The Signal, new sci-fiction series have landed on Netflix, and the storyline has a deaf child using cochlear implants, Charlie.
I have seen for a long time, big budget, Hollywood movies kept pushing narrative of cochlear implants( CI) or hearing aids users as those, primarily using sign language to communicate. Since I don’t know sign language, I could never see myself being represented on the silver screen. Such misconceptions do not help vast majority of people who are deaf or hard of hearing and function using speech and listening as well as captioning to communicate and receive information. We are diverse community with different ways of how we communicate and interact with others.
Recently, the Sound of Metal, was promising as it did show true representation of what it is like to become deafened, like myself, but unfortunately depicted negative storyline on using cochlear implant. You can read more in my review https://seehearinclusion.com/2021/04/24/beyond-the-obvious-what-sound-of-metal-did-not-tell-you/
The Signal is different. The deaf girl character, Charlie, played by actor Yuna Bennett, presents more realistic representation of majority of those who are hard of hearing or deaf and use hearing technology. Charlie takes her processors off when going sleep and have batteries recharged over night. She knows sign language ( probably Sign Supported German) but is using it ONLY when CI processors are off such as when waking up or choosing to ignore others or simply when the environment is too loud.
She is shown lipreading, listening and talking when the CI’s are switched on and we can see few other cool bits in the movie such her dad flashing lights on and off to get her attention 
Most importantly, her character is portraying positive depiction of using cochlear implants to hear and interact with others.
The character of the deaf child is crafted with great skill and knowledge, I don’t know if Yuna uses CI in her real life but it does not matter to me at this point. It is really a pleasure to watch her play cochlear implant user, as I finally saw my own representation on screen as a cochlear implant user. I finally saw more realistic representation of those who are hard of hearing or deaf and use hearing technology.
The production team, script writers, actors and consultants deserve a praise for bringing much needed diversity on screen. The Signal is not only entertaining and thrilling, but also educational for a viewer and empowering for those who, like me, finally see their representation on screen.
The Signal is worth watching!
SeeHearInclusion 