Around 96% of children with hearing loss are born to parents with intact hearing, who may initially know little about deafness or sign language. Therefore, such parents will need information and support in making decision about the medical, linguistic, and educational management of their child. Some of these decisions are time sensitive and irreversible and come at a moment of emotional  turmoil and vulnerability (when some parents grieve the toss of a normally hearing child). Clinical research indicates that a deaf child’s poor communication skills can be made worse by increased level of parental depression.

The importance of reliable and up-to-date support for parents decision is critical to the overall well-being of their child. In raising and educating a child, parents are often offered an exclusive choice between an oral environment (including assistive technology, speech reading, and voicing) and a signing environment.