Let me see, from the age of 13 months to 4 my daughter received a maximum of 3 hours of therapy a week individually and 2 hours a week in a group setting. Over the course of the year achieving the maximum weekly amount was the exception and not the rule. In both individual and group settings the "therapy" was play based. For instantance her private thrapist would often sit and play with my daughter's Barbies and "teach" language to her in that setting or play games. From age 4 to about 2nd grade it was 1 hour a week in school during music. From 3rd grade to 8th grade, 1 hour a week after school but not in the summers. From 9th grade until 11th grade 1 hour a week once every 2-3 weeks during the school year. She stopped after 11th grade.
Yes, that is such "evidence" of spending her childhood in a "therapy room" isn't it? Amazing that she found time for dance, softball, basketball, skiing, field hockey, yearbook and countless other things with her friends.
Yes, your friends are right about the rehab needed post-ci if you are to do it right but that therapy, especially at a young age is play based.
Yes, you would have to learn a lot of languages to converse orally with those 99% who speak orally in the US of A, so she will just have to settle for the 97% who speak English as opposed to the less then 1% who communicate primarily through a manual language.
If you are happy with the choices you made for your child then you should be so, we are extremely happy with the choices we made for our daughter and as an adult she has told us how thankful she is for the choices we made for her. However, the choices we made were for our child only, not for anyone else's and it is disturbing that you seem to feel the constant need to put down the choices and methods that others have made for their children.
Still waiting.....
Rick