I begin every streaming interview with a question, “Hi, can you hear me?” Never has an affirmative answer to such a mundane question been so profound as it was with this week’s guest, Caroline Schwabe. Caroline had progressive hearing loss and eventually could no longer speak on the phone even with hearing aids. Almost by accident, she was referred to a Cochlear implant program in Canada during a routine hearing test. January 28, 2018, was her last deaf day. She has been on a three-year journey of rediscovery after receiving a Cochlear implant.
Along with her husband, Andreas, Caroline co-hosts a podcast called My Beautify Cyborg about her Cochlear implant journey. It describes the hopes and fears leading up to surgery and the joy and rediscovery after turning on the implant. Caroline’s gratitude and joy is infectious and comes through in each episode.
Caroline and Andreas had experienced major disappointments and hurts from the Church. At the same time, she was going through the implant process, both she and her husband were slowly leaving the Church. If not a full-blown deconstruction, they have been asking very hard questions and wrestling with the answers. This episode is unique in that there are two parallel stories: one of regaining hearing and one of questioning one’s faith.
Podcasts have played an outsized role in Caroline’s rediscovery of hearing and language recognition, including this one.
Links
My Beautiful Cyborg
https://mybeautifulcyborg.com/
Links for Cochlear implant information
https://mybeautifulcyborg.com/links/
Interact
Deconversion
https://gracefulatheist.com/2017/12/03/deconversion-how-to/?gaid=gap73
Secular Grace
https://gracefulatheist.com/2016/10/21/secular-grace/?gaid=gap73
Attribution
"Waves" track written and produced by Makaih Beats
https://makaihbeats.net/

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