Restored Hearing in Deaf Adults and Children:  Cochlear Implant Technology

"Worldwide, approximately one person in a thousand is born deaf. Almost an equal number of people born with hearing will develop deafness during their lifetime. Approximately 250,000 to 500,000 people in the United States could benefit from a cochlear implant" (Arana-Ward, M, 1997). The cochlear implant (or bionic ear) is a device that can restore partial hearing and speech ability to individuals with nerve deafness.  One part of the electronic implant device is surgically implanted in the temporal bone of the ear and the other part of the cochlear implant is worn as an external hearing aid.  The cochlear implant differs from the hearing aid in that it does not amplify sound.  Rather, the cochlear implant is a device that bypasses the damaged hair cells in the inner ear and converts sound vibrations into electronic impulses which are received by the auditory nerve and transmitted to the brain.  Both adults who have lost their hearing later in life and young children can benefit from cochlear implants.

In the 18th century, Count Volta created interest in electrically stimulating the auditory nerve in combat deafness when he first created the electric battery and attached a number of the batteries that he created to two metal rods, each inserted in an ear (Clark, et al, 1978).  The cochlear implant was developed by Professor Graham Clark and his colleagues at the University of Melbourne.  In the 1970's the cochlea implants were first used to enable adults who lost their hearing later in life to perceive speech by electrically stimulating their auditory nerve.  In 1985 a multi-channel implant was first used for a child, with positive results for speech production and by 1990, children over the age of with severe to profound hearing loss, were considered for cochlear implant surgery.  Starting in 1997 children younger than the age of two were implanted with the device.

The cochlear implant is a significant technological breakthrough for deaf individuals.  Cochlear implants opens a world of communication and advanced literacy not available to many deaf individuals in past history. Marie Arana-Ward wrote in the Washington Post that "The average deaf person today reads at a fourth-grade level. One in three drops out of high school. Only one in five who starts college gets a degree.  Deaf adults make 30 percent less than the general population. Their unemployment rate is high" (1997).  Deaf children who receive cochlear implants and adequate speech and language therapy will be able to fully participate in a hearing and speaking society.

On-line References and Additional Resources

Marie Arana-Ward, M.  (1997).  As Technology Advances, a Bitter Debate Divides the Deaf
The Washington Post pg. A01.

Clark, G.M., Tong, Y.C., Bailey, Q.R., Black, R.C., Martin, L.F., Millar, J.B., O'Loughllin, B.J., Patrick, J.F., Pyman, B.C. (1978).  New Cochlear Implant TA Multiple-Electrode Cochlear Implant. Journal of the Otolaryngological Society of Australia, 4:208-212

National Association of the Deaf

Parker, J.  Technology - What Does the Future Hold?  Cochlear Corporation

Information about the cochlear implant:  http://www.wog.com/cochlear.html
 

New Technology in 2040!

• Professors at the University of Melbourne conduct the first total ear transplant on a human to restore complete hearing in deaf infant.  Using cochlear implant technology and advanced prosthetic technology, the ear looks and functions like a real ear.
• There is no more concern about class size in public schools in the United States.  All classes have a five to one student, "teacher" ratio.  One human classroom teacher is assisted by robots to aid students in their work.  The teacher does the thinking and planning for instruction.  The robots help the teacher facilitate learning, edit papers, grade work and manage the classroom.
• What a long strange trip its been for our students in 2040 just returning from a virtual reality trip in history.  Students are able to interact through 3-D virtual reality technology with people, places and objects in history.  Students will also be able to act as historical figures, making important political decisions and determine how such decisions would have impacted our history.
• The idea of  a classroom has a new global boundary.  Using internet technology, educators from across the world have taken advantage of our global society and partner schools are established in multiple countries.  For example, one school district in the United States co-teaches curriculum with a school district partner in France, Germany, Japan, etc.  For example, students in the United States are being taught French by a teacher in France while teachers in the United States are teaching English to students in other countries.  Multiple perspectives on world history are being taught by different people in the different countries.