Every implanted child a star (and some other failures):¹

The title for this paper is taken from the conflicting interpretations regarding the cochlear implantation of children. The phrase, “ever implanted child a star” comes from a banner displayed at a national conference on childhood implants and is representative of the excitement and hope evident in the discourse of those who are pro‐cochlear implants (Cited in Lane, Feb/March, 1993, pp. 21). On the other hand, the concept of being an “oral failure” is prevalent in Deaf cultural discourse. For instance, the well‐known mime Bernard Bragg has a famous vignette he performed for the National Theatre of the Deaf/wherein he recalls the story of how he was trained to articulate a particular sound by blowing on a feather. When he grew older and left school he tells of trying to order a hamburger at a McDonald's and when the clerk fails to understand his speech his only recourse is to pull out a feather to articulate the sound appropriately, thus demonstrating his failure with oral speech (1979).

Guilt and shame in the cochlear implant debates²

I would like to thank the National Endowment for the Humanities for the opportunity to participate in the 1995 Summer Seminar on Responsibility and Social Issues from which this particular research project developed. I would also like to thank the seminar director Peter French and fellow seminarian Mary Traschel for their invaluable feedback in revisioning this work.

Abstract

In June 1990, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the use of cochlear implants for deaf children triggering a volatile debate between persons working within the field of communication disorders and the Deaf community. This essay explores the work of Kenneth Burke on guilt and Helen Merrell Lynd on shame in assessing the dramatically varying perspectives on cochlear implants and in attempting to reconstruct the paths along which each of these perspectives travel. The controversy over the cochlear implantation of children serves as a representative anecdote for the broader societal struggle over the role and the consequences of technology in modern human life.

Key words:

• cochlear implants
• deaf culture
• guilt
• shame
• Kenneth Burke
• debate
• public discourse

Notes

The title for this paper is taken from the conflicting interpretations regarding the cochlear implantation of children. The phrase, “ever implanted child a star” comes from a banner displayed at a national conference on childhood implants and is representative of the excitement and hope evident in the discourse of those who are pro‐cochlear implants (Cited in Lane, Feb/March, 1993, pp. 21). On the other hand, the concept of being an “oral failure” is prevalent in Deaf cultural discourse. For instance, the well‐known mime Bernard Bragg has a famous vignette he performed for the National Theatre of the Deaf/wherein he recalls the story of how he was trained to articulate a particular sound by blowing on a feather. When he grew older and left school he tells of trying to order a hamburger at a McDonald's and when the clerk fails to understand his speech his only recourse is to pull out a feather to articulate the sound appropriately, thus demonstrating his failure with oral speech (1979).

I would like to thank the National Endowment for the Humanities for the opportunity to participate in the 1995 Summer Seminar on Responsibility and Social Issues from which this particular research project developed. I would also like to thank the seminar director Peter French and fellow seminarian Mary Traschel for their invaluable feedback in revisioning this work.