"True Life" will be there when Chris gets a cochlear implant.The 10-year-old program "True Life" on MTV will chronicle the life of Chris, 16, who is deaf, as he gets a cochlear implant. The episode airs July 20.
The LA Times writes: "He undergoes surgery to have a cochlear implant inserted into his head, allowing him to hear for the first time in his life. Moments after the implant is turned on, he walks through a parking lot and revels in the symphony of unfamiliar sounds. 'I can hear the wind,' he signs. 'And I can hear cars going by . . . and people walking. . . . And talking everywhere. I can hear it. It's cool.' It's a quiet triumph, an extraordinary moment in the life of an ordinary (read: unfamous) person."
The LA Times questions why the show has remained popular given some of the shows of dubious quality that MTV sometimes airs. Maybe it's because it lives up to its name. I have heard positive things about an episode in 2007, which featured three teens on the autism spectrum.
"True Life: I'm Autistic" featured Elijah Wapner, 16, who is on the autism spectrum. His mother, author and advocate Valerie Paradiz, wrote about his experience on "True Life" on her blog. She also mentions the positive review of the show from the NY Times, which said the show maintains “both an intimacy with and a distance from its subject.”
