Deaf culture, cochlear implants, and elective disability

Hasting Center Report

Volumn 28, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 6-14

  Tucker, Bonnie Poitras ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT 1990; ARTICLE; CHILD; COCHLEA PROSTHESIS; CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY; DISABLED PERSON; HANDICAPPED CHILD; HEALTH; HEARING IMPAIRMENT; HUMAN; INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION; LEGAL ASPECT; MORALITY; NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF; PROFESSIONAL PATIENT RELATIONSHIP; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; RISK ASSESSMENT; SIGN LANGUAGE; SOCIAL JUSTICE; SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY; TREATMENT REFUSAL;

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT 1990; NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF; PROFESSIONAL PATIENT RELATIONSHIP;

ADULT; CHILD; COCHLEAR IMPLANTS; CULTURAL DIVERSITY; CULTURE; DEAFNESS; DISABLED CHILDREN; DISABLED PERSONS; HEALTH; HUMANS; INTERNATIONALITY; MORAL OBLIGATIONS; PREJUDICE; RISK ASSESSMENT; SIGN LANGUAGE; SOCIAL JUSTICE; SOCIAL VALUES; TREATMENT REFUSAL;

EID: 0032106683     PISSN: 00930334     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/3528607     Document Type: Article

References (43)

1. For an article explaining the viewpoint of Deaf culture, see Edward Dolnick, "Deafness as Culture," Atlantic 272, no. 3 (1993): 37-53.
2. See, for example , Susan B. Waltzman, Noel L. Cohen, Railey H. Gomolin, Janet. E. Green, William H. Shapiro et al., "Open-Set Speech Perception in Congenitally Deaf Children Using Cochlear Implants," American Journal of Otology 18, no. 3 (1997): 342-49; "Progress Report, Outcomes for Paediatric Cochlear Implantation in Nottingham: Safe - Effective - Efficient," Nottingham Paediatric Cochlear Programme, University Hospital NHS Trust, Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham, England (May 1997);
3. T. A. Zwolan, P. R. Kileny, S. A. Telian, "Self-Report of Cochlear Implant Use and Satisfaction by Prelingually Deafened Adults," Ear & Hearing 17, no. 3 (1996): 198-210;
4. Amy M. Robbins, "Implanted Children Can Speak, But Can They Communicate?" Paper Presented at the Sixth Symposium on Cochlear Implants in Children, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, February 1996;
5. N. M. Young, J. C. Johnson, M. B. Mets, T. C. Hain, "Cochlear Implants in Young Children with Usher's Syndrome," Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology Suppl. 166, No. 9, Part 2 (1995): 342-45;
6. Anne E. Geers and Jean S. Moog, eds., "Effectiveness of Cochlear Implants and Tactile Aids for Deaf Children: The Sensory Aids Study at Central Institute for the Deaf," The Volta Review 96, no. 5 (1994).
7. Report of Dr. Robert F. Naunton, Director, Division of Human Communications, National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 7 May 1998 (in the author's files).
8. Bonnie P. Tucker, Cochlear Implants: A Handbook (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1998, forthcoming).
9. The vast majority of deaf children in the United States no longer attend such schools; the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act - enacted in 1973 for the purpose of providing children with disabilities with a free appropriate public education, primarily alongside children without disabilities - has resulted in sharp declines in special school enrollments. See, for example, Felicity Barringer, "Pride in a Soundless World: Deaf Oppose a Hearing Aid," New York Times, 16 May 1993.
10. Roslyn Rosen, "President Rosen on Cochlear Implants," NAD Broadcaster, December 1992, p. 6;
11. see also, "The President Signs On," NAD Broadcaster, January 1991, p. 3.
12. Larry G. Stewart, "Debunking the Bilingual/Bicultural Snow Job in the American Deaf Community," A Deaf American Monograph 42 (1992): 129-42.
