I lived for 20 years in Rochester, NY, which has a very large deaf community because of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at RIT (https://www.rit.edu/ntid/) as well as the School for the Deaf, which provides education for deaf/hard of hearing children from toddlerhood through high school.

I had more than a few deaf students taking college writing and communications courses from me. I also had a deaf doctor -- one of the very best doctors I've ever had. He now heads up a health services program at U Michigan Ann Arbor catering to the needs of deaf people and their families.

The fact that he is deaf actually makes him a better doctor. He knows precisely what it's like to be treated by medical professionals who don't listen to you, even though they actually have perfectly good hearing.

Close to the time I moved to Wisconsin and he left for Michigan, I ran into him and his wife at the Public Market. She was pregnant. Kid would be about 13 now. I know he has to be a super terrific dad. He may be deaf, but he truly knows how to LISTEN.

A whole lot of hearing parents don't have a clue about that.