ST. CHARLES – Stephen Para can do something that many children would like to do.
He can turn off his parents’ voices – by taking out his cochlear implant. Stephen, who is deaf, won’t be taking it off today, though, as he starts his first day in second grade at Ferson Creek Elementary in St. Charles.
According to the National Association of the Deaf, about 10,000 children or youths have received a cochlear implant. The device consists of microphones and radio signals that are transmitted through a lead directly into a chip and then through to the brain. The cochlear implant allows the individual to hear a range of sound volumes and frequencies.
Implants are controversial in the deaf community, however, because an implant restores a certain degree of hearing to those with it and eliminates the need for sign language and lip reading, two mainstays of deaf culture. read more
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