The best thing about getting advice from others is that we can choose what we want to do with it. We can take it, we can ignore it, or we can put it on the shelf for later.

~"Seek out others. Educate yourself. Be patient and know that you have the best interest of your child at heart. Remember that most things evolve and change, and as parents we have the responsibility to be informed and guide our children in the best way we can."

~"Sometimes the only way to know if a decision is the right one is to make it and then see how your child does. As long as you are open and flexible enough to be willing to make a change, your child will be fine. We all like to be right, but sometimes being wrong isn't always a bad thing. In our case, the educational placement we would have chosen over the recommendations of the school district would have been the wrong one for our daughter. We agreed to a six-month placement to avoid having to fight the school district, and as it turned out, the placement they had insisted on turned out to be a very good choice for her. If we had insisted on our choice and had put all of our energy into fighting the school district, we may never have had the opportunity to see that in this instance, someone else knew better than we did about what was best for our child. Often parents know instinctively what is right for their child, but that is not always the case. It is important to be open to the input and advice of others."

~"When facing a decision, have a goal and then take each step as it comes. It can be overwhelming trying to make so many decisions for your deaf or hard of hearing child. Be prepared to change your decision if it is wrong, but don't change it every time you hit an obstacle. Make a change only when you are really sure that the choice you made initially was wrong, and that there is a better option for your child."

~"Research and learn as much as you can about the subject in question. Do this by talking to professionals, by reading literature on the subject, but most importantly, talk to other parents and to individuals in the Deaf community."

~"It has been my experience that many parents (myself included) often take professional's advice as gospel. While there are many wonderful professionals out there working in the field of deafness, there are also many who have very, very little knowledge of deafness, and they are advising parents on important issues. Make sure the professionals you deal with are knowledgeable on deafness because deafness is much, much more than the inability to hear. For the most part, an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor or Audiologist is not qualified to give you advice on how to educate your child and the social and emotional issues that you will be faced with."

~"Parents have to keep in mind that they need to be very careful not to make a decision based on what is best or easiest for them. All too often I have seen parents go for the oral method and think the child is a success because they can utter a few words. However, to others it is obvious that the child is miserable and secluded. Speech isn't everything. There are many who can be successful with the oral method, and there are many who can't. Watch, listen…talk to your child."

~"Remember that you are not alone, and that it is okay to reach out to others. Visit different school programs and join a support network to gain more information."

~"Fortunately, the decisions we make are not life threatening. Get the information available, make a decision and go for it whole-heartedly with as much energy and consistency as possible. Don't feel guilty. Trust your ability to parent."

~"Decisions must be made with an objective in mind. Ask yourself these questions before you make a decision: 1 What do you want your child to achieve? 2) What are your goals? 3) What are the needs for equal access and accommodation? 4) What would you do if your child could hear? These are all good things to consider when thinking about a question or concern."

~"I really think the key here is communication. Regardless of the method or mode, it is imperative that parents are able to communicate with their deaf or hard of hearing child. Parents who have limited communication with their child will not be able to effectively determine how the child is doing socially, emotionally, and educationally. I also feel that exposing your child to as many methods, modes, etc. as possible gives the child the opportunity to naturally lean towards what's right for them. They are not old enough to make a 'conscious' decision, but you can observe and see which way they lean. I placed my daughter in the local residential school for preschool. They used Total Communication, so she was exposed to both sign and voice. I let her show me what worked for her. She remained and is still very much oral. Today she is fluent in both Total Communication and ASL. I feel good about having let her show me."