An interesting article in the Los Angeles Times reports that more children who are born deaf are receiving cochlear implants, with great success.
In a front-page article in the 8/3/09 edition of the Los Angeles Times, reporter Shari Roan writes that “studies published in the last two years have delivered what many experts say is ironclad evidence that” cochlear implants “are safe in babies and toddlers and allow most children to develop spoken language without extensive occupational therapy.” The implant “consists of a headset that is removable and a piece that is surgically implanted. A microphone-speech processor the size of a hearing aid is hooked over the ear to process sounds, which are then sent to a transmitter the size of a quarter that adheres to the head.” Inside the skull, “a receiver…picks up signals and sends messages to electrodes inserted inside the ear,” and “the message moves on the brain.” Data indicate that an estimated “40 percent of” children who are “born profoundly deaf” receive “a cochlear implant, up from about 25 percent five years ago,” and that number “is projected to rise still further.”
The article does a wonderful job of telling the story of one family’s journey through a child’s deafness and emergence into a world of hearing. It is a story I personally have witnessed on many occasion, but I never fail to marvel at this minor miracle. To read the entire story, click here: