From the New York Times:

Columnist Jane E. Brody interviews Josh Swiller, author of “The Unheard,” about his decision three years ago to get a cochlear implant. Swiller, who had been profoundly deaf, describes the experience as life-changing. With the implant, his hearing went from 25 percent to 100 percent.

“The implant opened up a whole new world for me,” a world that now includes a normal-hearing girlfriend who mumbles, Swiller said, laughing … “My hearing is so many light-years better than I ever could have imagined — it’s a miracle.”

… Some deaf people are opposed to cochlear implants, because they regard the world of the deaf as a community, which they believe that implants threaten. They also point out that the devices are still being perfected.

Nonetheless, Swiller says based on his experience, “a small child with severe hearing loss should be implanted as soon as possible. Sign language can be learned down the road, but not English. It’s a no-brainer to me if you want the child to succeed in a hearing world.”

Swiller’s deafness is caused by an inherited autosomal recessive mutation in a gene called connexion 26, the most common cause of sensorineural deafness in children. He shares the condition with his brother and a first cousin.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 at 5:54 am and is filed under NOT2BEMISSED, deaf/hard of hearing, personal stories, technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post