In the summer of 1990, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved cochlear implants for children aged 12-17. Previously, only adults had been able to get implants. Now the green light was given to implanting children without their consent.
A cochlear implant is a "bionic ear" device. A small receiver is implanted in the mastoid bone behind the ear; an array of electrodes (22 for the 22-channel device) is inserted surgically into the cochlea (the snail-shaped organ of the inner ear). This operation involves drilling a hole into the skull. After one month of healing, the implantee is fitted with an ear-level microphone and a transmitting coil attached by a cord to a speech processor, a sort of pocket computer. The microphone picks up sounds, relays them to the speech processor, which transmits them to the receiver behind the ear, which sends the signals to the internal device, which stimulates the auditory nerve, which sends these signals to the brain, which interprets them as "sounds."
Candidates for implants are those who have little or no usable hearing in one or both ears. A cochlear implant does NOT completely restore hearing to the implanted ear, nor is the quality of sound completely "natural." An implantee, ideally, will be able to hear a wider variety of sounds and develop better speech patterns. They may or may not be able to use the telephone.
The long-range effects of such a device are unknown. What sort of effect on the constant electronic stimulation may have on the tissue and nerves of the inner ear is likewise unknown. Many deaf people feel that this is a rather drastic expedient. Hearing aids, vibrotactile devices, auditory trainers and FM systems are at least removable. A cochlear implant is there to stay.
Results have been mixed. While some children and adults certainly benefit from n implant, others have benefited very little. In a few cases, the results have been horrible- the body painfully rejects the implant, or the implant destroys whatever residual hearing there was. It's impossible to predict if an implant will be accepted and will benefit the implantee. The implantee may enjoy considerable improvement in the quality of sound, or moderate, or practically none.
Needless to say, cochlear implants are fantastically expensive, and the companies who manufacture them tout their benefits. They claim that a child with an implant will have more options and better social, educational, and job opportunities. It's estimated that no more than 1% of the deaf population are good candidates for implants, yet those who support its use are enthusiastic about the possibility of wiping out deafness- making it "obsolete."
The Deaf community is certainly not against adults voluntarily undergoing the operation and receiving implants. Late-deafened adults often make excellent candidates. For example, a number of ALDAns (members of the Association of Late-Deafened Adults) have received implants and love them. A few have gotten mediocre results, and a very few have had bad results.
Deaf-rights advocates tried, but were unable, to prevent the FDA from approving implants for children. Many of us were disturbed by the FDA's decision. Why?
For one thing, Deaf people themselves- deaf children grown up- have had no say in the matter. Their views, and their real concern for other deaf children, formed by long and hard first-hand experience, are typically dismissed as irrelevant by those who have the power- the hearing oralists, scientists, executives, audiologists and government officials.
We feel that deaf children should be exposed to sign language as well as speech, as part of a Total Communication of Bilingual-Bicultural curriculum. They can choose whatever mode they feel most comfortable with. They can elect to wear a hearing aid, and when they're old enough, voluntarily receive an implant. Or not. The issue is choice. Some Deaf people feel that it's a decision ONLY deaf people can make for themselves. Others feel that implants should be outlawed, period.
An implant is the ultimate invasion of the ear, the ultimate denial of deafness, the ultimate refusal to let deaf children be Deaf. Those who make the decision to implant children choose to risk the children's health so that they can hear more sounds and develop clearer speech. Children attending oral schools and mainstream programs are the most likely to be implanted. Their parents, the ones who choose to have their children implanted, are in effect saying, "I don't respect the Deaf community, and I certainly don't want my child to be part of it. I want him/her to be part of the hearing world, not the Deaf world."
Taken from For Hearing People Only: Answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about the Deaf community, its culture and the "Deaf Reality" by Matthew Moore and Linda Levitan