WEBVTT

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I think it does still make sense to learn a second language.

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I think that eventhough there's a lot of research being done currently, so new knowledge about children and cochlear implants is coming out all the time...

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...I think that what we have so far has demonstrated very clearly that even if they are using a cochlear implant, and it works, because we don't always know that it will work, early exposure to sign language doesn't hinder them from learning a spoken language.

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And I think that there are many situations where even children who have a succesful CI, so they are able to use the implant to hear, there's lots of time when they just can't use the implant.

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The families that we've worked with, their children take the CI off before they go to bed, they take it off when they do certain sports activities...

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...they take it off when they're in the bath, they take if off when they feel tired and don't want all of this constant simulation.

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So at those times, when they take it off, they're deaf. It's wonderful to be able to then switch to a different language, to have that other language.

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So that's a practical reason to learn sign language, even if you have a working CI. 

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There's also the question of whether the CI will work as well as you hope, that's not a guarantee yet.

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So it's always nice that if it doesn't work as well as you hope, that your child has another language it's been exposed to

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And then bilingualism in general is a very positive advantage to have for a child growing up.

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To be able to grow up with two languages, and to have access to both of those languages, is in itself a very desirable thing...

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...and I think that it's something that a lot of hearing parents want for their children.

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I don't think that having a CI should preclude those children from also being able to have the benefits and the advantages of having two languages rather than just one.