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Parent Blast LA Times and Shari Roan
By egbertpress | August 26, 2009
8/24/09
Dear Los Angeles Times:
When the Propaganda mirrors Hitler’s…
I find it interesting that the Los Angeles (LA) Times and other media publications would continue to participate in spreading propaganda about the cochlear implant in deaf babies and children (Cochlear implants open deaf kids’ ears to the world, 8-3-09, Los Angeles Times by Shari Roan). I hope this message helps the LA Times, and the readers understand fully how this constant promotion about cochlear implants in deaf babies and children, is the promotion of an antiquated concept that deaf children can be made to be hearing, mirroring that of Hitler’s racist ideas of “anyone not like me must be changed or eradicated”.
There are 4 key issues not addressed in the article, which the Deaf Community has faced for over 150 years:
1). Lack of unbiased research on cochlear implants (CI) in children: In your article, you stated “there is ironclad evidence that the devices are safe in babies and toddlers and allow most children to develop spoken language without extensive occupational therapy”. Irresponsible of the LA Times not to double check the facts for parents to also be aware of the cons associated with cochlear implants. “In 2002, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began investigating reports that showed a possible link between cochlear implants and a higher risk of meningitis, causing a CI manufacturer, MED-EL, to voluntarily take an implant model off the market. This link was confirmed in 2004 by a further study done by Center for Disease Control showed cochlear implants with a positioner did somehow increase the risk of bacterial meningitis. Cochlear implants without a positioner still carried a higher risk of bacterial meningitis, but not as high as those with positioners. Advanced Bionics had stopped implanting models with positioners after July 2002, and MED-EL voluntarily took their model off the market”.
Another area not mentioned has to do with its public health risk. “The hearing aids (cochlear implants) pose a public health risk due to excessive moisture, exposing patients to the risk of device failure, possible surgery, and the potential for additional hearing loss,” the FDA said in a statement. A lawsuit was filed against Clarion Cochlear implants due to a potential moisture failure within the implant. Adverse events such as pain, hearing loss and other problems have been associated with the cochlear implants malfunction. As well, the implants can cause scar tissue to form which could make the implant of a replacement device difficult or even impossible.
2). Cochlear implants are based on the concept that if you are “different” you either have to be changed or you have to have to be eliminated. There are millions of deaf children who do not have cochlear implants who are quite successful, who end up going to college, obtain work as professionals as teachers, doctors, attorneys, corporate Executives, and so forth. Such individuals live their everyday life quite happily. There are a great many children who were implanted up to the age of 8 yrs, however as teens they rid themselves of the implants for reasons not yet researched. Those who do get cochlear implants as adults who may be happy with the choice they made, knowing that this implant is not a onetime thing, knowing too, that no matter what, they are still deaf. The difference is, as adults we have choices, as children, we are forced. Nowhere does the article mention the successes of Deaf children without cochlear implants, and more importantly, the successes of Deaf as adults, who are independent, productive, tax-paying citizens.
The objection here has to do with when the media portrays this as a miracle, as a cure, “with ironclad evidence” encouraging readers to fall prey to a 150 year old lie. The propaganda promoting deaf children being able to listen and speak fails to mention a core belief behind this movement: eugenics.
Alexander Graham Bell as we all know, invented the telephone yes, but he was also connected with the eugenics movement in the United States. From 1912 to 1918 he was the chairman of the board of scientific advisors to the Eugenics Record Office associated with the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York, as well as honorary president of the Second International Congress of Eugenics held under the auspices of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Organizations such as these advocated passing laws to establish the compulsory sterilization of people with a “defective variety of the human race”. Basically, although married to a deaf woman, friends with a deaf-blind individual (Helen Keller), Bell promoted through these Eugenics organizations, the eradication of Deaf people. To many in the Deaf community, this is not unlike what the KKK attempted to do with trying to eliminate African Americans, Jews, and anyone not of the Aryan race.
From Wikipedia, “Eugenics today is widely regarded as a brutal movement which inflicted massive human rights violations on millions of people. The “interventions” advocated and practiced by eugenicists involved prominently the identification and classification of individuals and their families, including the poor, mentally ill, blind, “promiscuous” women, homosexuals and entire “racial” groups—such as the Roma and Jews—as “degenerate” or “unfit”; the segregation or institutionalization of such individuals and groups, their sterilization, euthanasia, and in the extreme case of Nazi Germany, their mass extermination.” If Hitler was viewed as an evil tyrant, why isn’t Alexander Graham Bell?
