Ear questions-- about deaf people?

Question

1. What does the outer, middle, and inner ear do? How do all the parts work together to allow you to hear things?

2. How does a cochlear implant work?

3. If you were a parent of a deaf baby, would you give your child a cochlear implant? Why or why not?

4. Should govenment money (federal funding) be used to pay for research that focuses on cochlear implants?

5. Should government money (federal funding) be used to pay for implantation of people who cannot afford the surgury or who do not have the insurance?

6. How much of the decision to recieve an implant should be left up to a child receiving one?

Answer 1

If I were the parent and my child could recieve an implant I would do it but in some deaf people implants will not work.Myself I have nerve damage but I am not totally deaf.I have asked and been tested and an implant will not work with nerve damage.

Answer 2

Smile...loaded questions...I'll try to answer them best I can. First, let me explain that I am a Deaf adult who works at an agency that serves our local Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community in a variety of ways, one of which is providing information on things like CI's (Cochlear Implants).
1. The outer ear, like a funnel, channels the sound into the middle ear. The middle ear, with the three bones, sound causes the bones to vibrate which in turn makes the eardrum vibrate. The inner ear has the synapses that transfer the vibrations into a medium that the brain can interpret as sound to the person. Very simplistic answer, but basically sound (pardon the pun--smile)
2. A CI takes the place of the middle ear mechanisms, and takes the sound and changes it into the clicks and impulses that the brain learns to interpret into sound.
3. Depends on alot of things. Being Deaf myself, my husband and children are Hearing, but my youngest son was born deaf, and was until he was 3. (long story). Having a deaf child would be no hardship for us, and CI's are by no means fool-proof. They don't always work, and they can break down just like anything else mechanical. However, having said that, the younger the child is when getting the CI, the brain will learn faster to interpret the information transmitted...the older they are, the brain's synapses are pretty set. A person who has a CI will NEVER become a Hearing person. It isn't a magic pill--it requires alot of work and training to use correctly.
4. No. My personal opinion. At this time there is way too much ambivilence among the Deaf Community about the subject. Many people do not realize that Deaf people, by and large, do NOT view themselves as handicapped. We view ourselves as a unique language group, with our own separate, distinctive culture that we jealously seek to preserve. When a Deaf person is approached by a well-meaning Hearing person who is trying to "fix" them, it can be anywhere from being an opportunity to educate, to feeling downright insulted. There are enough private entities that will fund that sort of research, without the government getting involved.
5. I think it depends on the person....if it's someone later-deafened, and the surgery will be done on a brain that already has the necessary synapses to interpret sound, and the person doesn't have the necessary skills and support system already in place to deal with their deafness, then maybe. Just to try to fix "these poor deaf people"--no thanks.
6. Depends on the age of the child. Often parents are called to make decisions regarding their children without knowing whether or not the eventual outcome will be positive or negative. This is really no different. My main concern is that the parents have ALL the information at their disposal...not just the propaganda that this will be a magic pill to make their child "hearing and normal" again. I know that is what they want to hear, but it is not fair to either the parents or the child to go into this with those kinds of expectations, and THAT will spell disaster in the long run. So, for a parent in that position, go to the nearest Deaf and Hard of Hearing agency, request all the information, talk to Deaf adults who have the CI and those who do not, parents who chose CI for their children and those who didn't....before making your decision.
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