Friday, December 01, 2006

is deafness a handicap

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg19225795.000-ear-implant-success-sparks-culture-war.html
COULD the end of sign language for deaf children be in sight? A spate of new studies has shown that profoundly deaf babies who receive cochlear implants in their first year of life develop language and speech skills remarkably close to those of hearing children. Many of the children even learn to sing passably well and function almost flawlessly in the hearing world.
These findings may sound like a triumph to audiologists and the hearing parents of deaf babies. But they have done little to convince those in the deaf community who maintain that it is unethical to give deaf babies cochlear implants, which bypass damaged areas of the ear and stimulate the auditory nerve directly.

If deafness is not a handicap, then we can do away with tax deductions and other help, such as funding for special education.

It seems to me these parents are just selfish jerks.

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