A balanced view: Different strokes for different folks

http://www.deaf-culture-online.com/parents-of-deaf-children.html

Giving Deaf Children Permission To Be Who They AreThere is one more critical aspect to making the right choice. This is allowing your children the freedom to be who they are. It doesn't matter if your child is fluent in ASL or an oralist; it doesn't matter if your child attends a deaf school or a mainstream school; it doesn't matter if your child is hard of hearing or totally deaf. The important thing is this: whatever works best for your child, your child needs to know that this is perfectly okay with you.
In an article titled Deafness: An Existential Interpretation by Stanley Krippner and Harry Easton, there was a quote so powerful that I felt compelled to include it in my book, Deaf Again. Here it is in its entirety:
"If parents are not able to accept the fact that their child is deaf and continue to deny the implications of the deafness, the resulting effects on the child are to encourage his own denial and lack of authenticity. Such a child is thus unable to accept himself and his capacity to emerge or become a unique person is blocked. He lives an existential lie and becomes unable to relate to himself and to other deaf individuals and to the world in a genuine manner."
And this, I promise, is the most effective communication method for a deaf child: a parent's assurance that, however they choose to grow up- deaf or hard of hearing, it is okay.