I have found two people with drastically different perspectives on cochlear implants who are willing to be asked questions about their personal experiences.
I decided I would like to personally ask people questions about their lives and experience with cochlear implants and compare the results that I get. In order to do this I needed at least two people preferably with different opinions and ideas about cochlear implants. I posted a Facebook status asking people to e-mail me if they wanted to participate. I did not expect the results that I got so quickly.
In one day I had two responses that I will be using. The first response was from a family member of mine, Molly Hosseini. She was able to connect me with a woman who had her 4 year old son implanted with a cochlear implant. Her son is now 7 years old and I will be asking her questions via e-mail about her experience with the whole process and how it has affected her son's life. Overall, she has told me that her experience was positive. I will also be asking her questions regarding how other people treated her as a parent, a parent who was willing to take the risk of implanting her 4 year old child. There are a lot of controversial opinions on this topic so this would be the perfect opportunity to get her side of the story. Due to her son being so young I wonder if I am able to ask him questions directly through e-mail and have his mother type his answers, word for word. I will ask his mother if she would be willing to allow him to participate in giving his own opinion. If she is okay with this, I might ask him questions like how he feels with a cochlear implant in school? Is it helpful in his opinion? Do other children understand what a cochlear implant is, or do you get a lot of questions?
This little boy is friends with my younger cousin, Ronin. I was thinking to perhaps ask Ronin questions about his friend. Do you know your friend has a cochlear implant? Does he play with you the same as other children? Are you in classes together? This would be a great outside perspective from another child the same age as the other boy. A lot of parent's are worried to have their children implanted for safety risks but there's also the risk that they may not have many friends. They think that the implant will subject them to rejection. Is that true?
The other participant is a 93 year old grandmother with a very negative perspective on cochlear implants. She was referred to me by a woman I used to work for. This will be interesting because she is much older then the other participant and must have a very different story to tell. Cochlear implants have not been around for 93 years so she must have been implanted later in her life. I will be asking her questions about her life before her implant in comparison to now. Why was her experience a negative one? Was the cochlear implant what she expected? Does she regret her decision?
Also to consider, if this woman lost her hearing later in life and maybe wasn't born Deaf or hard of hearing this could effect her opinion. Many people say that if you lose your hearing later in life that you will never be able to truly appreciate the Deaf community and embrace your "loss." Is that why this woman perhaps chose to get a cochlear implant? Did she not want to be part of a Deaf community or consider herself hard of hearing?
These two separate participants are a great way to get different perspectives and ideas on the controversial topic of cochlear implants. I am hoping that in result of all of this that people will read their answers and open their minds to different ideas and opinions.
I am so excited to conduct these interviews and share the results that I get. Studying cochlear implants so far has taught me so much about how we perceive the whole topic and why we need to open up our minds to other ideas. Not everyone is the same. Not one person has the same exact experience as another.
There are no right or wrong answers, just simply opinions.
-Bianca E. Stevens
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