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Texas Public Radio and the Texas Standard published the story of Tiffany Storrs, an actress and disability advocate who became deaf after the birth of her first child in 2007 and was later diagnosed as bilaterally deaf. Storrs now uses two cochlear implants and shares her experience to illustrate what the technology can and cannot do.
A cochlear implant has a surgically placed internal component and an externally worn processor. For people whose inner-ear hair cells are damaged or absent, the device takes over the job those cells would normally do, sending sound signals toward the auditory nerve. Storrs says she is able to hear again, while also noting that hearing through an implant is not the same as typical hearing and takes time and practice to adjust to.
The piece also brings attention to cultural considerations within the Deaf community. Some people hold differing views about cochlear implants, particularly regarding children and the choice between spoken language and sign language. An audiologist quoted in the story notes that these are not either-or questions and that sign language carries its own value, a point worth keeping in view in any discussion of the technology.
This is one person’s account and reflects her individual experience. Outcomes with cochlear implants vary, and candidacy is determined by a hearing health team.
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