Final Draft

Cochlear Implant

Put yourself in a deaf persons shoes. Would you feel like you have a disadvantage? Would you look at deafness as part of your identity?

Assistive technology is any device, software or equipment that can help with learning and attention issues to work around challenges. Assistive technology can come in many ways, it can either be low tech such as a small object, a marker, and a stylus or it can be high tech such as electronic devices, computer software, or switch- activated materials. One interesting and very controversial piece of assistive technology is the cochlear implant. A cochlear implantis a device that can be surgically implanted into a person’s cochlea to stimulate it to cause hearing. This device is designed to allow deaf individuals to be able to be given the same opportunities as any hearing person. However, a cochlear implant can either be a dream come true or in some cases a nightmare.

In many cases getting a cochlear implant is a chance they would never miss out on. However, not in this case. In the documentary “Sound and Fury” produced in 2000 a family of five was introduced, all in which had hearing impairments. Both Peter, the father, and Nita, the mother, were very proud of their deaf culture. They believed deafness was part of their identity and that nothing was wrong with that. Peter was very pleased that all three of his kids were born deaf, they were all just like him. Heather, their oldest daughter, ate the age of five then asked her parents for the cochlear implant and Peter was furious. He felt that Heather was rejecting him and his wife. All Heather wanted to do was to hear and communicate just like her neighbors, friends, and the people around her.

Peter was very against the cochlear implant. He thought that deafness is a part of who they were and wanting to change that was a disgrace.  He claimed that even if they gave him a pill to hear, he would spit it out just to stay deaf and stick to his original identity. He thought that Heather getting a cochlear implant would gradually take away her original culture and identity and what was once her language, sign language, will eventually be put aside. Do you think getting the implant will slowly take you away from culture and language? He didn’t want his daughter to go through losing her self-identity and struggling to choose between two different communities. He didn’t want his daughter to go through a lifelong issue, considering the fact that the older you get, the bigger you are, the bigger the cochlear implant needs to be. He didn’t want to put his daughter in a position where neither of them knew anything about. Peter did admit to many opportunities he had missed out on, but to him he didn’t care. Deafness is what made him and his family who they are, he didn’t want that to break. He thought him and his family were a part of a great community “why break out of it? “Peter, nor Heather knew what to expect from the cochlear implant and Peter didn’t plan to find out.

All Heather wanted was to hear. To be able to talk on the phone, to be able to play with the neighbors, to be able to communicate with her friends easily, and to be able hear the small things in life that she was missing out on. She wanted to be more involved and her deafness was holding her back. Peters parents were very furious when they found out that Peter was against the cochlear implant for Heather. His father angrily explained that Peter would be an abusive father because he is taking an opportunity of a lifetime from his daughter away. His mother explained that he would be the reason to many of his daughters future struggles and missed opportunities. She also explained that if she had the chance to provide the cochlear implant to him when he was younger, she wouldn’t even have a doubt in her head. She would have done anything to be able to allow her son to hear. She couldn’t believe that her son was taking a way an opportunity like this from his own daughter. She believed the cochlear implant would be able to give her many opportunities in the future, she would be able to be more involved in the community considering the fact that deaf individuals are a minority so hearing people don’t really cooperate well, and that she would be able to be more confident and less dependent on others in her daily life, whether it’s at school or at work.

The cochlear implant is viewed through many different perspectives, both positively and negatively. Some may say that it tears a deaf individual from their culture, that they will eventually forget who they originally were, and they will slowly forget their first language, sign language. Fortunately, the cochlear implant can be turned off whenever the individual pleases. They can go back to not hearing which will allow them to engage with their community the same way they used to before the cochlear implant. The cochlear implant will therefore allow a deaf individual to be able to hear and to also be given the chance to go back to not hearing. This will allow them to practice their language, sign language, and also engage naturally with their deaf community.

The cochlear implant is a very useful piece of technology. Not only does it allow a deaf individual to be able to hear but also allow them to take a break from hearing. The cochlear implant allows them to interact with both hearing and deaf communities. Without this piece of technology, many opportunities can be missed for many different reasons. Personally, I have a far family member who was the only one in the family who had a hearing impairment. She was always treated differently. She was always given the extra attention that she usually didn’t appreciate. She wanted to be treated just like everyone else. She wasn’t allowed to go out alone for her safety and protection. She wasn’t given the same opportunities her siblings were, such as going out with friends or traveling. Overseas, a piece of technology like this is very hard for anyone to get their hands on. If she was given the chance for a piece if technology like this she would have been given so much more opportunities. If I had the chance to be able to provide the cochlear implant for her, I wouldn’t have a doubt in my head.

All in all, the cochlear implant seems to strike many opinions whether good or bad. The cochlear implant may seem like an amazing opportunity for many, but to some it may seem like it can break their family apart. The cochlear implant to some can rip an deaf person away from your own culture, they can easily lose their identity, and live with a lifelong issue. On the other hand the cochlear implant can offer many great things such as many great opportunities, being less dependent on others, allow you to be more involved with your community, and most of all allow you to shut down the cochlear implant for a while and communicate with the deaf community.

 

Citations: 

Mcgrew, Jason. “Sound and Fury 2000.” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Apr. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdIoSNwNfVs&t=440s.

 

 Reflection

This essay’s purpose was to examine a problem, which in this case was the cochlear implant, without taking a stance. It is an essay that can be controversial and have many different opinions backed up with many different facts. This essay specifically makes use of many elements such as research, stating evidence, and taking a stance. My writing may allow my fellow peers and professor to be able to understand what was stated in the article and to also be able to have enough information to agree or disagree with either side.

When I was first assigned this summary and response assignment I knew exactly what both sides had to back up their opinion towards the cochlear implant. I knew exactly what side I was on, but had to make sure I didn’t include that in my work. However, a challenge I had writing this essay was holding back from including my opinion and reasoning. At points I was really tempting to state my opinion and reasoning, but an exploratory essay does not include my own opinion.

All in all, this assignment has helped me achieve a couple of the Course Learning Outcomes that appear on the syllabus. I was   able to “explore and analyze, in writing and reading, a variety of genres and rhetorical situations”. I came to learn that a rhetorical situation includes a purpose, audience, stance, genre, medium and design. These elements helped me in writing my summary and response essay in a couple ways. It helped me determine that the purpose of my writing was to explore a topic and state both sides and their reasoning. Also recognizing who my audience is, which in this case is my professor. I also “developed strategies for reading, drafting, collaborating, revising, and editing”. When I was assigned this paper I had to produce an essay which was peer reviewed by my professor and a friend. I then received a couple critiques, fixed my essay, and finally turned it in. Lastly, I was able to “recognize and practice key rhetorical terms and strategies when engaged in writing situations”. This allowed me to be able to use the strategy of backing up my findings with specific facts. All these outcomes allowed my writing to be able to be perfected and easier for me to produce and for the reader to understand.

While writing this essay, my goal was to be able to examine an a problem, which in this case was the cochlear implant, without   taking a stance. I am proud of the final outcome considering the fact that I crossed the challenge of holding back my own opinion. I made sure my writing was able to fulfill all the assignment requirements and hopefully was able to achieve the goal of being able to examine a problem, which in this case was the cochlear implant, without taking a stance.