I think it does still make sense to learn a second language.
I think that eventhough there's a lot of research being done currently, so new knowledge about children and cochlear implants is coming out all the time...
...I think that what we have so far has demonstrated very clearly that even if they are using a cochlear implant, and it works, because we don't always know that it will work, early exposure to sign language doesn't hinder them from learning a spoken language.
And I think that there are many situations where even children who have a succesful CI, so they are able to use the implant to hear, there's lots of time when they just can't use the implant.
The families that we've worked with, their children take the CI off before they go to bed, they take it off when they do certain sports activities...
...they take it off when they're in the bath, they take if off when they feel tired and don't want all of this constant simulation.
So at those times, when they take it off, they're deaf. It's wonderful to be able to then switch to a different language, to have that other language.
So that's a practical reason to learn sign language, even if you have a working CI.
There's also the question of whether the CI will work as well as you hope, that's not a guarantee yet.
So it's always nice that if it doesn't work as well as you hope, that your child has another language it's been exposed to
And then bilingualism in general is a very positive advantage to have for a child growing up.
To be able to grow up with two languages, and to have access to both of those languages, is in itself a very desirable thing...
...and I think that it's something that a lot of hearing parents want for their children.
I don't think that having a CI should preclude those children from also being able to have the benefits and the advantages of having two languages rather than just one.