# 9 people hearing for the first time



## Gavrill (Sep 30, 2011)

Cochlear implants in 9 people (most are children, they're all pretty amazing). 
Link.

It's just a really sweet article I thought I'd share c:


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## Zyn (Oct 14, 2011)

I love reading stories like this. It reminds me about the good things in this world 

PS: I love your avatar, <3 Otacon


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## Schwimmwagen (Oct 14, 2011)

NEXT YEAR, I SHALL BE THE TENTH.


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## Cloudy (Oct 15, 2011)

We learned about these in my Sensation and Perception class. I think it's amazing that we can take what we've learned about the auditory system and use it to make a literally life-changing device like that. They must work quite well, too, because speech development in children that get them is pretty much even-paced with children using natural hearing ability. It's great that those who otherwise couldn't have the opportunity to hear voices and music CAN. What's wilder is that this has been around for a while, it's just that they only recently got so small. 

What's sad, though, is that a lot of persons (not everyone, of course) in the Deaf community are wholly against these implants, saying that they are an insult to Deaf culture. And essentially that their culture will be eliminated because of these implants. I guess I can see where they're coming from, and it could seem like those implants are just a way of saying, "See, you weren't good enough as you were, we had to fix you..." But still.... to have the opportunity to experience more of life and say no? I don't think I could do that... But hey, maybe that's not the case anymore. As tech has improved, they may be more accepted now. 

Man, those videos are great.


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## Schwimmwagen (Oct 15, 2011)

Cloudy said:


> What's sad, though, is that a lot of persons (not everyone, of course) in the Deaf community are wholly against these implants, saying that they are an insult to Deaf culture. And essentially that their culture will be eliminated because of these implants. I guess I can see where they're coming from, and it could seem like those implants are just a way of saying, "See, you weren't good enough as you were, we had to fix you..." But still.... to have the opportunity to experience more of life and say no? I don't think I could do that... But hey, maybe that's not the case anymore. As tech has improved, they may be more accepted now.



Well the fuck did you hear this? :| I'm deaf, and deaf is not a "culture" it's a disability that everyone aside from those technophobic religious groups would LOVE to have fixed for them. Sure, some people feel they are coping just fine as they are and are accustomed to it and are a little afraid of change and the idea of having a relatively obvious piece of equipment stuck to the side of their head as am I, but it doesn't mean I don't wanna hear. :|


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## Cloudy (Oct 15, 2011)

Gibby said:


> Well the fuck did you hear this? :| I'm deaf, and deaf is not a "culture" it's a disability that everyone aside from those technophobic religious groups would LOVE to have fixed for them. Sure, some people feel they are coping just fine as they are and are accustomed to it and are a little afraid of change and the idea of having a relatively obvious piece of equipment stuck to the side of their head as am I, but it doesn't mean I don't wanna hear. :|



To be honest, that's kind of what I thought. It looks like you're located in England, so maybe it's different there, culture-wise? Maybe it's a smaller group that consider it that, and it was blown out of proportion or something. I don't know, there's a whole documentary on it (I think it's called "Sound and Fury"? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_and_Fury ) and we had to read some articles about it as part of the class, looking at the whole "ethics" side of thing. I think it was more people not wanting sign language and the way they had lived to die out. Mind you, the people featured in many of the videos were those that had inherited the disability for multiple generations, or so it appeared. But maybe, like I said, that has changed as the tech has improved and is clearly beneficial. 
Because really. That tech is amazing.


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## mrfoxwily (Oct 15, 2011)

My father is deaf and has hearing aids. A lot of deaf people don't like him and he's really nice.


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