Student Uses Hearing Loss To Motivate Others

VIDEO [CC] - A Scott County college student who was born Deaf is achieving things others thought were impossible.



WATE KNOXVILLE - After two surgeries that allowed her to hear and speak, for the first time she is hoping all of her accomplishments will show people hearing loss doesn’t have to hold anyone back.



WATE 6 On Your Side spoke with the student and her mom about the hearing implants that changed her life.



Before she had implant surgery, she tried to use hearing aids because if we could get benefit from that then would’ve been wonderful but unfortunately the hearing aids just didn’t work for her,” said Melissa Roberts Cheyenne’s Mother.

To activate this feature, press the "CC" button.

18-year-old Cheyenne Roberts received her first cochlear implant from Advance Bionics at just 15-months-old, and her second when she was 12. Afterwards, she had to learn how to hear and speak for the very first time.



“I was a cheerleader and I was able to hear everybody else cheer and hear what was going on at the game so cochlear implants just really helped me,” said Cheyenne Roberts... Read more: http://wate.com/2015/09/13/college-student-uses-hearing-loss-to-motivate-others/

Cochlear Controversy Dramatized In ‘Sound’

Deaf News: The world-premiere play “Sound” explores the controversy over cochlear implants for the Deaf.

SEATTLE TIMES - To hear? To speak? To sign? Those are the questions.



Deaf children in America are eligible for a procedure that can significantly expand their ability to hear. It is a cochlear implant, and rather than amplify sounds like hearing aids do, it works by directly stimulating the auditory nerve in the brain.



By 2012, about 96,000 adults and children in the U.S. alone had undergone the procedure.



Yet while many have hailed it as a breakthrough that not only can turn up the volume but also help Deaf children develop speech, not everyone is cheering.



“There are a lot of emotional feelings about CIs (cochlear implants) in the Deaf community,” explained Howie Seago, a Deaf Tacoma-bred theater artist and co-director of the new play “Sound,” which debuts this week at ACT Theatre.



“Many Deaf people feel that the doctors and other ‘professionals’ in the field of deafness consider us ‘defective’ and need to be fixed,” Seago commented by email.



“They stress this ad nauseam to the parents and do not fully educate them as to the range of communications options available. They almost always leave out the benefits of using sign language with their Deaf child.”



The conflict over whether children in particular need the device intrigued Seago’s co-director, Desdemona Chiang, when she read an early draft of hearing playwright Don Nguyen’s drama, “Sound.” It portrays the heated dispute between a Deaf father and his non-Deaf ex-wife over whether to try to restore their daughter’s hearing with CIs... Read more: http://seattletimes.com/entertainment/theater/cochlear-controversy-dramatized-in-sound/

Deaf Girl's Dad Gets Cochlear Implant Tattoo

VIDEO [CC] - Father's tattoo tribute to six-year-old daughter who has two cochlear implant to combat her profound deafness goes viral.

NEW ZEALAND - A father has tattooed an image of a cochlear implant on to his head in support of his daughter who has two of the devices fitted to combat her profound Deafness.



Alistair Campbell, from New Zealand, got the artwork done to show six-year-old daughter Charlotte that he supports her as she struggles with a condition that means she has profound hearing loss.



Charlotte had her first cochlear implant fitted aged just four on the left side of her head, and was due to have another fitted this week when Mr Campbell decided to get the tattoo done.

To activate this feature, press the "CC" button.

An image of him sitting next to his daughter with his inking and her implant visible has since gone viral online, where it has been shared tens of thousands of times.



Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Mr Campbell said he got the tattoo 'out of love' for his daughter, and to show her he could take a bit of pain on her behalf.



He told the paper that he has no other tattoos, and will now let his hair grow back to cover this one... Read More: dailymail.co.uk/news/Father-s-tattoo-tribute-six-year-old-daughter-two-hearing-implants-combat-profound-deafness-goes-viral