Sound and Peace...When Heather Artinian Speaks.

Incredible. Remember the show Sound and Fury? And how one Deaf family pitted itself against each other and even their families and friends on the decision of a cochlear implant for their young daughter who was 9 years old at the time and her name is Heather? Well, today on NPR they were going to have Dr. I. King Jordan on the air but he had to back out of the show in order be on the Gallaudet University campus to try and resolve an ongoing protest issue that's been brewing for sometime since this May and now has since exploded (or imploded in this case) into an ugly scene.

However, if you read the NPR show transcript about the Artinians you'll see a discussion with them regarding Heather and the documentary show Sound and Fury. You need to scroll about 3/4 way down to find this little gem. Below is just a snippet.

Here's Heather's Dad, Peter, speaking to the NPR show host on the phone with an interpreter:

Peter: IT WAS A LITTLE DIFFICULT. BUT, YOU KNOW, COCHLEAR IMPLANTS WERE RELATIVELY NEW ON THIS SCENE. IT WAS OUR FIRST EXPOSURE. IT'S NOT A DECISION WOULD I MAKE FOR MYSELF. I'M TOO OLD. I DON'T SEE ANY FUTURE BENEFITS FOR MYSELF.
BUT MY DAUGHTER IS YOUNGER. WE WENT TO COUNSELING. IT WAS A DELIBERATE PROCESS, IT WASN'T A SUDDEN DECISION, BUT IT WAS A TOUGH DECISION FOR US, YES. BUT HOPEFULLY SHE'S HAPPY. I MEAN, SHE CAN SPEAK FOR HERSELF, OF COURSE.

Neal Conan: WELL LET'S HEAR FROM HEATHER THEN. JOINING US NOW IS PETER'S DAUGHTER, HEATHER ARTINIAN WHO IS NOW 13 YEARS OLD. SHE'S WITH HER FATHER AT OUR BUREAU IN NEW YORK.

HEATHER, IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON TALK OF THE NATION TODAY.

Heather: THANK YOU. IT'S GREAT TO BE HERE TOO.

Neal Conan: YOU RECEIVED THE IMPLANT WHEN YOU WERE NINE YEARS OLD. CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE MOMENT WHEN THEY FIRST TURNED IT ON FOR YOU AND YOU FIRST STARTED TO HEAR THINGS?

Heather: WELL, I WAS REALLY NERVOUS BECAUSE I HAD NEVER HEARD ANYTHING BEFORE. I WAS PRETTY SCARED UNTIL I WAS TURNED ON. IT WAS A VERY EMOTIONAL MOMENT FOR ME.

Neal Conan: I BET IT WAS. THERE'S A WONDERFUL MOMENT IN JOSH ARONSON'S MOVIE "SOUND AND FURY" WHERE I GUESS IT'S YOUR COUSIN WHO WAS BORN DEAF ALSO AT AN EARLIER AGE AND HE STARTS TO HEAR. IT'S A TREMENDOUSLY WONDERFUL MOMENT IN THE MOVIE.

YOU NOW GO TO A HEARING SCHOOL. HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?

Heather: ACTUALLY I LOVE IT.

Neal Conan: AND HAVE YOU BEEN BACK TO THE DEAF SCHOOL THAT YOU ATTENDED BEFORE?

Heather: NO. NOT EVER.

Neal Conan: HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR DEAF FRIENDS?

Heather: YES, I KEEP IN TOUCH WITH MY FRIENDS. IT'S IMPORTANT TO ME TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH EVERYONE, NO MATTER IF THEY'RE DEAF OR HEARING.
Peter: HEATHER GOES IN AND OUT OF THE DEAF CULTURE AND THE HEARING WORLD FLUIDLY, SEAMLESSLY, TRANSPARENTLY.

Read the rest of that amazing phone interview on NPR as they also discuss about the upcoming documentary Sound and Fury: Six Years Later. Also, in that trascript you'll find discussions about the protest as well. Some good. Some bad. Some are a little weird. Some just makes you say, "Huh?" Read below and see if you find something that seems to be bit out of place:

THIS IS DAVID, I'M CALLING AGAIN FROM FREEMONT, CALIFORNIA, I'M SPEAKING THROUGH AN INTERPRETER.
I'M AN EXPERT ON THE COCHLEAR IMPLANT AND ALSO ON DEAF CULTURE. I AM A COCHLEAR IMPLANT EXPERT WHERE I'VE DONE MUCH RESEARCH. I'D LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT SPEECH IS NOT THE LINK TO HUMAN IDENTITY.

David? From Fremont? I wonder who could that be? A cochlear implant "expert"? Speaking of David. Check this one out about how the issue isn't cochlear implant but eugenics. Hmm.....sure.

Well, I think Heather is the expert here. No doubt.

Speaking of Cochlear Implant. Here's the poll I did not too long ago on whether students at Gallaudet University accept the Cochlear Implant Education Center. Some interesting numbers.

UPDATE: Karen sends me this link for a follow up article with the Artinian family. Thanks, Karen!