Hence, it is only obvious, that the underlying root of the propaganda surrounding cochlear implants in deaf children is tied to Alexander Graham Bell’s promotion of eugenics to delete individuals who are deaf, off the face of this earth. Bell’s enterprise, the Research Laboratories of the Bell Telephone System is whom conducted early comprehensive research in hearing and speech that forms the theoretical foundation needed for later success of the cochlear implant. In the early development, Bell Labs’ vocoders describe how to break up and then re-assemble speech, have been absolutely critical to the development of signal processing in modern implant systems. Why wasn’t the public made aware via media such as LA TIMES, to show that this experiment obtained the direct current (dc) stimulation armed with vacuum tube-based oscillators and amplifiers, and the dangers associated with this product?
3). The propaganda surrounding cochlear implants is based on the idea that deaf children can be made to hear. There is also no mention in this article that should a child not have hearing in the required hearing and speech range, he/she is unable to be a candidate for Cochlear Implant. The propaganda promotes false hope that it is for every deaf child, when in fact, it disrespects the very notion that a child who is deaf, is a human being with its own rights.
On Friday, July 24, 2009, President Obama acknowledged the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and announced his intention that the United States of America will sign the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Under the CRPD, governments are to recognize and promote the use of sign language; facilitate the learning of sign language and the promotion of the linguistic identity of the deaf community; and ensure access through the provision of professional sign language interpreters. This is another reason to celebrate being Deaf!
4). Crucial to point out, there is money to be made by the very people promoting cochlear implant. It’s a billion dollar industry set out to “fix” deaf children, Cochlear Implant companies, hearing aids, speech therapists, and etcetera. The Bell Patent, Bell laboratories, its subsidiaries, the various cochlear implant companies, the shares that are bought within each of these companies, all tied to the medical industry that performs the very surgery to eradicate deafness, to do the cochlear implants on Deaf babies and children. Altogether we are talking big money, to hear, listen, and speak and all under the name of: Treatment, a misnomer at best. A propaganda which is actually promoting eugenics and billions of dollars associated with it. I suggest you do your research to discover how horrific the $$ are associated with this propaganda promoting in fact, Eugenics. Take a look at the shareholders, transactions, such as Cochlear Ltd aka COH.Ax. And this is only one example of many that are out there (http://au.finance.yahoo.com/q?s=COH.AX).
What this billion dollar industry doesn’t tell you are the number of failed surgeries, lawsuits against the surgeon, or the cochlear implant company, or even the number of times the FDA recalls the products in the implant itself, which may require for clinical removal of the products putting the child again at risk. “cochlear” http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfRES/res.cfm
Last but not least, the main point that is not mentioned in your article, a critical fact above all else is this: when the implant is turned off at nights for sleeping, or swimming, or malfunctioning, or broken, the child is in fact, still Deaf. The adult, who uses the hearing aid or cochlear implant, is still Deaf. There is no cure. Contrary to what the Alexander Graham Bell Association, laboratories, their corporate sponsors who are cochlear implant businesses, and all of their affiliates would like for you to believe, Deaf infants, children, will grow up to be adults who will still be Deaf.
LA TIMES should be in fact, celebrating that there are Deaf individuals who as Americans, take pride in the fact that we cherish life and exist with our own Culture and Language. We have in fact, much to offer the world.
As a deaf adult, responsible for overseeing an organization providing services of, by, and for Deaf individuals residing in northern California, the possibilities of what we CAN do are endless; the reality-based successes already demonstrated and enjoyed needs to be what the media promotes: human beings lives. As a parent of a teenager who is hard of hearing, I can tell you my daughter, whose primary language from birth was ASL, and later learned English, it is she whom makes her own choices of what she wants from her education, and if you ask her about getting a cochlear implant she will flat out tell you she is strongly opposed to it. Her motto is, “accept me as I am because I’m happy who I am!” I have to say, I agree with her philosophy of life completely. She is intelligent because she has two languages from the start of her life, ASL and English. She is loved because she has two deaf parents who surround her with love. She will succeed in life because she is backed by a community of Deaf individuals who embraces her, spreads knowledge to those who don’t know her. LA TIMES should be showing more stories of what deaf children have to say about their life which has nothing to do regarding the ability to hear or not, but everything to do with the joy they have, the successes thru Deaf eyes not as a medical toy about the ear. We are whole, and one body function, does not define, who we are nor what we are capable of doing. Our heritage and contribution to society as a whole, tremendous. The number of changes needed in order for our population to experience functional equivalency are still great. In United States today, American Sign Language (ASL) is the 3rd most used language nationwide. The LA TIMES should be in fact promoting the use of USA’s visual language ASL. The education curriculum should include ASL as well as English promulgated by the Obama Administration. After all, it is this President who said, “It’s time for a Change”.
