You said that Deaf parents might feel inadequate if they have a child who is hearing rather than Deaf. This is not the case. Having a hearing child is, in many ways, no different than having a child with different needs. The child can and is still accepted into the Deaf Community, and is known as a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). However, a Deaf child is more like his or her parents, and has a bond that makes his or her relationship with the parents just that much closer because of their ability to relate.

And those in the Deaf Community don’t “withdraw” from the rest of society just because they have their own subculture, rather they interact with both, feeling more a part of the Deaf Community because of their ability to relate to one another. They are very tight-knit, in most cases.

I think that a bill of this magnitude wouldn’t be so controversial if it weren’t for the fact that many parents who are hearing might choose to exclude a potentially deaf child, as they would any other with perceived disabilities. Thank God that these scientific breakthroughs haven’t always been available. Otherwise, our world would be filled with a lot fewer people who help make this world a much better place… like me.