Deaf Is Not a Disability

The predicament before us is unique and unusual in that science has come up with a way to correct a disability but the culture that has developed around the disability no longer believes it is adisability and does not want to take advantage of the correction. This advance in science is the cochlear implant, this implant can give a child that is born deaf the ability to hear. The challenge isthat Deaf culture has developed around being deaf and does not believe that lacking the ability to hear it is a problem that should be corrected. Individuals in the Deaf culture do not want theirchildren to receive cochlear implants and gain the ability to hear. One of the reasons they feel this way is the child would not be part of their culture as a hearing person.
This becomes a problem forthe children because if a child is born deaf they need to have the implant as early as possible for the implant to have the most benefit and give the child the best chance at a non impaired voiceand vocabulary. When the implant is delayed they have many more speech therapy needs and even have problems adjusting to the new stimulus. This is not like getting a tattoo or having your ears piercedwhere the decision can be made when you are eighteen with no negative ramifications. It is more like a heart defect or a cleft palate, it needs to be addressed now, and the parents get to choose ifit is done or not.
The Deaf culture believes that being deaf is their “right”, and likens their fight to that of the African Americans fighting for civil rights. The Deaf culture claims the rightto their "birthright of silence."(National Association of the Deaf, 2010) The Deaf culture has developed during the discrimination of deaf people during the centuries. They do not see being deaf as anissue or problem that needs to be fixed so they will not let their children have cochlear implants. The misunderstandings between deaf and hearing people have exacerbated the whole issue and an...