Medical model and cochlears

Are cochlear implants discrimination against Deaf/HOH individuals?

  • Yes

  • No

  • It depends

Results are only viewable after voting.
I'll give my view. I'm long-term deaf, but am not Deaf.

It's complicated :)

deafness, medically speaking, is a disability. Deafness is not, it's a culture. Neither of them means the person is any better or any worse than another. I don't feel any less worthy (or more worthy, for that matter) as a person when I use spectacles to help me see better. It's simply a tool I use to help me live my life the way I want to live it. Obviously, not everyone can make those kinds of decisions, and for children, it's parents who are entrusted with that decision.

One can be:

hearing and Deaf
deaf and Deaf
hearing and some other culture
deaf and some other culture

The decision to get a CI for youngsters is complicated, to say the least. The parents/guardians need to make the best medical and cultural decisions for their children. Note - that applies to ALL children, not just deaf ones. For example, my wife and I come from different cultures. We are the ones to decide how to raise our children from a cultural standpoint, based on what we think is best for our children and our points of view. We have chosen to be a multicultural family, but should we have made a different choice, I would not expect people from the "abandoned" culture to come beating down our door claiming that we have stolen our children's right to be a part of that culture. Note: neither my wife nor I are Deaf, so that's not what I'm talking about here.

So, to summarize my views - loving, caring parents who want the best for their children can come to different decisions about how to raise their child culturally, and I think that's perfectly good and OK. I know about some of the history with the Deaf culture and the feelings that come with that, and I'm not denying that. The best way, in my opinion, to deal with deaf children in the medical profession is to treat the "patient" as a whole person - provide information to the parents about options. The decision is a personal one - it's not as if there is "one true religion" related to deafness/Deafness/CI/etc - reasonable, loving people can make different decisions.

So, if I had to answer your survey, no, Cochlear Implants are not discrimination. Do some people discriminate or use CI in a discriminatory way - yeah, probably, you can probably find people who have a discriminatory attitude towards just about anything, unfortunately.
 
BatChick98 said:
I guess my question is more pertaining to a physician recommending CIs, not the companies that manufacture them, because of course they'll try to get your to buy it whether it is right for you or not. Also, to a person who is not deaf, being hearing seems easier. We do not have the knowledge or experience you have with being deaf so a hearing doctor may recommend a CI because that's what they feel would be easier, but not because they are trying to get your to be normal. Do you agree?
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The person who recommends a cochlear implant is an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (otolaryngologist) or ENT. Their job is to deal with illness, injury and dysfunction of the ear nose and throat. Why would they not recommend a treatment that has been medically proven to improve a person's ability to hear? That is what a doctor does.
 
LoveBlue said:
Native Americans are born with different features than I have (hair, skin, bone structure, etc, etc).
<born> Deaf are born with different features than I have, including ears that function differently than mine.

Since they're both different from me, should I say they're both disabled?
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Can a person go to sleep as one culture such (non-Native American) and wake up the other (Native American)?
 
We depend on our hearing & ear. Evolution never gives you what you do not need. HAs & CIs were invented because it may be sense you can manage without but natures intention was that you don't.
 
I am a bilateral CI receipiant. My personal belief is that if a person is offered something that will help them reach toward a semblance of normalcy it should be taken advantage of. After all, amputees and most born without limbs don't shun artificial devices in favor of getting by without. That being said, I have contact with many deaf people who function just fine without HA's or CI's and have great admiration and friendships with them. They don't exclude me, and I certainly don't exclude them socially. I apply my philosophy to me and don't endeavor to spread it to others unless my opinion is asked. Since being implanted I am surprised at the number of people who have mostly politely asked me how the implants are working for me when I'm at the grocery or a restaurant. They usually state that a spouse, relative or aquaintance is a candidate and is trying to make up their mind. My response is that I'm doing well as evidenced by the fact that we are conversing. But, my results are mine and results vary widely and recovery is an ongoing process that I have committed myself to.
 
BatChick98 said:
I guess my question is more pertaining to a physician recommending CIs, not the companies that manufacture them, because of course they'll try to get your to buy it whether it is right for you or not. Also, to a person who is not deaf, being hearing seems easier. We do not have the knowledge or experience you have with being deaf so a hearing doctor may recommend a CI because that's what they feel would be easier, but not because they are trying to get your to be normal. Do you agree?
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No. Once it gets to the point that hearing aids (HA) no longer work or help, then the next step is usually (Cochlear Implants) CI's. It depends also on each individual as there may be other health factors such as deformities or diseases that will prevent the use of CI's.
The Deaf culture is againsts CI's for the shear fact that they think its a dent in their pride, when a hearie seeks to get CI's to hear again the Deaf culture is more against it that the deaf culture themselves ( Deaf-culturally , deaf- late deafened/hard of hearing "HOH") Deafs can be really negative on this subject because they believe the CI's are taking away from them... again its a touchy subject where it should be the choice of the individual without backlash from others. Do with your body as they do with theirs, no one is forcing it upon you. One such touchy subject is implanting babies/children, a parent will do what they think Is best for their child. Are they deaf or are they in a hearing world? Do they have the resources to survive and learn through a life altering condition? We just cant hear... just one of the senses lost of many... but again, other health factors play a role here.
 
i think perhaps your research would be better structured if you look at who pushes the CI the most? do they encourage ASL more then oralism ?


look into ag bell who try to make deaf look "normal hearing".
what you will find is shocking.
 
