Michael said his life has become easier and his parents have released him into the world and no longer worry. This is the beginning of a new friendship.
Tuesday I was visited a college and noticed a young man with a cochlear implant. I introduced myself and asked to sit with him. He seemed shy and politely agreed to my company. His name was Michael and I explained my curiosity and why I asked to sit with him. Michael said he was fine with me asking him questions about his cochlear implant. He told me that people are so ignorant to the cochlear implant that he is sometimes asked if it is a new device for an MP3 player. Michael laughed it off, and began to tell me his story. He was the only deaf person in his family and at age 11 decided to get a cochlear implant. He also informed me that he never really learned American Sign Language, and the little sign language he knew he signed as exact English.
For those unaware of the difference between American Sign Language and Sign Exact English I will explain. American Sign Language is a language that the deaf culture has made their own and is different from English, (SEE) Sign Exact English is English signed word for word.
Michael informed me that he is going to start taking classes to learn sign language over the summer. He did tell me he has not been associated with the deaf community; however he is trying to meet people now. Michael was recently engaged... which probably explains his nervousness for me asking to sit with him.
This gave me a new outlook on how people with the cochlear implant feel about it. Michael explained he was very happy with his implant, and that it has allowed him the ability to play the drums.
Saturday Night:
As I was surfing the web to entertain my interest I stumbled upon Graham’s post at http://www.thedeafblog.co.uk/2010/01/sudden_sensorineural_hearing_l.html. This family man lost his hearing in his right ear for no reason one day, and eventually became used to it as life went on. Except one day Graham became ill and lost his hearing in his left ear. He went through struggles trying to adapt to his hearing loss with two small children and his wife. Graham was tested to receive a cochlear implant and was denied the first time. His hearing became worse over time and was retested to find that he was to move onto the next steps to receive his implant. That was as of January 12th, 2010. Graham’s website is http://www.thedeafblog.co.uk/2010/01/sudden_sensorineural_hearing_l.html discusses the tests he went through to determine the final decision of the cochlear implant. Graham has no decision as of yet.
Hearing different people’s experience is rather interesting and I feel I am growing as an individual. Learning to accept people for who they are and not judging them is something everyone needs to learn.
I believe these two men have something in common; they are both entering the deaf community and seem to be unsure of what is next. I believe this is a growing experience and appreciate the opportunity to hear their stories.
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I also have an interest about deaf cutlture. I enrolled in ASL 1, about a year ago and really enjoyed the class and how much it opened my eyes to a culture so easily overlooked. I attended Deaf Socials at the mall and used some of what I knew to conversate with people. It was a great experience and I would definately like tolearn more about your experiences through your blog.
ReplyDeleteI recently took Sign I and Sign II over the summer and last spring. I have to say that it was my favorite class of college thus this far. I do have a side of the Cochlear implants, I think if a person that is deaf should be able to get the procedure. But after they get the procedure I think they should not be forced out of the deaf culture. I really have the utmost respect to people who are deaf and people who get the procedure done.
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