Culture clash-Cochlear implants not an easy choice for the deaf

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jessica Durrill, a 19-year-old college student who has been deaf since birth, was crossing a line in the deaf community when she decided to get a cochlear implant to improve her hearing. But she went ahead anyway.

Doctors at the University of Missouri-Columbia put the implant, a two-part electronic device that has been gaining popularity in the United States, in Durrill's right ear in June.

Jessica and her family, all of whom are hearing, have been happy with the implant and with Jessica's improving ability to hear and understand speech. But others have been less supportive.

"The reactions from some of my deaf friends were not too good," Durrill said. "There are various reasons why they are against it. One reason is because they are proud to be deaf. ... Some believe that if God made them that way they shouldn't try to change that."

Tara Bennett, 26, is one of those who opposes implants.

The implants are "destroying the deaf culture and the deaf community," said Bennett, an American Sign Language instructor in St. Joseph. "I feel that using ASL as our method of communication is much easier, and that it is the only true language of the deaf."

The implant, which consists of an internal section placed in the cochlea area of the ear, and an external part worn behind the ear, uses electricity to stimulate hearing along the inner ear. They're meant for people with severe to profound hearing loss, and are not for people who are helped by a hearing aid, said Jennifer A. Bonk, audiologist at the University of Missouri Healthcare cochlear implant center.

Debate on 'fixing'

Debra Nussbaum, coordinator of the Cochlear Implant Education Center at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., said much of the debate around implants stems from a belief that deafness is not something that needs fixing.

"People with implants are still in a position where they have to justify it. But I think that's changing," said Nussbaum.

Most people familiar with the implants stress the importance of education and training that follows the surgery. People with the implants have to spend months learning how to use the device and how to interpret what they hear.

Durrill said she likes how the implant allows her to understand people better. But she still considers herself "part of the deaf culture."

"I also want to make it clear that I am not trying to be a 'hearing person,"' she said. "I still use sign language a lot to communicate with friends and even my parents, sister and boyfriend."