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Ian Reyes

Ms. Gongora 4

English 12

December 14, 2016

Cochlear Implants

When I received my cochlear implant, I was willing to accept anything to be able to hear

something, but I wasn't prepared for it to be as good as it is. It has put me back in touch with who

I used to be (Bobs Story). This profound realization is possible through a technological and

anatomical medical advancement called a cochlear implant; a beneficial solution for adults and

children who have hearing impairments. Cochlear implants improve upon the problems that

current hearing assistance devices may have. Conversational speech has both auditory and visual

components, and the effects of a cochlear implant have the ability to aid the visual component.

Cochlear implants can assist a hearing impaired childs intellectual development, because the

inability to hear at a young age has a negative effect on their ability to learn and communicate.

Opponents of cochlear implants cite financial, surgical, and mechanical problems to why it is not

a good solution to people who are hearing impaired. Cochlear implants can assist hearing

impaired people with more than just hearing, affecting senses and intellectual growth when

compared to other hearing devices.

Hearing aids are the most commonly used device to aid people who are hearing impaired.

However, cochlear implants improve upon and exceed the advancements that hearing aids have

made. Once surgically implanted, cochlear implants bypass damaged hair cells and deliver the

electrical current directly to the auditory nerve. As a result of bypassing naturally damaged or

defective anatomical issues, cochlear implants open up a new avenue of methods to recuperate
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from hearing loss or hearing impairment (Ryan and Spritzer). Cochlear implants directly

stimulate the nerve, so the user relies on their brain to distinguish sounds, unlike hearing aids,

which merely amplify sounds and make the user dependent on the machine. This also allows for

the user to clearly distinguish low frequency consonant and vowel sounds, which can help with

communication, because hearing aids have the tendency to make a conversation sound muffled.

Cochlear implants allow the user a further range of distance hearing when compared to a hearing

aid. Aside from the communication differences, convenience between these two devices also

plays a role in the benefits of a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant user does not have to worry

about the hearing aid slipping from the ear canal due to everyday use, such as talking and eating.

Feedback problems that commonly exist with hearing aids do not exist in cochlear implants. It is

a matter of technological advancement and convenience that allow cochlear implants to be a

better option to traditional hearing devices.

Conversation is important to a persons daily life, and while the ability to hear plays a

role, the visual component is also important in conversation. The negative effects of hearing loss,

the distortion of speech, facial, and lip movement, which compose human interaction are

alleviated through cochlear implants. The brain has learned that in conversation, the lips and

face make certain gestures that always occur together with certain sounds (Sooner Is Better

with Cochlear Implants). Cochlear implants have the ability to assist people in reading lips. The

ability to read lips is an important skill to have in communication, especially if one cannot hear

well in a loud environment. Cochlear implants help people who have auditory impairments to

process speech in a similar fashion to those who were born with natural hearing. If children

receive cochlear implants at a younger age, they can fuse the ability to hear and read lips. The

ability to do both these activities at the same time is essential to conversation among people, if
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the environment makes it difficult to understand spoken words. Speech and hearing alone is fine,

but when it comes to reading lips, since it is hard to hear, hearing impaired people are at a

disadvantage. The chemistry between different senses works at a more efficient level when they

are all working together in peak condition. Cochlear implants can help combine these senses to

improve communication skills.

The inability to hear causes slower intellectual development in younger children who are

hearing impaired, as a result of the disability to understand speech. Communication is important

to development, so the children who cannot hear sound dynamics or control their voice are at a

disadvantage (Isaacson). Cochlear implants do not merely help childrens ability to speak and

hear, they have the possibility to improve their intellectual development. The scope extends

beyond simply being able to hear and speak. This has to do with what happens cognitively,

which affects the ability to learn and retain information. Premature babies are often plagued with

health problems, often including hearing problems, but these are overlooked by the fact that there

are more pressing problems such as heart, oral, and hearing defects. Since doctors do not want to

burden the baby with more surgeries, they would rather not operate to install a cochlear implant.

However, the effects of not receiving a cochlear implant at a young age can be long lasting.

Adapting and learning to live with a cochlear implant is different from that with a hearing aid.

