this technology is to provide sufficient hearing
to promote the development of spoken language in children and adequate
speech recognition in adults. However, this technology also can be a
viable option for families who are planning to use only sign language with
their children or for adults who exclusively communicate through sign
language. Part 1 of this two-part series provides a review of potential
uses of cochlear implants for individuals who may not want to use this
technology for spoken language recognition or development. Part 2 will
look at issues involving cochlear implants and access to music. . . . .
The Deaf community respects the rights of individuals to make personal
choices-including the choice of cochlear implants. Some well-respected
members of the Deaf community have opted for CIs, which suggests that some
individuals who are prelingually and/or "culturally deaf" are interested
in capitalizing on the added sound value offered by CIs.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
November 2007
Part 2 of this two-part series examines access to
music and potential improvement in quality of life. Cochlear implant (CI)
technology can be a viable option for families who are planning to use
only sign language with their children or for adults who exclusively
communicate through sign language. In Part 1 of this article (see last
month's HR), several potential benefits of CIs, including access to
soundscapes, warning sounds, relief from tinnitus, and improvement in
quality of life, were reviewed. In the current article, literature related
to access to music through CIs is reviewed. Music appears to exert direct
physiological effects through the autonomic nervous system. It is an
integral part of religious ceremonies in most cultures and may enhance the
spiritual experience for many individuals. Therefore, music has been used
to enhance well-being, reduce stress, and distract patients from
unpleasant symptoms.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
June 2008
"We aren't concerned about implants per se," said
Ella Mae Lentz of Hayward, Calif., a member of the coalition, who will
join in protests outside the Midwest Airlines Center, where the AG Bell
Conference will take place. "We're concerned about the audism behind the
implants - this belief that hearing is more advantageous than being deaf.
It's the same as racism," she said . . . . The coalition decries what it
sees as AG Bell's oppression of deaf culture. They blame the
organization's vast influence for a shift in the medical community away
from promoting sign language and toward expensive hearing- and
speaking-based therapies that discourage families from learning sign
language. "We really believe that deaf babies have a right to have access
to ASL," said Karla Gunn of Milton, a teacher at the Wisconsin School for
the Deaf in Delavan who is attending the coalition's conference.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2009
Cochlear implant is an amazing technology that
enables children and adults who have severe to profound hearing loss to
hear. But, at the same time, it is controversial for many people in the
deaf community, especially deaf parents with deaf children. Every parent
wants the best for their children, even if it means giving them the
opportunity to hear. A Chicago-area family is profiled in an upcoming
documentary that shows their life as they struggle with cochlear implants.
"Louder than Words" is a feature documentary that explores the real life
drama of the Stark family. Parents Michael and Jill were born deaf. Their
two children were also born deaf. Jeffrey, who is almost 3, and
7-month-old Melissa. "We decided to have both kids implanted. We wanted
them to use the phone," said Jill.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 2009
A smiling crowd of families and children, many
wearing hearing devices, watched this week as Gov. Jim Doyle signed
landmark legislation making Wisconsin just the second state in the country
to mandate insurance coverage for cochlear implants for deaf children.
"This is what insurance is about," the governor said. "This is something
that could happen to anybody. We all should share in that risk and help
people realize their full potential. This is a happy day." But it was not
a happy day for others within the deaf community, who view the implants as
a dangerous and expensive threat to their unique identity, culture and
sign languages. Led by a national grass-roots organization called Audism
Free America, which opposes what it calls "audism," or discrimination
against the deaf and hard of hearing, some state activists launched a
last-minute effort to persuade the governor to veto the bill.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2009
AS AN infant, a cochlear implant gave Sarah
Keenan, now 10, the gift of hearing, but the decision gave her parents
much angst. "I agonised that the surgery might be telling her she wasn't
good enough if she couldn't hear," said her mother, Roz Keenan. "Would it
change her identity as she got older? I felt that, in the end, if I gave
it to her she could choose later (how to communicate)." Sarah can now do
both - talk and sign. Tamara Trinder-Scacco made a different decision for
her daughter. Kayla, 5, wears a hearing aid for environmental sound but is
deaf to the spoken word. "She can (have a cochlear implant) but we choose
not to," said Ms Trinder-Scacco. "I'm deaf, my husband's deaf and our
first language is Auslan (sign language). When Kayla was born, I didn't
know enough about cochlear at the time and I wasn't comfortable with it.
It wasn't a hard decision for me - look at me, I grew up fine and I can
see the same for Kayla provided she gets the support."
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2011
As a deaf person, there's a few standard things
you expect to happen during an audiology appointment. These include:
having your hearing checked and your ears piped with warm plasticine to
make new ear moulds for your hearing aids (I've always secretly loved this
bit), and being gently chided for not cleaning your ear moulds more
regularly (I'm a lifetime offender). Yet you may also come into contact
with people who despite their job - treating deaf people - are not
incredibly deaf aware. I've never met an audiologist who knows sign
language, and have winced as I've watched some of them repeatedly call out
patient's names with a slightly annoyed look on their face, as if they've
forgotten that said patients (often sitting quietly reading an old copy of
Reader's Digest) might not be able to hear them. What you wouldn't expect
is for that lack of deaf awareness to go another extreme, and to have to
endure your audiologist denigrating the deaf community you belong to
because you have politely declined their offer of a cochlear implant.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 2011
I had the pleasure to interview Heather Artinian
from an Academy Award nominated film, Sound and Fury. As many people saw
in the follow up film, Sound and Fury: Six Years Later, Heather received a
cochlear implant at the age of 9 years old. I imagine that many people
including me are wondering where she is today as an adult, who just
graduated from high school and is about to head off to college. Heather
updates us on what she has accomplished so far in her life as a cochlear
implant recipient and provides us some in sights on her thoughts on the
film as an adult today.
Full Story
