HLAA Convention 2011 Special: The Rest of the Artinian Story

[Guest guest]

BobNote: The Artinian family's struggle over whether or not to provide two

deaf children with cochlear implants was documented in the 2000 film, Sound

and Fury. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/soundandfury

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NVRC News - June 17, 2011

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Keynote Address: The Rest of the Artinian Story

By Cheryl Heppner, 6/18/11

The hot topic at this convention on Thursday evening and Friday morning was

Artinian's powerful keynote address at the Opening Session. It

was l and intensely moving and it resonated with so many of us. I'd always

wanted to know " the rest of the story " after seeing a film about this family

a decade ago, and I got my wish with cherries on top.

Barbara Kelley, HLAA Deputy Executive Director, introduced Artinian.

He is the head of the largest group of upscale restaurants as President and

CEO of Morton's Restaurant Group, Inc. In the audience with him were a

large contingent of Morton employees.

The saga of how came to be the keynote speaker started with a baseball

game. Barbara's son was on a team and she got to chatting with a Morton

employee named Mike whose son also was playing. He saw brochures of the

Walk4Hearing that she'd placed on a table and got to talking of his family

experiences with hearing loss. Later he sent her contact information for

Chris.

whose son and others in his family accompanied him for the evening,

began his address by saying he's not in his element with public speaking and

doesn't do it often. He told us the thing that has resonated with him

throughout his career is that the restaurant business is all about people,

and he said he got seven of them to add to the Chicago Walk4Hearing with his

family. This, of course, drew a very hearty round of applause.

As a hearing child who grew up around deafness, and said talking

about his journey is an emotional thing at times. His son, , received a

cochlear implant at 11 months of age, back at a time when cochlear implants

were hotly debated by the Deaf community. There are generations of deaf

people in the Artinian family, and they felt betrayed or not respected when

he told them he and his wife wanted to have implanted. His story was

made famous when it was captured on film, with scenes of the visits to check

out option and the heated and painful discussions with his family, for whom

communication through American Sign Language was a long and cherished

tradition.

" Even though I'm hearing, I feel I am a product of Deaf culture, " Chris

said. He has classic values about deafness and said he does not believe

deafness is a condition that needs to be fixed. said his son loves

his deaf roots as much as cherishes them.

Deaf culture, explained, puts more value on the group than the

individual, and it was a group long before Facebook and Twitter which valued

its sense of community. Everyone stayed connected and supported each other.

He believes Deaf culture has evolved since was implanted 11 years ago.

He used to have strangers stop him or his wife and make angry remarks,

treating him as a traitor who had betrayed them. They felt he did not

accept his son's deafness and that meant he also did not accept deaf people.

Yet he was and still is proud of his history. His first language was sign

language, his friends were deaf, and when he visited his brothers in college

their friends didn't know he was hearing. He believes the values he learned

from them helped him become successful.

The film about his saga was, he thinks, a microscope of the Deaf community

at the time, when cochlear implants were considered to be the death of Deaf

culture. They were new technology that came along, made a dramatic

difference, and reshaped education for deaf children.

" It was the right choice for us, " said, " But this doesn't mean it's

for everyone. " In making the decision about whether to do the implant, he

tried to keep his focus on his right to choose and asked deaf people to keep

an open mind. The cochlear implant, he told them, was just a tool. It

required a lot of work and rehabilitation, and was still deaf.

This approach worked for and his family. He urged us to do what

helped them -- educate ourselves, keep an open mind, and stay objective. He

believes that things have changed during the past 11 years, and that in this

environment Deaf culture will continue to evolve and stay strong.

joined onstage to a great round of applause and remained while

completed his address.

's choices continue to inspire who recalled how, after receiving

his cochlear implant, listened so intently. was such a

workaholic with his strong desire to constantly take in sound that he asked

for a second cochlear implant. On 's first day of school, was

apprehensive about how he would fare in a class with hearing children. That

concern was shared with the teacher. Later she told him that she didn't

know why he was so worried, because was the first child to put a hand

up when she asked the children who would like to talk about summer

experiences. And, she said, told wonderful stories.

" I can't tell you how many birthdays asked for a cake in the shape of

a cochlear implant, " said with a laugh. However, he noted that

's cochlear implant journey hasn't always been smooth; he had two

failures of the implant in the original ear and was reimplanted.

Now 's goal is to attend college. He wants to be an airline pilot and

has pushed to let him have flying lessons. His other career choice is

to become a cochlear implant surgeon.

loves to be able to live in both worlds seamlessly. When he's tired

of something he just shuts down his cochlear implants and chills in full

deafness. Grandma and Grandpa Artinian have come around. Initially afraid

that he wouldn't accept his deafness, they now say the implant was the right

decision and are very proud of him and proud to be with him. Several other

grandchildren now have cochlear implants.

" knows he's deaf, but doesn't let it define him, " said.

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