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Technologies Advances and Sign Languages Disadvantages

Sage E. Soetisna

Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School

November 21, 2017 785288

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Table of Contents

Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3

Technologies Advances and Sign Languages Disadvantages ............................................. 4

History.............................................................................................................................. 4-5

Medical Symptoms and Causes ................................................................................... 5-6

Technological Advances ............................................................................................. 6

Sign Languages Disadvantage.........................................................................6-7

References ........................................................................................................................... 8
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Abstract

The information that you find in this paper includes the full history of Sign Language.

There were many contributors to the whole language but still the original creator is still

unknown. There were also many different places worldwide where the ideas of Sign Language

were thought of and processed. In this section, there are lists of people and information that can

help gain a better sense of origin. Also, there is much said about the medical symptoms and

causes to hearing loss or deafness. The three main types that are discussed: Sensorineural,

Conductive and Mixed. Then we moved into the technological advances in curing deafness, in

this there was discussion about the hearing aid both negative and positive. As well as the

cochlear implant, also both negative and positive were discussed. Overall, technology is

impressive but it may not be as impressive as the intricate language.

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Technologies Advances and Sign Languages Disadvantages

Technology has gone far in these past decades and will continue to grow. Technology has

enhanced human survival by helping doctors make revolutionary breakthroughs in medical

research, but can technology be taken too far? Will technology eventually replace Sign Language

or any Language for that matter? These questions are what Ill be trying to solve completely or

just gain a deeper understanding of. The information found in this paper includes the history of

Sign Language. Where it originated and who was the creator? Then the medical side of Deafness.

I want to know the causes and the symptoms as well as the diseases that are linked to causing

deafness. Finally, the technological advances in curing deafness and possibly the full and

complete answer of my thesis.

History

People started to realize that education didnt always require hearing as early as the

1500s. the first person to discover this was an Italian mathematician and physician named

Geronimo Cardano. After he found this he used written words to educate his deaf son while in

Spain Pedro Ponce de Leon, a Spanish monk used his own methods (that are unknown to this

day) to educate deaf children in Spain. Then came Juan Pablo de Bonet who studied Leons

methods to inspire his own. He used writing, reading and speechreading as well as his manual

alphabet. His manual alphabet was the first recognized in Deaf History but it wasnt until around

1750 that organized deaf education existed.

The first association for deaf people was founded by Abbe de LEpee, a French Catholic

Priest, in Paris. She established the first public free deaf school in 1771, the school (in English) is

known as the National Institute for Deaf-Mutes. Students from across France signed at home and

brought their sign to school to show LEpee so he could expand his knowledge and teach other
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students. The signs LEpee used at the school is now known as Old French Sign Language. In

further years LEpee established twenty-one schools and is known in history as the Father of

Deaf but he did not invent Sign Language altogether. The answer to that question is still

unknown but the first person to use basic Sign Language was probably early man, the first to use

more complex Sign Language were deaf people, Abbe Charles Michel de LEpee invented

French Sign Language and Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet invented American

Sign Language(ASL).

Medical Symptoms and Causes

Hearing loss is losing the ability to hear sound in one or both ears. There are three types of

hearing loss: sensorineural, conductive and mixed. Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when there

is damage to the inner ear/cochlea or the hearing nerve in the brain. Aging, excessive exposure to

loud noise, or hereditary factors are all causes of this type of hearing loss. Conductive hearing

loss occurs when sound is not conducted through the ear canal, ear drum or middle ear. The

causes of this type would include infections in the ear canal/drum, wax build up, and foreign

objects. Mixed hearing loss is a combination of both sensorineural and conductive issues

meaning both the middle ear and inner ear are affected.

Some symptoms of hear loss in general are difficulty hearing in noisy areas, less trouble

hearing mens voices rather than womens, voices are mumbled or slurred, and even feeling

dizzy/ off-balanced can all be signs that you may be losing your hearing. There are also diseases

that are linked to cause deafness or hearing loss such as Meningitis, Chicken Pox, Influenza etc.

the most known however is Meningitis.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the protective lining around the brain and spinal cord

which is caused by bacteria or virus. It is most common in children, teens and young adults or
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people who have long term health problems/ weakened immune system. Symptoms are stiff and

painful neck, fever, headache, vomiting, trouble staying awake and seizures. According to the

National Meningitis Association approximately 600-1000 people contract meningococcal

disease each year of those people 10-15% die and Among the survivors 1 in 5 will live with

permanent diseases. Many people suffer from Meningitis for example Helen Keller who was

supposedly the first deaf-blind person lost her sight and hearing to the disease and a little closer

to home my uncles brother also lost his hearing at the age of two due to Meningitis.

Technological Advances. 360 million people worldwide have lost or lack the ability to

hear. Technological advance has indeed come along way such as hearing aids but they are still

not perfect for example hearing aids dont translate certain frequencies as well as regular

hearing (CNBC, 2017). Therefore, many people have been waiting a long time for something

new since the last major innovation in hearing technology occurred in 1985 (CNBC, 2017).

The ear is a pretty simple system but if one part of the system is disrupted the person might lose

all or some hearing. While those who lose hearing later in life can be fitted to hearing aids,

children born with hereditary hearing loss can get cochlear implants surgically placed in their ear.

Cochlear implants were approved by the FDA in 1985 although the invention has improved

millions of lives they are also not perfect. According to CNBC Often, people using them cant

hear as many sounds as people with normal hearing, resulting in big gaps of frequencies used in

speech or music. Also, there are health risks associated with the implants: injury to the facial

nerve, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, infection tinnitus and attacks of dizziness or vertigo. Both of

these advances have improved many lives but scientists are still perfecting their creations.

Sign Languages Disadvantage. Sign Language is a very well thoughtout and complex way of

communication but technology can and will become so advanced that no one will ever need to do
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it again. We have already invented a Text to Speech program where you type what you want to

say and it says what you have typed aloud so others can hear. There is also regular texting where

you just send messages to another person through cell phones. These could potentially take over

the language in future generations since technology is all the rage in the decade. Realistically,

technology will not take over language mostly because speech would no longer be personal.

Everyone would be staring at a phone all day and there would be no real connection to another

person. Also not everyone owns a phone so they would have no way to communicate with

technology. In short, as a society we need communication with a personal connection attached to

it and no text to speech or form of texting can satisfy that need.

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Reference

Hearing Loss [Web Page]. (n.d.). Retrieved

from https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003044.htm

Department of Health & Human Services. (2017). Deafness- a range of causes. Retrieved

from https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/deafness-a-range-of-

causes

History of Sign Language-Deaf History [Web Page]. (n.d.). Retrieved

from https://www.startasl.com/history-of-sign-language_html

National Meningitis Association [Web Page]. (2017). Retrieved from

http://www.nmaus.org/disease-prevention-information/statistics-and-disease-facts/

HealthLinkBC [Web Page]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-

topics/aa34518

U.S. Food & Drug Administration. (2014). Benefits and Risks of Cochlear Implants. Retrieved

from

https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/Co

chlearImplants/ucm062843.htm

CNBC. (2017). New Technology the can help the 360 million people with hearing loss.

Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/18/technology-that-can-help-millions-with-

hearing-loss.html
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