Perspective - The Choice To Hear With a Cochlear Implant

I love it when people stop me in the store or out at an event and ask about my cochlear implants. In those moments I am reminded of my journey of where I have been and where I am going.

This past weekend I was approached by someone, while at the store, who asked me, “why did you get a cochlear implant and not choose to stay deaf?” I stood there and the word perspective kept coming to mind. I then said, “each person experiences life in their own way and for me I wanted to experience life with a cochlear implant. My family is all hearing and I wanted to be part of that.”

Each day I still make the choice to either put my cochlear implant on or keep it off. Still a choice I get to make each day. Right now I choose to hear my kiddos, music, and life around me while at night I am deaf and try to sign as much as I can.

I often speak with parents who are in the process of getting a cochlear implant for their child or their child recently got one. I am often heartbroken by the comments they get from others about the choices they make for their child such as, “you are forcing your child to hear” or “they need to embrace being deaf and then make the choice themselves.” This often makes the parents question their decision they made as the parent of their child. I got my first cochlear implant when I was six years old and I know my parents often wondered if their decision was the right one.

Every parent wants to send their child to school to learn and gain all the tools to succeed in whatever they dream to do in life. Getting a cochlear implant was one of the tools given to me. How I used it was completely up to me. Even as an adult and having had my cochlear implant for 20 years, I still get questioned as to why I have it. There is no magic answer to satisfy everyone but simply, this is how I choose to live and what feels right for me.

I am so grateful for the ability to experience the best of both worlds and gain unique perspectives. May we all remember that we all are experiencing life from different perspectives.