Cochlea-Personal Narrative Analysis

     A cochlear implant is an electronic device that restores hearing for people anywhere from hard of hearing to the profoundly deaf. The cochlear implant is surgically implanted under the skin behind the ear. The surgeon puts the electrode array inside the inner ear and than inside the cochlea. The implant works by a device outside the ear, which rests on the skin behind the ear. It is held upright by a magnet and is also connected by a lead to a sound professor.

Kontorinins (2009) wrote that nonorganic hearing loss children display a certain demeanor during the testing procedure, they exaggerate their movements to highlight increased difficulty in hearing. Holenweg and Kompis (2010) state that children who are diagnosed with NOHL typically have some knowledge of hearing loss, like a close family member has hearing loss, therefore it is a good idea to check family history sections of the case histories. Another reason case history is crucial is because Schmidt, Zehnhoff-Dinnesen, Matulat, Knief, Rosslau and Deuster (2013) found that learning disabilities are one of the most common characteristics in children with nonorganic hearing loss. They also found that in cases where nonorganic hearing loss is present, there is also history of intellectual impairments, low IQ scores, speech and language disorders, school problems and problems in the household, these are all considered characteristics of NOHL children (Schmidt et al., 2013).

DeafHear provides a family support service. It is staffed by social workers and family support workers who are familiar with all aspects of deafness and hearing loss. It provides support to parents of Deaf children, Deaf parents, and people with hearing loss and their family. The service provides social work and counselling; housing and accommodation; support with rights and entitlements and advocacy.

A cochlear implant is an implanted medical device for the deaf or hard of hearing that do not benefit from the traditional hearing aid. It is composed of an internal device that is implanted in the recipient’s head and an external device that is the sound processor. The sound processor collects sound and then transmits it to the implanted device, which then sends it directly to the brain to be interpreted as language. During the time that I was choosing a hearing solution for my daughter I experienced a lot of negative opinions from the deaf culture (community of deaf people who share sign language among other things). They seem to be against parents choosing to have their small children implanted. The deaf culture presumes

Steven was born May 23, 2007 to parents Patrick and Jamie Deasy. Steven is quiet and shy and prefers to sit back and watch things unfold before he participates. When Steven was younger, he had chronic ear infections which required several surgeries throughout his short young life. Being that he had his ears packed with cotton much of the time he had a hard time hearing what was going on. To keep up, he would pay close attention to what was happening in his environment and then participate when he felt comfortable.

As an ASL 1 student, the idea of my first deaf event was a little intimidating. The event I went to was the Apple Festival in Milneck, New York. The event was on October 10, 2015, and I went about an hour after it opened at 10:00 a.m. The festival included many vendors such as homemade jewelry, various clothing, and many different types of food. There was many shopping opportunities and games for the kids. The festival also showcases the newest deaf technology, sign language novelty items and books. I went in the morning so not that many people were there yet. As I looked around, I noticed more deaf people then hearing people. Most were deaf or had knowledge of sign language.

When I turned sixteen I got my first job as a car hop at the local Sonic Drive In. For the next year and a half I spent my afternoons and weekends serving food to customers. I worked through heat, snow, and rain. Several managers came and went during my time there. Ice cream machines leaked, hot oil burned my skin, and angry customers yelled at me through the drive-through window. All of my coworkers hated being at Sonic, but I didn’t mind it. In fact, I loved everything about my job. I loved my coworkers and customers. I loved skating through the car stalls in the parking lot. I especially loved preparing food in the kitchen. I started to look forward to my shifts afterschool, sometimes staying late to help the closing shift clean their stations. I found cleaning the floors and counters to be therapeutic and stress relieving, and I was always willing to cover my coworkers’ shifts.

I too was able to relate to this section. My uncle was born Deaf and married a Deaf woman they had three hearing children and one Deaf. It was interesting to read that the oldest daughter usually takes on the role of interpreter whether or not they are the oldest and this proved to be true in my family’s situation. I am sure she struggled with this but in all the years growing up I never heard her complain once and she has now become an interpreter for the Deaf as a profession. I am certain that she didn’t interpret everything to her parents because uneducated people can be cruel and I am sure she still carries some of that with her. I also found that the way people wanted the Deaf to be educated was quite interesting. My grandmother never

According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, “About 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears.” Cochlear Implants are mechanical devices that are highly promoted by the hearing society to “cure” deafness. Despite the fact Cochlear Implants can be effective, the risk of serious physical and emotional harm to a patient outweighs the chances of its success.

For my second deaf event, I visited the AMC theater in Deptford and saw a movie with closed captions. I had few expectations about what my experience would be like, as my knowledge of closed captioning devices prior to that day was very minimal. The device itself came as a surprise to me, and there were several issues with it during the film, but overall the problems were negligible. It was inarguably a learning experience, and I am thankful for it.

Today I have an interview. I obtain nervousness, while thinking about the possession of this position and being the only deaf person.I have skepticism that if the boss even knows sign language, so I philosophize about how to talk to him. If I brought a translator that would prevail unprofessional, yet not understanding what I'm putting forth is too. When I flew out of the shower, I could feel the anxiety rise as I viciously repeatedly crack my cold clammy knuckles. I try to slowly breath in no out one breath at a time, but it doesn't work it just makes it worse. When I annex the office, I identify the boss giving off a warm welcome. I start exceeding clamminess , when our own selves glared at each other. I feel my face turning into a

Tyrone Smith, Artist extraordinaire, is the focus of this interaction. I have known Tyrone for about 6 years. We met when he began working at my job. I was responsible for his training. I have known Tyrone for some time, but have never asked him about his hearing loss or deafness. Intrigued to know more I requested to interview him on a beautiful day during our lunch break. He is the first deaf/HOH person I ever met. He is funny, extremely talented and a dedicated father, who speaks well though he is deaf.

The one of the first Deaf event this semester happened last Friday, March 16th, and frankly I didn’t want to go. I detest talking to people without reason, thus, the fact I had to have conversation as a part of the assignment was torture to prepare for. Even on the drive to Starbucks I was giving myself reasons not to go, but if I didn’t go to this event it would just be more stressful to go to the next event. I arrived at Starbucks and started to look for where I needed to be and the moment I saw them huddled in a group it increased apprehension and I decided to focus on getting a drink first. Conquer one issue at a time. I met saw my classmates, Karin and Lauren, and we plotted on how to integrate into the circle we slowly started signing

An auditory processing disorder, is when your ears and brain don’t cooperate together, the ways in which the brain interprets sound through speaking and or sounds.

Hearing loss is the most common physical disability in the whole wide world. In the United States alone, about 28 million people have some level of hearing impairment that interferes with their ability to understand normal speech and participate in conversations. Another 2 million cannot hear at all.