Nancy Bloch,
The National Association of the Deaf
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
Cochlear implants have clearly had an impact, given the general public's
focus on spoken language development. Deaf
culture, with its rich visual language and heritage, will nonetheless continue
to endure through the ages, even with new and emerging technologies. Sign
language is increasingly being used by hearing parents of hearing children
to stimulate cognitive development, by high school and college students seeking
foreign language credits, and by those whose daily lives involve interaction
with signers, and so on. The bottom line is that every one of us needs to
respect every child and adult, including language usage and communication
preferences.
|
|
| Donna Sorkin's Rebuttal:
|
I agree entirely with Nancy's comments with regard to the need for all of us to respect others' choices. But I wish I could agree with the comment that the public understands the needs of people who are deaf and hard-of-hearing who have chosen to use their residual hearing. In fact, we find the opposite is true. Too often, children and adults are offered access that consists of an ASL interpreter, when, in fact, they don't know ASL. Such lack of understanding occurs throughout the public school system, at places of entertainment and in the workplace. We don't find that there has been any improvement at all in the public's understanding of the needs to provide captioning, assistive listening devices, or oral or Cued Speech interpreters.
Back to Top
Donna Sorkin's Answer > >
|
|
Donna Sorkin,
Alexander Graham Bell Association
|
 |
|
|
|
|
I don't know for certain
what the long-term impact on deaf culture will be, though, clearly, a greater
proportion of children with severe to profound hearing loss now have access
to sound that allows them to listen and speak. At this time, approximately
20 percent of eligible children are receiving cochlear implants and this
percentage is expected to increase over time.
|
|
| Nancy Bloch's Rebuttal:
|
Hearing aids have, in fact, been with us for quite a long time, and have had no significant impact on the deaf culture, with its rich heritage and language. The same would be true for cochlear implant technologies.
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
