In meandering through various blogs today, I was particularly struck by one comment made by Jamie Berke.  In her blog "Berke Outspoken", dated June 2, 2008 and titled "Update to how to stop the spread of Fourth Grade myth", she stated: "Don't forget we now have the majority of deaf students receiving cochlear implants - that may have boosted the achievement levels of at least some deaf students."

That got me started thinking as to what exactly the numbers are?  Are there more recent ones than what she mentions in her blog?  The one that she references is from 1996-97, and it is very true that may be inaccurate and that there may, in fact, be more recent numbers.  

She goes on to state that she has emailed the Gallaudet Research Institute to see if there are more recent numbers.  I wait with bated breath, because based on what research I have been able to compile on the internet, it seems like it is quite standard for a long term gap between studies of that nature.  That really makes no sense to me, as these numbers are now "normed" and also made available to the test-takers very quickly in most cases.  I would imagine that compiling the national numbers is a daunting task, and that analysis of those numbers and their relation to the different variables and such is very time-consuming, but still, 10-11 years between data compiliations and publication of that data seems excessive to me.

Nevertheless, I was able to round up some numbers on the web today that are of particular interest to me (and perhaps you):

1)   According to 2005 FDA data, there are 100,000 people worldwide that have cochlear implants, with the United States accounting for 37,000 of those (37%).  The breakdown of those 37,000 is 22,000 adults, and 15,000 children.

2)   However, according to the NIDCD, there are only 59,000 worldwide with CI's, with the U.S. accounting for 23,000 of those (39%).  The breakdown according to NIDCD is 13,000 adults and nearly 10,000 children.

3)   Hearing loss affects approximately 17 per every 1,000 children under the age of 18.

4)   According to the CDC's Vital Statistics-Final Numbers for 2003, there were 4,089,950 live births in the U.S. in 2003.  Given that the most commonly quoted average I have seen for children born with a hearing loss is 2-3 per 1,000, I have averaged that to 2.5 per 1,000 and concluded that approximately 10,225 babies were born in 2003 with a hearing loss or completely deaf.  According to the CDC stats, the number of live births continues to increase (generally) at a rate of approximately 1% each year, on average.

5)   According to one presentation (of which I was not able to find the source to their data, so I'm not placing a lot of stock in it just now), as of 2002, there were approximately 22,500 children under the age of 18 in the U.S. with a Cochlear Implant, with the same number of adults (over the age of 18) having implants.

Obviously cochlear implants are a vastly growing phenomenon.  Does it rise to Jamie's assertion that "we have the majority of deaf students receiving implants"?  Of that, I'm not quite sure.  The empirical data available DOES allow us to make some very elementary deductions.

Namely, that hearing loss and deafness is on the rise at a fairly significant rate (apparently) in the United States.  I say "apparently", because I want to remind people that hearing screenings of newborns was not wide-spread until the last 10-15 years or so.  Some states mandated it, some did not.  Could we simply be finally seeing more accurate data than we ever have in the past?  Obviously, we live in a far more noisy world now, and hearing loss WILL continue to grow at an exponential rate until there is better education regarding protection of hearing in the workplace, in everyday living, and so on.

I have come to appreciate, as I read more of her archived blogs, Jamie's willingness to devote so much time and expend so much energy into educating the masses on the various issues pertaining to the deaf culture (and YES, CI users ARE a part of the deaf culture whether you like it or not. Get over it), but I do respectfully disagree with her statement as quoted above.  There is simply not enough data at this point to truly show that CI implants or users now comprise the "majority" of deaf children.  I also respectfully take exception to the perception that just getting a CI will have perhaps have a magical effect on the reading abilities of deaf children.  It is a TOOL, and like any tool, it must be properly maintained, properly used, and effectively incorporated into a total educational spectrum for the deaf individual in order for it to be a measurable variable in it's impact upon reading abilities.  If they are not mapped properly, and so forth, they do little other than just bring in sound.  

For the record, I'm NOT a CI user, and I actually personally would not get one.  That's a personal decision only, and not intended to be a derogatory reflection upon CI users who successfully incorporate them into their daily lives.