We hear the term ‘disruptive technology’ used in consumer terms, one very visible example being the superseding of digital cameras by quality camera-phones. Another example was Netflix moving its services online. The writer of the below piece looks at bilateral cochlear implants in the same context:
Read: Bilateral cochlear implants as a disruptive technology
Defining Disruption
“A disruptive technology is a technology that creates a new market and may eventually disrupt an existing market, replacing an earlier technology.”
Bilateral cochlear implants are effectively disrupting hearing ability in both a biological – and in a social context (as the piece below, shows).
This article shows us that deafness can become ‘hearing‘ – with devices.
Now we can say that almost every child with hearing loss should be able to hear with appropriate technology. (The exception is children without a cochlea.)
Disruption again occurs here, when:
- Children access sounds not heard before digital hearing devices were available and
- When this access to sound positively impacts their reading ability. With hearing-devices, the sound-to-letter links are heard as they read, translating to better literacy.
More Reading
- Identifying As Hard-Of-Hearing ‘With Devices’
- HSE To Fund Bilateral Cochlear Implants In Ireland
- A Sound Case For Bilateral Cochlear Implants
- How Listening And Speaking Lifts Literacy Levels
- Cochlear Implants – what you need to know
- New Windows On The World – The Business Post
- Technology Has Revolutionised Deaf Education
