Join us for our next meeting on Thursday, Sept 28 at 11:30 Eastern Time. We'll discuss the introduction and Chapter 4 from Michele Friedner. Sensory Futures: Deafness and Cochlear Implant Infrastructures in India. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2022. Details here: https://www.chstm.org/content/sound-and-technology#SoundStudies#CochlearImplants
I was late in my self acceptance due to religious and social pressure, I knew who I am from a young age, and the disability that I am born with... people kept telling me they were trying to "pray it away" and/or "cure" me while trying to assimilate me into their "norms". After 23 years, I finally denounced the "norms" and "views" finding myself anew. I will never go back, only forward.
I wish I could thank the few people that told me it was okay to be myself back then, as well as all the people who will remind me to be myself into the future.
I think we need to wrestle with this when thinking about #HearingAids and #CochlearImplants. What evidence do we have, what quality is the evidence, and how does this conflict with regulations, norms, and insurers who gatekeep access to care? Should we shift audiologists away from pumping pure tones for The Man to prescribe a device, and instead train audiologists as "communication therapists" (akin to occupational or physical therapy)?
I did not know this was a thing. Corporations effectively disabling your phone or your washing machine to force you to buy a new one is bad enough. Doing the same with your ears is disgusting. Especially if you didn't advise that this would happen before installation, and marketed it as "forever". Yet another "How do these people sleep at night?" moment.