Speech and auditory therapy is needed for children who receive cochlear implants, which is not

necessarily needed or as intensive in children with hearing aids. The negative effects of not

receiving a cochlear implant have impactful results. In children with hearing problems, they had

slower intellectual development and lower intelligence, contributed to the fact that they were

unable to hear for a longer period of time than children with average intellectual development

and intelligence. This may cause these children to fall behind in school academically and
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socially. Especially among younger children, a procedure such as a cochlear implant may help

keep them from being at a disadvantage among their peers.

Cochlear implant critics cite mechanical and practical problems as arguments to why

cochlear implants should not be used. These problems include surgical, financial, programming,

environmental and practical living issues. The non-guaranteed success rate, ambiguous long-

effects, and possible financial burden of cochlear implants trouble skeptics as well (Rhoades).

Cochlear implants can interfere with daily life, because of the static that can come from various

forms of technology such as computers and radio detectors. There is also the possibility of

people who use cochlear implants to not be able to participate in certain sports such as wrestling

or football. Although the risks are low, there is still the chance of surgical errors and infections

during or after the cochlear implant surgery, such as staph infection or partial facial paralysis.

Cochlear implants may not be an option for some families who cannot afford to pay for the

surgery and possible therapy, as well as future monetary investments in continuing to maintain a

cochlear implant. Since they are a lifelong investment, the cochlear implant recipient must deal

with the effects of the cochlear implant for life, and have no other option after surgery. The

ability to hear naturally is also nullified. These factors play a role in determining whether

cochlear implants are the best option for hearing impaired children or adults.

Cochlear implants give auditory impaired people the strongest chance at retaining their

hearing. The ability to hear, an integral part of daily life, allows humans to perform many tasks

that can only be accomplished with proper hearing, such as communicating over the telephone.

Emphasis on this technology benefits a cochlear implant recipient because the ability to hear

does not merely affect auditory tasks and skills. The lack of one skill is difficult to cope with, the

lack of multiple skills has more difficulties, only attributed to the lack of hearing. Cognitive and
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intellectual development is important to the development of a young child, and a young child

without hearing cannot progress as effectively as a child with hearing. This has detrimental

setbacks to the child, falling behind their peers academically and possibly socially. Fixing one

problem that dampens the senses has great positive effects that will push the hearing impaired

individual to a greater potential of being able to learn and communicate. But the new findings

suggest that the implants could substantially benefit these childrens intellectual development,

even if their cognitive problems make it unlikely that they will ever learn to speak (Digitale).

Future generations of hearing impaired people can receive the ability to hear as a result of

cochlear implants. Cochlear implants will only improve, as technological and medical advances

assist in the creation of more sound devices so future users do not have to worry about technical

and surgical risks of the implant. These options and opportunities further the notion that cochlear

implants can play a significant factor in erasing auditory deficiencies among adults and young

children. The future of cochlear implants is bright, as more people are turning to them to connect

with and explore the auditory world and all it has to offer. Cochlear implants open the possibility

that there will no longer be any hearing disabilities to anyone.

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Works Cited

"Bob's Story." Cochlear. Cochlear Ltd, n.d. Accessed 10 Nov. 2016.

Digitale, Erin. "Study Shows Benefits of Cochlear Implants in Deaf Babies with Developmental

Delays." Stanford Medicine. N.p., 31 July 1970. Accessed 01 Nov. 2016.

Isaacson, Brandon, MD. "Understanding Cochlear Implants." WebMD. WebMD, 1 June 2016.

Accessed 31 Oct. 2016.

Rhoades, Ellen A. "Advantages & Disadvantages: Hearing Aids vs. Cochlear Implants for Those

with Severe Hearing Loss." Auditory Verbal Training. N.p., n.d. Accessed 04 Nov. 2016.

Ryan, David, and Sam Spritzer. "Cochlear Implant v Hearing Aid." Cochlear Implant Help.

Cochlear Implant Help, n.d. Accessed 05 Nov. 2016.

"Sooner Is Better with Cochlear Implants, Stanford Scientist Shows." Stanford Medicine.

Stanford University School of Medicine, 05 Dec. 2005. Accessed 2 Nov. 2016.