abuse and cohlear implants mentions sound and fury film

"Abuse" and Cochlear Implants


In the movie, Sound and Fury, one is introduced to Heather, a young deaf girl trapped between a rivaling interfamily tension, where in her grandparents reason that her parents are concurring with a type of physical abuse by denying their daughter a cochlear implant; a device which would allow Heather the potential to hear. The parents of Heather, being deaf themselves, are by no means abusive when they made their decision to decline Heather of receiving a cochlear implant. Abuse is the physical and mental harm that is inflicted upon a person. In this situation, this understanding of abuse does not apply in that the decision Heather’s parents made a decision which was thoughtfully crafted, weighed out and considered so that their daughter would be sheltered from any harm that would result. One cannot be quick to label Heather’s parents as being “abusive” until the logic behind the decision is compiled and analyzed.

The decision of Heather’s parents was based upon medical research of Cochlear Implants, the need to maintain the deaf culture within the family and the experiences they have been exposed because of being deaf. The National Institute of Deafness and other Communication Disorders defines a Cochlear Implant as ”a small, complex electronic device that is surgically implanted within the skin situated behind the ear that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing (NIDCD).” Although this sounds like a Cochlear Implant can be a miracle worker, Heather’s parents found that a Cochlear Implant may not be effective for everyone. The implant is most effective when implanted at youth before language develops or immediately after having a hearing loss of which a person had exposure to language (Zak). Heather, still being young did have the possibility of proper language development. In order for a cochlear implant to be most successful, Heather would need consistent exposure to verbal speech. However, seeing that her family is deaf, she would have to use sign language to communicate with them, thus not developing her language skills to her full potential. On the other hand, if her family were not deaf, the possibility for a success rate would be higher because she would have constant exposure to verbal speech both at home and at therapy. Understanding that cochlear impla...