Originally Posted by jillio

That is my wish, too. Too many hearing see deaf as inability to speak more than inability to hear. Therefore, they believe that speech makes you less deaf. I guess we just have to keep explaining, and explaining, and explaining....

How many parents have the motivation to implant not just to improve sound perception, but with the main motivation being that their child will be able to speak as well as a hearing person? If speech were not the main goal, then the oral programs would not have survived all these years, and the philosophy would not have such a huge following of parents of implanted children.