[gigster]

Talks too well to be born deaf.
I’m just saying.

[MtnMan101]

Yea, so was the baby, you know what I’m saying?

Your a ignorant moron...you know what I’m saying?

[JimmyMc]

She talks well, but I knew a young couple who went to the Maryland school for the deaf. Not all people are totally deaf, just like all people blind are not totally blind.
They signed to each other, but could also carry on a pretty good conversation. I have no idea how they are thought to do it. I think it is something that a device apply to the larynx that allows them to hear sound in their inner ear.

[Tax Government]

Esteem requires the cochlea to be functional; it works by increasing the movement of inner-ear bones. Probably this woman had experienced a serious deficit, but not complete loss. I sat in on one of their meetings and about 1/2 way through, the presenter revealed that she herself was a user of the device. It’s pretty remarkable.

The Esteem team drew on the experience (and people themselves, I think) involved in pacemaker design. The actual device can be swapped out, if necessary, leaving the surgically implanted sensor and actuator in place. So, if in a few years you need a battery replacement, you can get a new Esteem device in the process, together with whatever software upgrades have happened in the meantime. Lifetime of the battery is a few years; I don’t know exactly. That number is expected to grow. (end of memory dump) (not a user or a medical professional, just an interested person)

[MinorityRepublican]

Talks too well to be born deaf.

You are correct. I say that as a profoundly Deaf person myself.

For further clarification, click on this same subject, different thread here.