MISSION STATEMENT
Listen-up Listserve membership is restricted to parents of deaf/hard of hearing children only and was created to support their informational and emotional needs . These children have varied degrees of hearing loss. They are oral, use various forms of sign language, cue, have cochlear implants, wear hearing aids, use assistive listening devices. They are mainstreamed, educated in self-contained classrooms and attending schools for the deaf. Their commonality is that they all must be educated and as parents we must ensure that the educational system works for them and that society gives them a chance to succeed.

The main purpose of this group is to advocate for the rights
of our children and to make life as good for them as it can
possibly be for a child with a hearing loss. We share
problems, strategies, successes and failures. We provide
moral support, advice and share methodologies. The key to
the success of this group is that we respect each parent's
decision to educate their hearing impaired child in the
fashion that they have chosen. We do not debate strategies,
though we may share our experiences with different
approaches. Some of us are encountering major hurdles in
educating our children in mainstreamed settings. Others
are quite lucky to be working within very progressive
school systems willing to accomodate their children's needs.
Either way, we all share the emotional burden of raising
children who are different because they are "hearing
impaired."

This is a group of parents united. All of the parents are
equal members and each one has value in their own right.