In closing, it is therefore imperative LA TIMES to support and promote change, away from the ear, and talk more about what is seen through the eyes as evidence and factual information. Stop promoting the propaganda about cochlear implants which mirrors Hitler’s eradication of a race, disability, creed, religion, and all that is spelt out in our Civil Rights Amendment. Respect the American people who are Deaf who choose to use ASL and English as languages for life. See us as human beings with our own rights, with the freedom to be ourselves without someone constantly trying to fix us.
We’re proud to be here, and we’re here to stay.
Thank you,
Sheri Ann Farinha
.
Note from this Blogger:
Wow! This is a powerful letter to Los Angeles Times newspaper.
What do you think of it?
Do you think we need more letters written to the media to start having “Fair and Balance” articles related to Deaf issues?
John F. Egbert – (I am not speaking or as a representative for NAD, DBC, AFA, AG Bell, etc but as a Deaf Citizen)
Topics: Uncategorized | 5 Comments »
August 26th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Godspeed to the Deafhood, Sheri!
August 26th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I applaud Sheri Ann Farinha for writing the letters to the editor of the L.A. Times, but is too long for the general public to read her (equaled to rantings). I am sorry to say that.
We need to learn how to be more specific and precise on our letter campaign and letter to the editor.
Let this “letter to the editor” as a best lesson how to portray ourselves in the general media.
I guess that my previous blog posting on the questions of latest media coverages on cochlear implants implored Sheri Ann Farnihi to write the letter to the editor.
I also was responsible for the controvestial “YouTube” posting about fictional deaf parents removed the cochlea of their hearing son from my previous blog posting – “It’s a Time for Radical Notions”.
I am truly proud of myself that I could do some influences on Deaf America and other deaf people around the world from my computer desk.
Many thanks to John Ebgert for posting Shari’s letter to the editor and his tireless efforts on behalf of deaf babies and youngsters along with other DBC leaders.
Robert L. Mason (RLM)
August 26th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
This essay has many elements of truth, some opinion, and many suggestions of emotion. It is a scattershot approach to a serious problem: overinflated concepts about the CI.
The part about Alexander Graham Bell and his organizations could be saved for a different question. Here it doesn’t answer the news article.
A better focus would be to focus remarks on just the false concepts of the original news story: the child without the CI won’t grow up to be independent. There is “ironclad” evidence that the CI is safe in babies and young children. Also: the implication that “safe” means free of side effects and complications.
August 26th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Yes! The only surefire, ironclad way to win an argument is to user Hitler/Nazism analogies. Dear readers, if all else fails, resort to this, and you will be amazed at the results!
Anyway, this longwinded spiel was NOT published in the Los Angeles Times. At first, I was shocked that the newspaper would publish this rant but I looked online and nothing’s there. Makes sense.
Sheri–what’s this Civil Rights Amendment you write of? The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments? I’m aware of the ERA but that wasn’t ratified.
And, finally, Sheri—I love this argument:
“. . .the promotion of an antiquated concept that deaf children can be made to be hearing, mirroring that of Hitler’s racist ideas of “anyone not like me must be changed or eradicated”.”
Yup, just like Hitler did, we’re killing off the deaf children nowadays. Your arguments are powerful and a tour de force. Keep it up.
August 26th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Hi Dianrez,
I think the main point of Sheri Farinha letter is the concern of the wide spread biased propaganda movement using Shari Roan as a biased writer for LA Times.
Shari wrote another another article;
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/08/16/cochlear_implants_are_helping_more_youngsters_hear/
Regarding about Alexander Graham Bell and his organizations, AG Bell is the biggest, most destructive propagandist since 1880 Milan and his powerful wealth promoted banning Sign Language that still is subtly permeated to the public today by using people like Shari Roan to write biased one-sided ideology of using auditory devices and not have any successful stories of those Deaf children and adults that learned American Sign Language after the failed the AGBell ideology with learning to hear and speak before educating the brain with a language.
I praise Sheri Farinha for writing that letter to drop some seeds about who and what is behind of all this audism propaganda movement.
Respectfully yours
John