This is one of those ethical issues that has no easy answer. I am not hearing impaired, but it is a topic I've actually thought about in the context of being gay, designer babies, etc. The last X-Men movie dealt with the basic question. What is simply another way of being normal? As a gay man, I don't feel that I have an illness or abnormality nor would I accept a treatment that would make me into something else.
I have come up with opinions that reflect my view of ethics.
A child who is deaf is a different case from an adult who loses hearing as a result of disease or accident. In most cases, the adult has the ability to make decisions; whereas, a very young child does not. This is the situation presented in this movie. One parent is deaf and one is not. Both parents love their son and want the best for him. In a situation like this, I would give more weight to the opinion of the parent who is deaf. In this story, it is the mother who is deaf. She has always been deaf and knows what obstacles the little boy will face growing up deaf. Clearly, she did not find deafness to be as limiting as her husband imagines it will be for the little boy. I know from a developmental point of view, the earlier a child receives cochlear implants the better for developing spoken speech. I also know that cochlear implants do not provide a perfect replacement for natural hearing. I would hope in a real life situation like this one, the hearing parent would be persuaded. It does not bode well for a marriage if one partner forces an opinion on the other.
From what I have read and seen, most deaf people do not feel disabled anymore than a gay person who is comfortable in his or her skin feels abnormal. Obviously, a deaf person would be challenged in a job that required audible communication such as air traffic controller, but if deafness was the rule rather than the exception we would have developed ways of performing the job. As it is, I think technology will open up more paths for deaf people.
That opinion is not a one size fits all statement. For instance, someone who is blind faces a different set of challenges. I know most blind people will find ways to cope, and I think most of the reasoning will still apply. Audible communication is not a challenge for the majority of people who are blind, but someone who is blind would have a difficult time being an air traffic controller, which is a career that is even more dependent on sight than it is on hearing. Again, if blindness was the rule, we would have devised bahaviours and technology to perform the job.
The bottom line is adults who choose cochlear implants for themselves should have that option. I hope that if hearing parents of a deaf child consider this option for the child, they would investigate what it means to be deaf by contacting deaf adults and seeking to observe children attending a school for the deaf before making such a decision.
I will be interested to read the opinions of others on this subject.
