Within the deaf population, there is a divide over how people with hearing loss should approach technology. The Deaf (note the capital “D”) subculture, largely using ASL, believes we should embrace our deafness and not treat it as something to be “fixed.” Whereas the deaf (lowercase “d”) community has adopted devices to hear and speak, becoming a part of the hearing world. The conflict is essentially over our individual approaches towards our hearing loss, by way of culture and technology.

While I have many deaf friends in both communities, I am a part of the lowercase “d” deaf culture or the oral-deaf group. The emerging technology of invisible implants will challenge our community in dealings both with hearing and Deaf people.

The Hearing World

When venturing into the hearing world, the oral deaf often bump into many who see the cochlear implant (and also the hearing aid) as a “cure” for hearing loss. We have to argue that it isn’t because, while our hearing is improved, we still have difficulty understanding others.

We don’t know if this new internal cochlear implant is a “cure.” It probably won’t be. But in the eyes of many hearing people, it already is.

Deaf people wearing internal cochlear implants will have trouble validating themselves as deaf to hearing people who don’t see a physical device on their heads. The loss of that visual cue will blur the line between the oral deaf and the hearing.

I can already imagine a situation in which I’m wearing an internal cochlear implant and ask my hearing friends to set up subtitles for a movie. What kind of response would I get? “But you don’t have a hearing aid.” “Are you wearing a cochlear implant? I don’t see one.” “You don’t need captions.”

When I don’t catch what was said in a conversation, I often casually point to my external cochlear implant and say “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear what you said,” or “I totally misunderstood you.” It’s an easy shortcut that would be lost with the new technology.

It will be harder to explain to friends that it may be difficult for us to understand them sometimes if they don’t see us sporting hearing aids or cochlear implants. Will they forget to face us so we can read their lips?

I hate to say I have a disability, but I do. The oral-deaf community often has to ask for accommodations such as captions, note-takers, strobe-light fire alarms, or vibrating alarm clocks. How will perplexed movie theaters, event hosts, school districts, colleges, universities, hotels, and employers receive invisible-implant users requesting disability services?

Will we have to prove we are deaf?

The Deaf Community

The Deaf subculture is able to separate itself from the lowercase “d” deaf group by spotting speaking individuals with hearing aids and cochlear implants. When no one is able to see these hearing devices, internal implant adoptees will likely be seen as purely hearing people.