There has been a long-standing debate between the deaf community and the hearing impaired community.  The hearing impaired community usually mixes well with hearing people because they have a voice, yet still use hearing aids and can hear someone but mainly rely on reading lips.  The deaf community does not mix well with the hearing community because they do not wear hearing aids, cannot hear anything and use American Sign Language as their way of communication.  The debate is over the Cochlear implants and whether or not they are helpful to those people who could hear a little.

Cochlear implants are mainly used in small children and then as they grow, they receive new Cochlear implants because their ears develop although their hearing may not.  A Cochlear implant helps children integrate into the hearing world better than the hearing aid because it is implanted directly into the ear where the hearing happens near the hearing nerves and eardrum.

When a cochlear implant does not work many people try the latest technology in digital hearing aids; however some people are so profoundly deaf but nothing seems to help them.

The profoundly deaf have their own community, their own language, their own schools, their own theaters even their own sports leagues.  The deaf community likes to be thought of as a culture and they pass it down to their children just as the African-American or Italian-American people would pass down their heritage to their children.

The main contention over the cochlear implants is that it helps children hear their own voice so they can speak with other children who were hearing just as if they were hearing.  Their parents and other adults do not approve of this because they would rather have them be silent and use American Sign Language for their communications with everyone.

Many parents struggle with the idea of where their children should go to school, in the hearing man’s world or in the deaf community, especially if they are only hearing impaired and not completely deaf.  And many families feel ashamed when their child is born hearing when everyone else in the community is deaf because they want to share their deaf culture with them.  When the baby is born into the deaf community who is deaf, there is a celebration for that child and their parents.

It’s very hard for outsiders or the hearing world to understand the deaf community and why they do not want to mix with the hearing world because blind people integrate into the seeing world almost seamlessly; however unless you’ve walked a mile in someone’s shoes, you don’t know what it’s like.

Several cochlear implants, digital hearing aids and regular hearing aids are displayed on several websites on top of sea glass which makes a lovely backdrop for any type of display or photograph because of their shiny bright colors.