My opinions on CI

In the last days, I have been following with great interest on discussions on CI issues, and how implanted individuals generally receive lackluster reception from the Deaf community. I am sure many people have already made up their minds about CI, but I would like to present my side of the whole debate.

My mum had a Deaf cousin, and she had gotten to know him on a few occasions when she was growing up. When I came into her life, she later discovered that I was deaf. Who knows what went through the minds of my parents, but I often wonder whether if my mum's experience with her Deaf cousin has influenced her in any way? My parents instantly signed up to attend sign language courses at a local adult education school,  and started signing to me in order to communicate with me. I started school, and my parents were so supportive of my learning. I remember every single day after school, my parents would sit down with me and practise my vocabulary words and spelling.

My sister was my "hearing culture" teacher, as she would teach me about all different kinds of music, singers, and told me about the news what was happening in the world. I remember spending time with my sister, with my hands on the radio, feeling the beats and being able to tell the difference between country and rock and roll. I remember vividly as a very young boy during Reagan's time, when he made a joke about bombing USSR. My sister explained to me about the whole thing, and it was the first time I realised the severity of a nuclear war, if it were to happen. (Thank goodness it didn't.)

Our primary language of communication was sign language, though it was actually a mixture of Signed English and home signs. It seemed as if our relationship as a family was so strong, and that sign language posed a barrier-free life for me. I remember most of my childhood as being quite positive, surrounded by a supportive family.

I remember when I learned about the CI through an issue of World Around You magazine (a magazine for young deaf children), where I read that an Australian boy had been successfully implanted. At that time, it was such a new technology, and nobody really seemed to talk about it in my circles. I remember talking with my dad about CI, and remember my dad saying that I didn't need one; that my hearing aids would be good enough. Granted, I wore hearing aids for a majority of my childhood, and was able to recognise different sounds such as telephone ringing, etc... But I was never able to recognise words when people spoke.

At this time, I was constantly trying to find my footing as I was becoming an adult in a hearing world. I remember when I was in high school, I was in a constant struggle with the teacher for the deaf. I wanted to take certain courses, but I was held back by her "because she wasn't sure of my abilities." I wanted to jump right into high school, and enrol in German, Honours English, etc... The teacher didn't seem to trust me, and convinced the IEP group not to allow me to take these courses. It seemed that the teacher had allowed her experiences with other Deaf to decide on a common approach for her students. I felt it was unfair that the IEP had allowed that to happen... It wasn't until at the end of my first year in high school when that teacher told me: "I will let you do anything now; the sky's the limit for you!"

It's no fun having to try and prove yourself that your deafness really doesn't matter. People speak of deafness as a disadvantage, but I don't necessarily view it that way. It is the society's attitude towards minority groups that "disables" the members of these minority groups. I remember when I first applied for a position at my current job, that I was denied a position there "because it would be difficult to communicate through meetings and so on." I had to contact the company's human resources and ask them to clarify their EOE policy with the supervisor who denied the position for me. HR was not happy, and of course, I was hired. The supervisor was demoted, and moved to a different department.

And where am I now? I have been promoted to a semi-supervisory position, telling workers what to do and fixing their errors. Sometimes it seems that my being deaf is such a non-issue to the department, 'cos they know I am good at what I do and work hard. I hear a lot of comments from my coworkers that they enjoy working with me, and I have to laugh sometimes when meetings are set up, but interpreters are forgotten because they forget that I am deaf. I remind them in a funny and friendly way to contact our on-site interpreter if we have meetings.

Ok! enough babbling... now I shall get to my perspective on CIs. As I got older, and my Deaf identity "grew" stronger, I started to view CIs as something negative. (Wait! read on!) I would feel that CIs were parents' answer for "instant gratification" to fix their children's deafness, that they would not want to "work" on learning sign language and spending time with their children like my parents and sister did with me. For me, I felt that the most important thing was COMMUNICATION, and that sign language really helped me to benefit from learning so much as I did from my parents and sister (and also from my schools).

My attitude towards CIs turned more sour, when I met some people who thought that I was just being stubborn, and not wanting to have CIs would be deterable to my own development into becoming a successful adult. For me, my OWN life experience seemed to act on the contrary to what everyone were saying. I could not understand why people were saying such things, when I felt that I was living a normal life, attending normal schools and holding normal jobs.

Few years ago, I had an epiphany when I worked as a deaf mentor, visiting families with deaf children on a weekly basis. One of the families I was assigned to had a son who was implanted, and of course, at first, I had mixed feelings. However, the more I worked with the parents and their child, it was amazing to see the child developing into a very successful child, being able to hear, speak and also sign at same time. I will never forget the time when the boy (he was approaching three years old!) was holding the door for me and wished me "Have a nice day!" in sign language.
When I thought about it, I wondered if it was the CI which was helping this boy become who he was. The more I worked with the parents, I started to realise that it was actually THE PARENTS themselves who were to thank for their wonderful nuturing relationship with their son, rather than the CI itself. The mum told me herself that she loves sign language, and would love to continue signing with her son, even if the son speaks or hears. She said also: "I want to give my son all of opportunities, so that he can make the choice for himself later on." I understood what she meant. She added: "if he decided to stop wearing CI one day, then I would accept it too." This family really gave me a different perspective on the CI issue, that it was "similar" to hearing aids, that one could just put on one day, and not wear next day. It was certainly interesting for me, and since then I have been more friendly towards people who might opt for CIs, because I believe in free agency, and that everyone has the right to choose for themselves what they want to do.

One last thing I would like to mention: I think it is sad that this CI issue is causing rifts within the community. There are some Deaf people who instantly writes people off just because they wear CIs. ALSO, there are some implanted people who view Deaf people as something below them, not being able to function in the world. BOTH SIDES ARE GUILTY PARTIES FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE WHOLE DIVISION. For me, I think we all are equals, and that no one is better than others, whether they be Deaf, deaf, hard-of-hearing, implanted, oral, etc...