The Problem of Being Deaf in a Hearing World

I recently watched a documentary titled "Sound and Fury", which is about the struggles of a deaf family trying to fit in to a hearing world.
Peter, Nita, and Heather are a deaf family that are struggling to make the decision of getting Heather, their oldest girl a cochlear implant. They are part of a family of part hearing and part deaf people, and the controversy goes for both sides. Peter's parents can hear, and they are pro-implant. Nita's parents cannot hear and they think that Heather should not get an implant. Peter's brother's wife was formerly deaf and got an implant, and got her kids implants as well. The opinions are very diverted all across the board, and Peter and Nita do not know what to do. Peter is incredibly closed minded and doesn't want the implant. Nita does but doesn't at the same time, but they end up giving Heather time to think about it and make her choice. She was only six then.

In my opinion, Heather should have gotten the implant for a few reasons. First and foremost, it does not make sense. We live in a hearing world. Only .38% of the entire population of the U.S. is deaf. That is about one million people, and despite that sounding like a lot of people, it is not. Having the opportunity to get an implant and not getting it is like getting a million dollar check and ripping it apart. The amount of opportunities lost by that decision are endless. Our world is facilitated for the hearing, not the deaf. Just at my job alone, the few deaf people that I have had to help were never on their own. They always had a hearing assistant that could translate it to sign language. Heather would have to limit herself to only interacting with deaf people or people that can sign, so only a few people around her. She could not play with hearing kids without struggling. Then she would be destined to go to an all deaf school and then go to a job that accepts deaf people. But the possibilities are limited.

The second reason is because she ended up getting a cochlear implant six years after the documentary was produced. I found this surprising because Peter was completely closed minded about it and there was a lot of drama that him and Nita caused in their family, just to end up doing it. Now Heather goes to Georgetown University and can talk and hear like every other student in the institution. I doubt this would have happened if she remained deaf. Her mom and two younger brothers ended up getting them too, but Peter is too stubborn to do so.

Sadly, due to technology, the deaf culture is going to die out eventually. I am sure in the near future it will not even be an option to remain deaf. The world is bound to move.