than many hearing parents are able to provide at this point in their journey. Additionally, these preschools provide deaf and hard of hearing children with the much needed chance to start building peer relationships with others who share their language. Some states in the U.S., such as Tennessee, have also established Deaf Mentorship programs to guide families with new deaf and hard of hearing children through the first year of life with their baby. By connecting hearing parents with a Deaf role model, these programs allow parents to glimpse the wonderful adults their child can become, help parents to get plugged into the Deaf community, and empower parents locate and access the other available resources around them (such as the other resources mentioned in this section). Cochlear implants and exposure Many doctors recommend families with babies diagnosed with hearing loss see an audiologist. To some, an audiologist referral is an attempt to solve a problem of hearing loss. To others, it is seen as an act of denying the baby a chance to explore and become a part of the Deaf community. Since their introduction, there has been heated debate over research on cochlear implants. This surgery is a common recommendation for children born deaf, in order to attempt to get the child to hear, understand, and use spoken language rather than or sometimes in addition to sign language. The debate mostly centers around the view that deafness is a problem that needs to be fixed. Many proud members of the Deaf community view the implantation as trying to fix someone who is already whole, and may find this insulting and even unethical. Others view it as a very real possibility to open doors and give children the opportunity to function with more accessibility in a hearing society. In 2018, a systematic review of all the literature on cochlear implants and language acquisition outcomes was published which concluded that it is unlikely for most deaf children to catch up to their hearing peers in spoken language acquisition through the use of cochlear implants. However, language outcomes were better the earlier the child was given access to language (in this case spoken language through implants). One solution that has been proposed to this is to provide exposure to sign language for all deaf children starting as close to birth as possible for the parents regardless of whether they plan to pursue