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Cochlear Implants Video Paper Opinion Paper

by Hawke Robinson last modified Oct 02, 2017 01:51 PM
W.A. Hawke Robinson 10-17-2006 ASL II – Professor Carr Opinion of Informational Commercial on Cochlear Implant Specifically The Nucleas 24 Contour Cochlear implant. I found the “info-mercial” interesting relative to the kind of media presentation style used, that being an “informational” commercial but very one-sided. It covered the technology fairly well from a positive perspective, but didn't really cover any of the possible risks or issues that might be of concern. Of course that's to be expected of such a presentation as opposed to an actual documentary. The testimonials of those who had the cochlear implants were useful in so far as they covered in fair detail their experiences both prior to, and after the surgery, but the video did not really cover the experience of the surgery itself, nor really mention and of the risks, other than to “not expect a miracle”. The video also did not provide any testimonials for those who were more part of the “deaf culture”, who might have had other concerns about getting such an implant. My rudimentary understanding so far is that there are many acculturated deaf people who consider having a cochlear implant as “taking away” a member of the society from the “deaf world” to the “hearing world”, some feel so very vehemently. The video did not show if anyone had learned any sign language to get by prior to their surgery. It did cover all the consequences of their hearing loss, the impact on family, friends, work, daily life, and the interaction with strangers who might not know they couldn't hear and would misinterpret the lack of response as rudeness, aloofness, etc. which was useful and enlightening information. I did enjoy the technical aspect that detailed how the implant worked, and of course in so doing had to mention why their implant was superior to everyone else's. It was nice to finally understand some of the technical details further in spite of the one sided aspect of the video.

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