Deaf Epistemologies, Identity, and Learning by Goedele A. M. De Clerck

Author:Goedele A. M. De Clerck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallaudet University Press
Published: 2016-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

Karrewiet is being interpreted by Kathleen, a deaf interpreter. The documentary continues with Kathleen, who talks about her son Basil:

KAT HLEEN: After Basil was born, they first checked whether everything was okay. He was fine. Then a pediatrician asked us immediately to test his hearing. I told him that that was not necessary. The baby was not ill, so I didn’t see why a test would be necessary right after birth. I wanted to spend some time with my baby first and build a relationship with him. The second day, during a medical check-up, we received the same question. For the second time, the doctor recommended a hearing test. I said, “No, thank you.” I didn’t know why he was asking this, because he was not an ENT specialist. I explained to him that it would be okay to do this later, since we wanted to have time for our family now and that we would find out later whether he was deaf or hearing. They kept asking, and we kept refusing. We wanted to find out ourselves whether Basil was deaf or hearing. Already from the very beginning, we felt that he was deaf, since he was very visually oriented and didn’t react to noise. Three or four weeks later, a hearing test confirmed this. We are deaf, so it didn’t matter to us, and we were also happy because we use sign language at home.

ANDY: Tibo’s CI [cochlear implant] was a very hard decision for me. I have deaf parents and grew up with Flemish Sign Language, so that’s a strong part of me. For my wife, it was easier to accept this decision, since she has grown up in a hearing family. She often felt isolated as a child. That’s why she thought that a CI would maybe be good for our son. Then one day, Tibo told me that his hearing had decreased. He admitted that. This referred to the limits of his hearing aids. I wondered whether we should give him a CI. I was thinking about that, looking forward, and found an answer. When Tibo grows up, he can decide for himself whether he wants to keep his CI on or off. We don’t have to delay giving him a CI until he is 18. We can do it now. That helped me to accept the decision.

KAT HLEEN: Apart from this medical pressure, we also thought about assistive devices such as hearing aids or a CI. Increasing numbers of children have these now. We were open to all possible options for Basil. We followed up on this evolution through reading research and going to conferences. We also contacted other parents. It turned out that there is no research evidence on the positive effects of a CI on children’s social and emotional development. We were not convinced on that a CI is the best option for Basil. Should we take the risk? Whether a CI is successful or not seems highly dependent on the individual child.

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