Peter Artinian and Chris Artinian

“Amazing, it seems like a lifetime ago…Peter got implanted at 11months old just before his 1st birthday. It was an amazing time making this important decision and going through all that was happening with the movie Sound & Fury.”

Last night at the Hyatt Convention Center in Washington D.C., Morton’s President and CEO Chris Artinian provided the Keynote Address at the national conference for the Hearing Loss Association of America. 750 attendees of the hearing loss community took the journey with Chris as he told their story of when his son Peter received the Cochlear Implant at 11 months of age.  All of the subsequent family and community controversy that surrounded he and his wife Mari’s decision is chronicled in the 1999 documentary Sound & Fury which focuses on Chris, Mari, Peter and the Artinian family. Deafness is prevalent throughout their family and they had to make a difficult decision to go forward with Peter’s Cochlear Implant surgery.

“Deaf people are very connected to one another. I think the deaf community, long before FACEBOOK and TWITTER, created a valued sense of community. This is really special. It truly shows the support they have for each other and it keeps this culture strong.”

Chris went on to speak about the inner strength of the deaf community, and what that particular culture is about. Later, he spoke about major technological advances that continue to emerge for this community, including digital phone technology and a surround sound device that works in conjunction with the Cochlear Implant.

Throughout his presentation, Chris reminded us that back when Sound & Fury was being made, there was still quite a divide between the deaf community and those who chose the route of the cochlear implant. Much of that had to do with false promises in years past when supposed new technology proved to be very faulty and misleading…that was, of course, until the Cochlear Implant emerged center stage in the mid 80′s and was able to make a major impact on the lives of young children like Peter Artinian.

“What you make of your deafness, what you make of your life choices is your decision. How you want to achieve happiness, love and success is up to you! How you choose to decide for yourself or for your children, I am a strong believer that it is absolutely your choice!!”

At the end of his keynote address, Chris brought his son Peter up to the podium to introduce him to the sound of a huge standing ovation… one that Peter would never have heard otherwise. Peter bravely addressed the large audience, ”Thank you everyone. I think we made the right decision to get the Cochlear Implant. Thank you all for having me here today.”

Father and son moments don’t get any better than this. This wasn’t lost on Chris and Peter, especially this Father’s Day weekend.  We asked our guests to tell us about their relationships and memories with their fathers on Twitter, and you can read some of their touching entries by searching the hashtag #PrimeDad.  Whether you bond with your dad at home, at Morton’s or somewhere else for this special holiday, we wish you equally meaningful and quality time together.

Roger Drake
Senior V.P. of Marketing and Communications
Morton’s The Steakhouse

For more information and to follow the 4-day HLAA National Conference, please go to Twitter #HLAA2011.