CountryWolf07
05-14-2008, 03:53 PM
This was difficult for me to write as a "person" who is hearing whereas I am deaf, and I have a cochlear implant. I had to watch a movie, called "Sound & Fury", a movie about two families who had a big controversy over their children getting a cochlear implant. So, I had to write a letter as the daughter who is 6 years old, who orginally wanted the implant, but later on, changed her mind due to her parents' influence of not wanting her to get the implant. In this letter, I am persuading "her father" that I do want the implant and what it has to offer:
Please let me know what you think of the letter. It is for my ASL class. Thanks!
Dear Dad,
I feel this is the only attention I can get to you about how I feel
about the cochlear implant. I understand it is frustrating to listen to our
family discuss about the possibilities of having a cochlear implant, and
how it would impact my life and yours. I believe that I am pro for the
cochlear implant and I need your support and encouragement as a
father, even if you are against it. This letter is for you to read on your
own time and I hope you will understand from what I want to say. I love
you and I feel that having an cochlear implant will improve my quality of
life in the future and not only that I will be able to hear, I will still be part
of the deaf culture, no matter what.
I am Deaf, I am proud of who I am. I want the implant only to be
able to have a better opportunity later on in life. I’m not saying that I
don’t want to be deaf anymore, because in a real sense, I will always be.
If I have the device, it does not change that fact. I know, first thing you
say about the cochlear implant will make me hearing, but it does no
such thing. Hearing means, I have to choose between two worlds, but I
do not want to do that. I am choosing to have the implant to have the
ability to communicate in both worlds. Technology is improving every
day. There is one thing that the deaf and hearing agree on, which is that
technology has the power to provide great accessibility, increase people’s
quality of life if they offer it a chance. I feel that that is what the cochlear
implant is about. It gives me a chance to improve my life whereas I still
can be deaf at the same time.
There is every positive and negative outlook on the issue of getting
a cochlear implant. I feel you are constantly focusing on the negative side
of the issue whereas it should be the positive side. Because of your
influence, I am saying I do not want the implant, because I want to make
you happy. Yet, but deep inside, I know that will cause me to maybe
regret not getting it earlier in my life rather than later. What about my
cousin, Peter? He is only 9 months old and his parents decided to have
the procedure so he will be able to have what I want as we both become
older. Remember that day when we all went to visit another family and I
met their daughter who has a cochlear implant? She was able to
communicate. I was amazed! She could speak and hear music. She is
happy with it, and I want to feel the same way she does, I know I will. I
want to understand sound, to hear voices and express my thoughts
verbally through the spoken language. Music is one of the things I would
love to hear some day. I want to talk on the telephone just like everyone
else. I want to help people with ASL if they need to communicate in a
different way. I have told you my reasons why I want a cochlear implant
but you are so strongly against it that I decide to not to consider it or
state my reason why I do not want it, even though I am a perfect
candidate. Getting a cochlear implant does not eliminate my deafness.
I hope you reconsider allowing me to make a decision on my own,
with no conflicting factors. When I have wanted the implant, I have been
around you and Mom arguing how it would take me away from the Deaf
world, rather than not realizing that it never will have that ability to.
What we need is a new start on this issue, a new chance to really look at
the positive side of what the cochlear implant can offer.
Please let me know what you think of the letter. It is for my ASL class. Thanks!
Dear Dad,
I feel this is the only attention I can get to you about how I feel
about the cochlear implant. I understand it is frustrating to listen to our
family discuss about the possibilities of having a cochlear implant, and
how it would impact my life and yours. I believe that I am pro for the
cochlear implant and I need your support and encouragement as a
father, even if you are against it. This letter is for you to read on your
own time and I hope you will understand from what I want to say. I love
you and I feel that having an cochlear implant will improve my quality of
life in the future and not only that I will be able to hear, I will still be part
of the deaf culture, no matter what.
I am Deaf, I am proud of who I am. I want the implant only to be
able to have a better opportunity later on in life. I’m not saying that I
don’t want to be deaf anymore, because in a real sense, I will always be.
If I have the device, it does not change that fact. I know, first thing you
say about the cochlear implant will make me hearing, but it does no
such thing. Hearing means, I have to choose between two worlds, but I
do not want to do that. I am choosing to have the implant to have the
ability to communicate in both worlds. Technology is improving every
day. There is one thing that the deaf and hearing agree on, which is that
technology has the power to provide great accessibility, increase people’s
quality of life if they offer it a chance. I feel that that is what the cochlear
implant is about. It gives me a chance to improve my life whereas I still
can be deaf at the same time.
There is every positive and negative outlook on the issue of getting
a cochlear implant. I feel you are constantly focusing on the negative side
of the issue whereas it should be the positive side. Because of your
influence, I am saying I do not want the implant, because I want to make
you happy. Yet, but deep inside, I know that will cause me to maybe
regret not getting it earlier in my life rather than later. What about my
cousin, Peter? He is only 9 months old and his parents decided to have
the procedure so he will be able to have what I want as we both become
older. Remember that day when we all went to visit another family and I
met their daughter who has a cochlear implant? She was able to
communicate. I was amazed! She could speak and hear music. She is
happy with it, and I want to feel the same way she does, I know I will. I
want to understand sound, to hear voices and express my thoughts
verbally through the spoken language. Music is one of the things I would
love to hear some day. I want to talk on the telephone just like everyone
else. I want to help people with ASL if they need to communicate in a
different way. I have told you my reasons why I want a cochlear implant
but you are so strongly against it that I decide to not to consider it or
state my reason why I do not want it, even though I am a perfect
candidate. Getting a cochlear implant does not eliminate my deafness.
I hope you reconsider allowing me to make a decision on my own,
with no conflicting factors. When I have wanted the implant, I have been
around you and Mom arguing how it would take me away from the Deaf
world, rather than not realizing that it never will have that ability to.
What we need is a new start on this issue, a new chance to really look at
the positive side of what the cochlear implant can offer.