No, I'm not talking about my own love life. I'm referring to what a young deaf girl asked her parents. In her disability column, Jennifer Amy Rose writes that her deaf daughter asked her parents, "do you think anyone will love me - I mean - with my hearing aids?" Even today with much acceptance of hearing loss and even pride in their hearing aids, deaf kids can still struggle with issues of self.

Related on About.com: Growing Up Deaf - Rude Awakening

Today's hot news is that the cochlear implant manufacturer Advanced Bionics has been bought by a hearing aid manufacturer, Sonova. Abledbody.com notes that Sonova bought Advanced Bionics because the market is estimated to be as much as $800 million. I'm not surprised a hearing aid manufacturer is buying a cochlear implant manufacturer. As cochlear implants grow in popularity and people with less severe hearing losses are able to get them, it is inevitable that cochlear implants will take market share from hearing aids.

Because of her performance tonight on Family Guy Presents Seth & Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show, Marlee Matlin was #1 on Google Trends as of 11 pm EST. I captured a screenshot to share with About.com readers to mark this "historic" moment - a deaf actress, Marlee Matlin, is #1 on Google Trends.

Click for Larger Screenshot

This much publicity for Marlee Matlin could help the deaf and hard of hearing community in the effort to get HR 3101 passed in Congress, because she is now the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) spokesperson for accessible broadband services and Internet media.

Before you read what "Shocked Interpreter" has to say on the forum, don't assume that this is always the case for deaf students. However, "Shocked Interpreter" claims that deaf students she tutors have much difficulty in reading, writing, and comprehension. One student in particular is "illiterate" despite having made it all the way to college. That student can not write a sentence, and did not even know that many words have the same meaning.

Reply to Shocked Interpreter on the forum.