CI is technology for those that choose to try it. Technology does not work for everyone. Everyone is different and doctors are not perfect. The pathological approach is not always the best. Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US killing hundreds of thousands every year.
 
DOD said:
CI is technology for those that choose to try it. Technology does not work for everyone. Everyone is different and doctors are not perfect. The pathological approach is not always the best. Medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the US killing hundreds of thousands every year.
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But you don't die from CI surgery, its not a brain surgery. Correct that it dosnt work for everyone but that number is a very small number.
 
sonocativo said:
But you don't die from CI surgery, its not a brain surgery. Correct that it dosnt work for everyone but that number is a very small number.
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Oh, I'm sure if the patient were to get an infection.... Why do you think we have to get 2 vaccines before surgery. ;)
 
sonocativo said:
But you don't die from CI surgery, its not a brain surgery. Correct that it dosnt work for everyone but that number is a very small number.
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True, My point about medical accidents was speaking to approaching deafness pathologically vs. culturally. I am just trying to say the medical approach is not always the best approach.
 
DOD said:
True, My point about medical accidents was speaking to approaching deafness pathologically vs. culturally. I am just trying to say the medical approach is not always the best approach.
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Everything can be approached medically and shoved down our throats.... It is better to know if it is feasible for ones lifestyle and well being in the future. It is still a hearing world and deafs struggle daily with it as we are a small drop of water in the vast ocean.
 
"The person who recommends a cochlear implant is an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (otolaryngologist) or ENT. Their job is to deal with illness, injury and dysfunction of the ear nose and throat. Why would they not recommend a treatment that has been medically proven to improve a person's ability to hear? That is what a doctor does."

Teacherofthedeaf, you commented the above. So you don't see it as doctors trying to rid the world of deaf/Deaf people or trying to make them conform to the "norm"? I ask because I am reading a textbook that says doctors hate disabled people and want to get rid of them and that is why they try and find cures and blah blah blah. I think its BS
 
BatChick98 said:
"The person who recommends a cochlear implant is an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (otolaryngologist) or ENT. Their job is to deal with illness, injury and dysfunction of the ear nose and throat. Why would they not recommend a treatment that has been medically proven to improve a person's ability to hear? That is what a doctor does."

Teacherofthedeaf, you commented the above. So you don't see it as doctors trying to rid the world of deaf/Deaf people or trying to make them conform to the "norm"? I ask because I am reading a textbook that says doctors hate disabled people and want to get rid of them and that is why they try and find cures and blah blah blah. I think its BS
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No ..Audiologists do, And if that was true a lot of Doctors would be out of work... all false info.
 
BatChick98 said:
"The person who recommends a cochlear implant is an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (otolaryngologist) or ENT. Their job is to deal with illness, injury and dysfunction of the ear nose and throat. Why would they not recommend a treatment that has been medically proven to improve a person's ability to hear? That is what a doctor does."

Teacherofthedeaf, you commented the above. So you don't see it as doctors trying to rid the world of deaf/Deaf people or trying to make them conform to the "norm"? I ask because I am reading a textbook that says doctors hate disabled people and want to get rid of them and that is why they try and find cures and blah blah blah. I think its BS
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What is the name of the book you are reading that says such things?
 
"doctors hate disabled people and want to get rid of them and that is why they try and find cures"

One of the most crucial things you could ever learn at university is to read things with a critical eye. That statement is so obviously propaganda and not objective fact. There are obviously doctors who are not like that. Are there doctors with that view? Maybe, I dunno, but a source that purports to be giving factual information would certainly not be presenting that view as what "doctors as a whole" believe.
 
BatChick98 said:
"The person who recommends a cochlear implant is an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (otolaryngologist) or ENT. Their job is to deal with illness, injury and dysfunction of the ear nose and throat. Why would they not recommend a treatment that has been medically proven to improve a person's ability to hear? That is what a doctor does."

Teacherofthedeaf, you commented the above. So you don't see it as doctors trying to rid the world of deaf/Deaf people or trying to make them conform to the "norm"? I ask because I am reading a textbook that says doctors hate disabled people and want to get rid of them and that is why they try and find cures and blah blah blah. I think its BS
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Of kind of poorly written, biased book are you reading?
 
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