13. Abigail Trafford, "The Brave New World of Genetic Planning," Washington Post, 15 November 1994.
14. Dena S. Davis, "Genetic Dilemmas and the Child's Right to an Open Future," Hastings Center Report 27, no. 2 (1997): 7-15, at 9.
15. See, for example, Wendy Lynas, Communication Options in the Education of Deaf Children (London: Whurr Publishers, 1994).
16. Kevin Nolan, "Communication Chores: A Parents Perspective," Clarke Speaks (Winter/Spring 1997): T3.
17. Dolnick, "Deafness as Culture," p. 37.
18. Rosen, "President Rosen on Cochlear Implants."
19. The author is a member of the National Advisory Council to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders and has personal knowledge of such criticism.
20. M. Arana Ward, "As Technology Advances, A Bitter Debate Divides the Deaf," Washington Post, 11 May 1997.
21. E-mail by Kate T. Kubey of November 1996, submitted to the author by Mildred Oberkotter and Melissa K. Chaikof (in the authors files).
22. Response of Bill Boyle (in the author's files).
23. Response of Melissa K. Chaikof (in the authors files).
24. Response of Mildred Oberkotter (in the authors files).
25. Jean L. Johnson, Gary W. Mauk, Kristine M. Takekawa, Peter R. Simon et al., "Implementing a Statewide System of Services for Infants and Toddlers with Hearing Disabilities," Seminars in Hearing 14(1993): 105-18, at 117.
26. Thomas Balkany, Annelle V. Hodges, and Kenneth W. Goodman, "Ethics of Cochlear Implantation in Young Children," Journal of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery 114, no. 6 (1995): 748-55, at 748.
27. Philip Howard, The Death of Common Sense (New York: Random House, 1994).
28. For a discussion of this issue, See Lisa E. Key, "Voluntary Disabilities and the ADA: A Reasonable Interpretation of 'Reasonable Accommodations,'" Hastings Law Journal 48 (1996): 75-104.
29. Zimmerman v. Ausland, 513 P.2d (Or. 1973), 1167, 1169 at 1169.
30. Zimmerman, p. 1170; Lucas v. Deville, 385 So. 2d 804, 815 (La. Ct. App. 1979);
31. D. Dobbs, Law of Remedies (St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing, 1993), pp. 272-73;
32. Key, "Voluntary Disabilities," p. 99.
33. Lucas v. Deville, at 815, note 31;
34. Key, "Voluntary Disabilities."
35. Some other laws protecting individuals with disabilities from discrimination include the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 the Fair Housing Act Amendments of 1998, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Air Carriers Access Act.
36. See, for example, Key, "Voluntary Disabilities."
37. See, for example, George Will, "Disabilities Act May End Up Granting Special Rights to Jerks," Idaho Statesman, 4 April 1996.
38. 1995 c.50 (United Kingdom), p. 50-8.
39. 29 C.F.R. app. §1630.2(h). Several courts have followed the EEOC's reasoning. See, for example, Harris v. H & W Contracting Co., 102 F.3d 516, 521 (11th Cir. 1996); Houlihan v. Lucky Stores, Inc., 87 F.3d 362, 366 (9th Cir. 1996); Roth v. Lutheran General Hospital, 57 F.3d 1446, 1454 (7th Cir. 1995); Wilson v. Pennsylvania State Police Department, 6 A.D. Cas. (BNA) 1125 (E.D. Pa. 1997); Sackett v. WPNT, Inc., 4 A.D. Cas. (BNA) 1597, 1600 (WD. Pa. 1995); Canon v. Clark, 883 F. Supp. 718, 721 (S.D. Fla. 1995); Sarsycki v. United Parcel Service, 862 F. Supp. 336, 340 (WD. Okla. 1994).
40. Coghlan v. H. J. Deinz Co., 851 F. Supp. 808 (N.D.Tex. 1994), p. 813.
41. Pangalos v. Prudential Insurance, 5 A.D. Cases (BNA) 1825 (E.D. Pa. October 15, 1996), aff'd, 118 F.3d 1577 (3d Cir. 1997).
42. For an article explaining that an insurers refusal to cover the cost of a cochlear implant and related training will, in many circumstances, violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, see Bonnie P. Tucker, "Insurance and the ADA," DePaul Law Review 46, no. 4 (1997): 915-45.
43. Ward, "As Technology Advances."