I used to feel sorry for children who had cochlear implants. I did. When I saw them it broke my heart because I really believed that their parents just didn’t understand deafness. I judged those parents. I assumed that the parents were looking for a quick fix to something that in my opinion didn’t require fixing. I said things like, “I would never do THAT to my child.” Aaron [...]

I’ve spent my whole life among people who use English as a second language. Most are Spanish speakers who learned English as a second language; others spoke Arabic or German first, then added English. Signing came later – I was 18 when I first met people who signed, and 19 when I started signing myself. I grew up where bilingualism was not rare.  In our world, the goal was communication.  [...]