To answer your question Jillio, yes, I have encountered such Deaf people being closed minded and extremely judgemental. I have had strangers come up to me in supermarkets where I am shopping with my children sign away that I was ashamed to my child and I should be embarassed to have him implanted. My mother's funeral last August, some Deaf people I didn't even know, expressed their "grave concerns" over my decision to implant my child. My son is now at an age where he understands all that has gone (and is going) all around him. He even looks at these individuals with distain, contempt, just because we decided to give him an assistive device. I have never once said in his presence that the CI was a miracle or a cure, but he at the age of 10 has written essays, poems about how much he loves his CI's and is glad that he has them. This being said, he has members of the Deaf community right in his own family- from grandparents, to aunts and uncles, and cousins. He has been exposed to both communites and schools and has made it clear to me that he would never want to attend a school for the Deaf. Yes, we have made it very clear to my son that he is still deaf- regardless if he has implants on, but for him- his deafness does not define him - like in the instance of my parents et al. Instead, it's just a part of who is is, along with many other wonderful qualities that he has.
