What is a Cochlear Implant?

It is a small and very complex electronic device which can help to provide a "sense of sound" to a deaf person. It is surgically placed under the skin in an invasive operation. It also has an external part that sits behind the ear. This device will not restore normal hearong, it gives a person representation of sounds in the environment and may help a person understand speech. Results so vary and it does not make a person hearing, they may be able to hear distorted sounds.

Talkin' with Tyson

My friend Tyson is deaf so i decided to get some info from him. I found out that he had recently just had the Cochlear Implant surgery, so I was excited to ask my questions.
Should a baby recieve Cochlear Implants?
"I personally think that a baby should get thier CI's, why, because we first learnour language when we are 3 or 4 years old, it is the prime time to learn to speak and recognize words. If a child is implanted before they learn to speak they will be able to talk like 99% of hearing people".

Do you still feel accepted in the Deaf Community?
"Some people dislike implants because they feel it will destroy the deaf culture and make a person hearing and that the parents who take this choice away from thier child are doing it to make the child "perfect". I have CI's but I know I am not hearing because I need a device to assist me to hear, to me CI's are like an upgraded hearing aid, without them I am still deaf. As far as people accepting me- Without my CI's I am profoundly deaf because once you put it in it damages the hair cells in the cochlea.......I wore my CI's and never got a bad comment by friends, nor was I disliked. People just look at them and acccept them. However there were a few deaf people who would look at me and say "oh come on why did you do that?"!

What are your feelings on Big D deaf people and what does that mean?
Big D deaf people are people who are 100% in the deaf culture and are against any CI or hearong minded deaf person, they refuse to use thier voice and will only use ASL. They tend to have their own world, a world of deaf........well news flash we are living in a hearing world we have to compete against hearing people for jobs, school, etc. I cant go far in my life and be as successful as I want to be if I cant hear and dont try to use my voice to interact with hearing people.
Was it painful?
YES, VERY!!!

The surgey: You may what to turn away if you have a weak stomach

This operation takes around 4 hours for 1 implant. Here are some pictures of it:

So what is the big deal? The contraversy

There is something out there that not many hearing people are aware of, its called the Deaf community. It is thier own world within a hearing world. Being deaf is what links them to one another, its what they have in common. For many they are deaf and proud of it. In some cases they are very defensive towards hearing people and it can be nearly impossible for a hearing person to be accepted. When a deaf person chooses to recieve Cochlear implants they run the risk that they may not be accepted anymore. Cochlear implants can be offensive because its as if the person is "correcting" themselves when they shoud be deaf and proud of it.


As far as the surgery itself, it is very invasive and very painful, this raises the question, should a minor have this operation?
There are many opinins out there by deaf and hearing people over this, for the sake of time i wont get into many opinions. But you already heard Tysons feelings on it.

My Opinion

First: the choice to get a Cochlear implant is a personal choice. These are my views alone.


*If an adult chooses this surgery I have no problems with that. They are old enough to understand what they are doing, the risks and the pain of surgery and the possible outcomes.

*When an infant or child has this surgery the choice is completely taken from them. I dont feel that this is a choice that a parent has the right to make in regards to thier child. Here is why:
- They wont be experiencing the physical pain, its easier to make a choice like this when you yourself are not going through it, even though I do understand it is hard to watch a loved one do it
- What if years down the road the device "craps out" or they have it removed? believe it or not this happens more than you think. If a person has grown up with this device they become reliant on it, what happens when they no longer have it? My friend Tyson was 25 years old when he recieved his implant, if something happened he knows how to live "deaf".