Monday, March 31, 2014

A 40 Year Old Deaf Woman Hears For The First Time

Science can be wonderful. To watch it happen is amazing.


14 comments:

  1. I saw this last week, it's really moving. I'm partially deaf and when I got my hearing aids the difference was amazing. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like for this woman.

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    1. Violet, that is so wonderful for you! Yay!

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  2. @Violet What a beautiful clip. Violet, I'm so happy that we live in this time where there is technology that can make your world easier.

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  3. Thanks @leek and @loopy. Mine's a progressive deafness so for most of my life until early 30s my hearing was fine. Nothing like this woman has gone through. I wouldn't even pretend. But yes, thankful to modern tech and the NHS that I can pretty much function 'normally' with my aids.

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  4. I am so happy for her...as I sit here and cry watching it.

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  5. The things we all take for granted...

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  6. Wow...this is absolutely amazing. It brought tears to my eyes.

    Violet...I'm so happy for you too.

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  7. Unfortunately, there's a substantial movement among militant deaf people that cochlear implants are evil. That deafness is a "gift"!
    My guess is that within 25 years, deafness will be a thing of the past in advanced countries & blindness will be cured to some extent not long after that.

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  8. @violet, that is wonderful! Congratulations!
    It is so moving to see this young woman.

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  9. Becca- the movement against cochlear implants is not among "militant" deaf people. It is a stance taken by deaf people who value and strongly identify the Deaf Culture which is a very tight knit group with a lot of history.

    Both of my parents are deaf and every member of my fathers family is deaf from birth. No one in my family feels the need to get a cochlear implant because they, as people who grew up culturally deaf, do not feel they need to be "fixed" . This view is a stance taken by people who view the deaf as simply people lacking hearing.

    Also, not every deaf person is a candidate for this surgery which means that deafness will likely not be a thing of the past.

    It is clear that this woman in particular had some hearing previous to her surgery based on the clarity of her speech. There is a LOT of training and therapy that goes into a surgery of this magnitude which means that she is re-learning how to hear because the implant reroutes the signal to your brain.

    I understand how these videos are inspiring but they leave out a LOT of information and lead to a lot of misconceptions. The main one being that a simple device can "cure" deafness.


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    1. Rosa, i dont think all deafness is the same at all. And i know the cochlear implant is not for everyone.

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  10. OMG... crying my eyes out... SO happy for her...

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  11. +1 Rosa.. totally agree with everything you said. I also have degenerative hearing loss, with a profile that most hearing aids or audiologists don't know how to make better. Also, I don't like how they make these types of videos infer that it's like 'turning on a switch' when, as you rightly say, there are months of learning required post-implant before you get to this 'revelatory' point.

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  12. I knew little to nothing about deaf culture until I read KAsher In The Rye by Moshe Kasher. Both of the author's parents were born deaf. The book is not about deafness (it's about drug addiction) but a lot if revealed about the culture.

    I agree that deafness is not something to be "cured" necessarily and I understand that not everyone wants or needs a cochlear implant. Also, it's my understanding that it's not a magic bullet. The implant does not allow people to "hear" the way naturally hearing people do.

    With that said, for those who are candidates and choose this option, it's a lovely choice and being deaf in not being "broken".

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