Cochlear Implants and Deaf Education The culture and the controversy By: Brooke Buchanan Today we will be talking about Deaf and Hard of Hearing Learners and the controversy surrounding cochlear implants. Who knows what a cochlear implant is?

What is a Cochlear Implant? Surgically implanted electronic device A cochlear implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin (see figure). An implant has the following parts: - A microphone, which picks up sound from the environment. - A speech processor, which selects and arranges sounds picked up by the microphone. - A transmitter and receiver/stimulator, which receive signals from the speech processor and convert them into electric impulses. - An electrode array, which is a group of electrodes that collects the impulses from the stimulator and sends them to different regions of the auditory nerve.   To be eligable for a cochlear implant, one must be profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing Ear with cochlear implant. Credit: NIH Medical Arts

What happens after a cochlear implant is implanted? ‘Normal’ hearing is NOT restored Intensive post-implementation therapy is necessary Rehabilitation is a lifelong process An implant does not restore normal hearing. Instead, it can give a deaf person a useful representation of sounds in the environment and help him or her to understand speech. Hearing through a cochlear implant is different from normal hearing and takes time to learn or relearn So, Cochlear implants, coupled with intensive postimplantation therapy, can help young children to acquire speech, language, and social skills learn to identify and associate meaning to the new sounds they are hearing Therapy allows children to take the restored level of sensitive hearing and learn to understand spoken language and produce intelligible speech. Rehabilitation is a lifelong process that takes the child through language acquisition learning to attach meaning first to syllables, then to words, phrases, and sentences and ultimately to conversation.  The rehabilitation needs to begin immediately following implantation as it provides a special opening to aggressively pursue auditory skill development and maximize the opportunity for the newly implanted child to catch up to his/her hearing peers. An intensive period of therapy should be tailored to the child’s age, auditory skill levels, and other elements of his/her unique needs.

Services required at school for children with cochlear implants Speech language pathology FM technology Deaf education services Individual or small group instructional support Interpreting Audiology Captioning Listening therapy Acoustical modifications A child with a cochlear implant needs a team of people to support his/her needs. That team should include school-based professionals, cochlear implant clinic staff, an auditory therapist (who may be on the clinic staff), parents and family members, the child, and the child’s peers at school. Ongoing communication between the various members of the team is critical.

Deaf Culture Communication Terminology American Sign Language Eye contact Touch Terminology Capital “D” Deaf Hearing Impaired Does anyone know anything about Deaf culture already? Communication: Signing, easily understood gestures, writing or typing, third person Remember: 1. Let the deaf person know that you sign, 2. Avoid spoken English, 3. Let the Deaf person set the mode of communication Getting someone’s attention: waving or taping Speaking in the Presence of a Deaf Person Is considered impolite Terminology: Hearing impaired = clinical term. Something that needs fixing as opposed to a cultural identity. An example commonly used is skin colour: part of an identity, not something that needs “fixing” Lower case ‘d’ deaf: The lowercase “d” is used when speaking about a person’s audiological ability to hear Well, just because a person is deaf (audiologically speaking), does not automatically make her Deaf (culturally speaking). A capital “D” is used to indicate that a person is part of the Deaf community and has grown up in that culture Hearing impaired = clinical term. Something that needs fixing as opposed to a cultural identity. An example commonly used is skin colour: part of an identity, not something that needs “fixing”

Deaf Schools vs. Mainstream Schools Deaf Schools in Ontario: London Milton Belleville Deaf Schools abide by Deaf Culture Many mainstream schools do not or cannot provide a full time EA or interpreter In many Ontario boards, an itinerant teacher of the deaf is responsible for all students in the board Deaf Schools: Abide by deaf culture, therefore ASL is main language, values, protocol etc of Deaf culture are taught Mainstream Schools: Deaf culture is not taught Most do not receive EA support There is an itinerant deaf teacher who will come see them periodically, pull them out of class to address specific skills Deaf students who present with other complex needs will have an EA No interpreters available – all hired other places. EAs are used to replace, but have a very very different job, and cannot do the job of an interpreter. For students in an applied or academic stream, this becomes a big problem ASL is usually not offered.

Controversy Surrounding Cochlear Implants Based on what you now know about Deaf culture and what you know about cochlear implants, Discuss in your groups why cochlear implants might be controversial

Debate Pro-cochlear implants Anti-cochlear implants Three tables – 3 reasons FOR cochlear implants; Three tables – 3 reasons AGAINST cochlear implants There are a spectrum of views on cochlear implants. There are those who believe they are a cultural genocide. There are those believe that denying an eligible child implants is abhorrent. Those who are against cochlear implants believe that they are “fixing something that isn’t broken”. They do not believe that deafness is a disability, so it is not something that needs fixing. A common analogy is skin color, or any other part of a culture…

Consequences For children not admitted to the Deaf School For the child with CI admitted to Deaf School without resources For the school if they DID support cochlear implants Children not admitted to the school: will not get support and resources they need in the mainstream schools. Will still be learning to use their implants at a young age, and will fall behind their peers For the occasional child admitted to a deaf school: no supports availible – their hearing will not progress, a cultural dislike for the implants – may receive heat from teachers and peers because it is not culturally accepted in the school. For the school if they did support implants: may receive heat from the deaf community. May put themselves out of business as students generally move on to a mainstream school after they are trained with their implants

Big Problem! Sufficient support for children with cochlear implants is not always offered in schools for the Deaf, OR mainstream schools

Resolutions? Acceptance: the child should be education where their needs are most closely met Education: there is a great need for more interpreters, deaf educators, audiologists etc.

What can YOU do? Educate yourself! The Canadian Hearing Society offers courses in ASL! (www.chs.ca) York University offers a TUITION FREE program to become a teacher of the deaf George Brown College offers a program to train ASL interpreters UWO offers a program to become an Audiologist

Questions?

Sources http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/coch.aspx http://www.deafculturecentre.ca http://www.deafculture.com/ http://www.canadianaudiology.ca/consumer/cochlear-implants.html Thank you!