Beep
Signal received, but what does it mean??
“Beep” is a sound hearing people encounter every day. Audiologists use it to measure audio reception in their clients. But…what does it mean? What does one do with it?? How should we respond??
On my phone, beep-beep means I have a text message. If you’re waiting to ride somewhere with a friend, beep-beep might be the car in your driveway announcing their arrival — let’s go!! Or, it could be the impatient sound of someone who doesn’t want to be late.
A steady beep-beep-beep in a parking area, store, or warehouse likely means someone’s driving backwards in a van or forklift and giving you fair warning to stand clear because they can’t see you. Ignoring the beep could be hazardous to knees or toes… or could generate a harsher sounding “BEEP!!”
Another steady beep-beep-beep could be the monitoring equipment found in a hospital room. What would otherwise be annoying gives a sense of calm and peace…the machine’s beeping…the heart’s beating…hope continues… Then there’s the awful beeeeeeeep… no signal, no heartbeat, no life.
When an infant gets a piece of equipment placed into/on/behind his ear, then hears “beep”… what is that? At the least, and at the most, it’s stimulus. It’s a new experience, and the little guy will respond with joy or pain. Then someone will break out their cell phone, record the event, and post it on social media with the caption “Baby Hears!!”
But really, this baby has no clue whether to look at a cell phone, grab his coat, move out of the way, or feel comfort or sadness. Seeing his family smiling because he responded to a beep, that’s clearly an occasion for cheering, so he cheers. Just like he did when the spoonful of pudding went into his mouth at lunch without being sprayed all over mommy… just like he did when he touched the fuzzy family dog… just like he’ll do when a thousand more firsts are experienced and celebrated.
The job’s not done. No more than his ability to move his legs equates to his ability to walk upright. Nobody in their right mind would post a video of a kicking infant with the caption “Baby Walks!!” If they did, it certainly wouldn’t get the likes and shares that we see on the “Baby Hears!!” videos – unless for comedy or satire. The signals he gets, whether beeps or digitized words, still need explanations and experiences before they have meaning. “Chirp” – is that a bird or a fire alarm begging for new batteries? He can’t know until he is taught. Then, as some have pointed out, when a Deaf child removes his assistive technology, he’s still deaf (that goes for adults too).
The advantage that adults have is that we know what “beep” means in different contexts. We’ve had years of experience to gain that knowledge somehow, either as hearing, late-deafened, or by asking hearing friends: “beep – means what?” We’ve learned to associate the signal and the environment with a specific meaning. Babies, by definition, are just getting started — it’ll take a while.
Thankfully, young minds are specially designed to take in this information, as long as it’s accessible to them. This is why we encourage visual connections first for deaf & hard-of-hearing children, because the key is not the ability to perceive a signal, but to understand its meaning and what to do with it.