A Deaf couple, unable to conceived a child of their own, were excited when a Deaf newborn was available for adoption. They rushed to the hospital to bring him home but was dismayed that their Deaf child was cochlear-implanted (CI) without their knowledge. They are planning a civil lawsuit seeking punitive damages for letting their Deaf child goes through the suffering and pain of having it removed and leaving a permanent scar, requiring further skin grafts. "We are a Deaf couple, we repainted the child's room, put in a swing set in our backyard, looking forward to raising a Deaf child in our natural environment, immersed in ASL, but the hospital tries to altered our dreams." The hospital spokesman, refused to make a comment citing patients privacy policy. However, an administrator admitted that it is "standard operating procedure" to CI every Deaf infant, which is just as common as circumcision. The news anchor, being sympathetic, "I can understand why that Deaf couple is very upset." A CODA federal judge granted temporary injunction, allowing state legislators to scheduled a hearing on the issue. A Deaf Pediatric testified that the Deaf child became disoriented at night, losing his balance, even before crawling, which is critical to learning to walk. Jury selection is now underway, Deaf lawyers are able eliminate perceived audists from the courtrooms with their set of questions. If this practice is widespread, we are investigating a possible motion to change the case to a class-action status once we have documentation to that effect. We urged our Deaf advocates to check the policies of their local hospital complex to prevent this scenario from happening again. My biggest fear is that if the Deaf themselves don't adopt these unwanted Deaf children, they'll be classified as special needs and become a ward of the state, and be 
Cochlear-Implanted (CI) which will become routine before placement in a foster family. Foster family are usually only interested in their monthly maintenance fees, pretending to love them, until their on their own once they reached legal age. No wonder statistics have shown a higher suicide rate of Deaf children raised in a foster home, being deprived of their birthright. "In order to save our Deaf culture, we must save our Deaf children," is a motto we adhered to. 
Adoption Anyone?
Revised 4/13/09
This is Smokey, stay tuned for the next episode of Deaf Anthology. Good night, Deaf America!
0 comments:
Post a Comment