I suppose the argument regarding waiting until they are old enough to decide for themselves is dependent upon your view of deafness and the ways in which you address the problems of language delays in the absence of an implant, and how aggressively you manage those delays and tools. If a child is experiencing ralatively little language delay, is academically on par, and is functionally happy and well adjusted sans implant, then it is not unreasonable at all to use the "I will wait until they can decide for themselves" argument. After all, it is not my deafness. It is my child's deafness. As such, he has every right to decide how, exactly, he wishes to live his life with such.
