Comments on "W(h)ither the Deaf Community?"

From the evidence Johnston has presented, it is clear that the number of children being born deaf in Australia has fallen off and that this decline is likely to continue as a result of the technological and social factors he outlines. It also seems that this reduction in numbers is reflected in other countries for which data are available. It is not so clear whether this drop will be as rapid as Johnston fears and whether it will have the effects he predicts on the lives of Deaf people and on the viability of a lively community of users of sign languages—in the Australian case, Auslan.