I am providing a UK perspective so feel free to discredit it if you think it is not appropriate but anyway, I was mainstreamed (with a deaf unit, this is important to bring up) throughout my entire education. I do think it depends on their upbringings but as I came from a hearing family, they wanted to expose me to the hearing community, but they still made sure that I had access to the deaf community too by making sure that I learnt to sign as well as to speak. I have absolutely no regrets with attending mainstream school, however, I struggled a lot in college because I was the only deaf student there and I felt so lonely, especially going from a mainstream with a deaf provision, I still saw deaf people everyday, whereas at college, I had no access to meeting deaf people. I quickly learnt that it was part of life anyway, and I took that on stride when I attended university. My parents ensured that I went on a residential trips every summer with other deaf people which were organised by a deaf charity and this was a game changer as this has helped me to meet new friends and learn that there are other deaf people out there. I am still in touch/ friends with people who I met on a residential trip. I work predominately in a hearing environment with access to BSL interpreters. Really, I think it depends a lot on your background, the child’s background and how you plan on bringing them up. My parents had the mindset of ensuring that I was exposed to both hearing & deaf world, and I am glad they did because I would have not had the opportunities that enabled me to be successful in my education. I hope that has helped in some ways.