In a previous blog I brought up about listening and speaking by kids with cochlear implants where in videos (see here and here) I was simply amazed at the children and teens' voices and the effortless ability to speak. I could actually hear their full inflection, pitch and intonation of their accented (Australian) voices as opposed to hearing American kids with cochlear implants (they do just as well, btw). These weren't kids who struggled to speak but did so rather fluidly. Granted, the ability to speak effortlessly requires training and practice in the very beginning for a child with hearing loss whether with a hearing aid, cochlear implant or not (e.g. with very mild hearing loss). That part we know.
However, some people persist into thinking that just because a person born with a hearing loss would end up unable to speak effortlessly. And that such speaking cannot become 2nd nature or natural for him or her. I think this thinking is simply a misplaced perception thinking the impossible. To speak effortlessly is to speak without thinking where words simply flows forth fluidly. It can become natural for a person who is deaf or hard of hearing to speak, and over time be able to speak fluidly and effortlessly. Granted, I'm not speaking that this is true in ALL cases but there are indeed deaf/hh people out there who can and do speak effortlessly. I'm making the acknowledgement that it's the early exposure on talking and making the practice on the proper enunciation during the early years on speech development. No one ever got on a bike as a child for the first time and rode it flawlessly.
The captioned video below is Vint Cerf speaking effortlessly. He was born with sensorineural hearing loss and wears a hearing aid. He is known as the "Father of the Internet." As you can tell, he speaks effortlessly. His words are enunciated clearly. And speaks fluidly like any other hearing person.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Yup, we're out there! ;)
I know that to some d/Deaf ppl, it seems impossible for a deaf person to attain such speech fluency, as Vince Cerf has shown. It may have been difficult at first, but not impossible. I know several severe to profound deaf who can speak effortlessly.
It has a lot to do with how early the hearing loss occurred and when it was detected, whether hearing technology was used or not, the level of parental commitment and encouragement, and whether or not the child likes to hear and speak. I loved the sound of my dad's voice, so I was tuned in early as a toddler and took to speaking like a duck to water.
Ann_C
Yeah, whenever I read people say8ing things like "oralism forces a child to have to work and reach and struggle for their words" I roll my eyes. They have clearly never interacted with these kids.
Miss Kat, now some are saying that for those born with a hearing loss they can never be able to speak effortlessly like a hearing person. I busted out laughing when I saw that. In fact, you have kids with CI who do speak effortlessly and to boot even hear their accent or dialect. That tells you right away the cochlear implant is working. Also, the link below is a to a video of Vint Cerf, father of the internet, who was born with a hearing loss and wears a hearing aid. Now, some are, laughingly so, saying he slurs his words, and doesn't pronounce some of the words or consonants correctly in that video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zulDYxyv4KQ&feature=player_embedded
Where is Vinton's past and present audiograms? :) Also pls more info on his growing up with his hearing loss?
http://www.hearingloss.org/magazine/2009MayJune/Cerf_Interview_MayJune2009_HLM.pdf
DSM: I found out that I was terribly nearsighted when I was in the 3rd grade. How did
you find out you were hearing impaired?
VC: It was noticeable by the time I was in the 4th grade. I was like 9 years old, but
the doctors didn’t think I needed any special help. It was about a 15dbd loss, so it was
not too difficult. By the time I turned 13 I was in the 8th grade. This would have been
right in the middle of junior high, and I always would sit in the front of the class partly
so I could hear the teacher, but I found that I couldn’t hear the questions in the back of
the room. So the teacher would answer the question but I didn’t know what the
question was. So if the answer was “yes,” it didn’t impart much information. Finally
I said, “I have to do something,” and I got hearing aids.
I think I started with one and quickly graduated to two, and I’ve been wearing them
ever since. By good fortune, although my hearing has decreased over time, the
strength of the hearing aids and their quality has increased faster than my hearing has
decreased. So I have been able to function pretty much as if I were normally hearing.
http://www.cwheroes.org/search/oral_history_archive/vinton_g_cerf/oralhistory.pdf
Since I got myself a ci, my speech improved effortlessly. I'm hearing at 16db and it enabled me to hear words more than just lipreading.
When people do not have CI have no place to judge. End of story.
Russell
I have met many people who were born with severe to profound hearing losses who speak amazingly well! It seems younger people, who benefited from digital aids or cochlear implants do the best. Those who are my age or older are the ones who will have a more obvious speech impediment, probably because hearing aids weren't as good in the 50s and 60s. Even so, that doesn't stop them from talking. LOL
The younger generation is able to benefit from this technology because they get to wear it much earlier compared to kids back in the 50s, 60s, 70s and even 80s when it was understood later that early(ier) intervention is key. I was fortunate to wear a hearing aid well around 3 years old compared to some who gotten their hearing aids at a much later age and didn't benefit as much. Today it is common place to see babies 4, 5 or 6 months old wear hearing aids and get that early exposure to sound and voice. Same for cochlear implants.
Post a Comment