The American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACI), To Host The Premiere Of ‘The Listening Project’.

Next month, the American Cochlear Implant (ACI) Alliance will host the premiere of The Listening Project, a documentary co-created by audiologist Jane Madell and Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky, the ACI Alliance announced. The film profiles 15 young adults who were born deaf but can now hear, thanks to cutting-edge technologies, including cochlear implants.

The ACI Alliance is a not-for-profit membership organization created with the purpose of eliminating barriers to cochlear implantation by sponsoring research, driving heightened awareness, and advocating for improved access to cochlear implants for patients of all ages.

“’The Listening Project’ shows that nothing is impossible for deaf kids,” Madell said. “Thanks to years of determination and hard work—and with an assist from some innovative technology—these young adults have built lives and careers the world may not have thought were possible for them.”

The film’s stars are 15 deaf 20 and 30-somethings who rely on groundbreaking medical devices to hear. Most received cochlear implants, electronic hearing devices that bypass a wearer’s ears and send auditory signals directly to the brain.

Some received their devices as young children, while others did not get them until they were teenagers. All underwent years of therapy with Madell in order to acclimate their brain to hearing and learning to speak. They’ve gone on to build successful careers as doctors, business analysts, neuroscientists, musicians, and audiologists, among other pursuits. Most speak like they’ve never had a hearing loss, according to ACI Alliance.

“The young people in ‘The Listening Project’ offer an example that all of us can aspire to, both those with hearing loss and those without,” said Donna Sorkin, executive director of the ACI Alliance. “The future for deaf children today is even brighter, as cochlear implant technology has improved rapidly since the stars of the film were kids.”

The trailer for The Listening Project can be found here:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww3fVyFRJk4

The film will premiere Friday, March 9th at 5 pm, at the ACI Alliance’s “CI2018 Emerging Issues in Cochlear Implantation Conference” at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC.

The American Cochlear Implant (ACI) Alliance sponsors an annual Clinical Research conference that provides opportunities for physicians, audiologists, speech pathologists, educators, and other clinicians as well as scientists and advocates, to share current information on cochlear implants (CI), the Alliance announced. CI2018 DC, “Emerging Issues in Cochlear Implantation,” will focus on CI technology advances, parent role in child outcomes, candidacy, provision issues, and quality of life associated with CI. The conference will begin on Thursday March 8th, 2018.

Congressman David B McKinley will open the conference. Rep McKinley is co-chair of the Congressional Hearing Health Caucus. He is the only Member of Congress with a cochlear implant and is an “active and effective advocate” for hearing healthcare issues.

ACI Alliance is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving access to cochlear implantation through research, advocacy, and awareness.

Source: ACI Alliance
Image credit: ACI Alliance