Many children who are labeled as "deaf" can hear to some degree. They may be hard of hearing; they may not want to hear, and they may really be deaf. However, it is rare to find a child who is really deaf.

Many, but not all deaf children can be raised as bilinguals. Deafness does add a significant barrier to bilingualism, so some parents may not be able to take the extra effort. Others may not be able to handle the additional challenge.

In these cases, the issue is now whether the child can be raised as a bilingual, but rather, whether the parents can meet this great challenge.

Still other children may already be bilingual. Those who have studied the sign language for the deaf have already studied another important "language." That would mean that any other spoken language could be considered as a third language.

Although many deaf people may have understandable, frustrating difficulties dealing with the pronunciation of a first spoken language, they clearly can learn the language itself. And, whereas the study of a second spoken language might be daunting or overwhelming, many deaf people can learn other aspects of an additional language.