Exactly right, whatdidyousay! Never judge the person whether the person is happy or miserable.
For me, you were judging me as a miserable person, I presume. I just don't like people to put Deaf people, even Hard Of Hearing down every time the hearing people want us to change to being like the hearing people. I could not fathom why hearing people won't accept us to be the way we are.
For the late deafened, they can adapted and get use to it but if they are profoundly deaf, then they can get CI on their own. As for the babies and adults who were born deaf or late deafened when they are still children, they have a right to make the decision without their parents making the decisions for them. The hearing parents and the doctors have no right to do that to the children and adult as that is the children's and adults' bodies (brains or non-threatening healthy body). The parents and the doctors should ask the children and the adults if they want to go through surgery as surgery is always a risk. If something happen like in a car accident or got hurt very badly, then that is a emergency. Having a CI for the deaf is not a big deal. It is better to use the hearing aid because you never know it will not work and you can change another aid. With CI, there is no way to take the CI devices out, if that is not going to work. The child or adult will have to go through another surgery to get the device remove and that cost the insurance lots of money for another surgery. Surgery is no good if there is non threatening on your life. It is not emergency if the hearing parents and doctors want them to have CI. That is what make me upset about that. It is none of your business to interfere with making the advertise about it.
As for being a Elder, I know what I am talking about. I can be miserable or happy no matter. I can not be happy all the time but I sure would enjoy my life here on Mother Earth. I also have trouble being tug between the white perspective and the Native perspective along with my Deaf perspective (I have three all inside of me). I was taught in the white mainstream school. If I had been hearing, I would have gone into the Mission school for Native children back when I was a child in Central Minnesota.
So don't judge us for who we are. You have to ask them (children) first, not force them to do what the white or the hearing people want for themselves (white and hearing people). Show respect that we are just different than you or any one who think that they are more normal than us. I don't believe that as normal people have flaws too. Pffft.