Not edited yet. Read at your own risk
Every ten years or so, the cochlear implant controversy spikes. This year, when I heard that students at Gallaudet University were protesting, I thought it was no different. But indeed it is. Gallaudet University’s first deaf president, I. King Jordan, has stepped down after 18 years of leadership and the university’s board has decided to appoint leadership of the university to Dr. Jane Fernandes. The controversy lies in the fact that some members of the university (staff, professors and students) believe that Dr. Fernandes’ appointment would change the culture of the university. Dr. Fernandes, who is deaf, did not grow up using American Sign Language (ASL), the language of Deaf culture. Though Jordan’s appointment and presidency has met with criticism over the years because he became profoundly deaf at the age of 21, this past week’s student demonstrations and arrests have been the strongest sign of dissatisfaction.
Gallaudet’s students attend classes that are taught in ASL; and increasingly, the university has had an influx of students who are not fluent in the language (mostly because the rise in cochlear implants). As a staple of the deaf community, and culture, some believe that the use of ASL should be mandatory. Dr. Fernandes believes that these lines should be blurred, the lines between students who need interpreters to take classes or professors who need sign interpreters for the students. The results have been astonishing. On October 13, I. King Jordan (whose office will terminate on December 31, 2006), ordered mass arrests of protesters. Students and faculty are planning, it seems, to shut down the university, but last Friday’s arrests may have curbed their enthusiasm.
I have always been a firm believer that language shapes culture, indeed it may even be culture. American Sign Language has always been at the heart of controversy between proponents of integration in the hearing world and proponents of Deaf culture. Some believe that teaching deaf children sign language prevents them from participating in “the real world,” leaving them isolated from the rest. Others believe that teaching the deaf speech and indeed implanting them with devices that could improve their hearing, isolates them from the deaf world. As for myself, I believe in the latter. Teaching sign language (and specifically American sign language (or French, Spanish, Italian, etc), teaches children the fundamentals of language and grammatical structure. It teaches them what any language teaches us, a sense of self, community and an opportunity to communicate with others.
The effectiveness of cochlear implants is still quite sketchy; there are too many variables such as age of the child, severity of the hearing loss (as well as how hearing loss has occurred) and environment. Some children who have cochlear implants still struggle with language.
… to be continued.