Instead of ASL, you might want to investigate cued speech. Cued speech lets the hands and postition of the fingers around the face clarify which of the identical-looking sounds was actually made. It is phonetic, which means that should Wonder Boy’s hearing deteriorate later, he can use cued speech to easily learn foreign languages as well. Best of all, cued speech is so easy to learn that you can learn it in one intensive weekend, and become fluent in it in 6 months.

Deaf kids who grow up with cueing have normal English language skills and many easily learn foreign languages. The total vocabulary of the language is available to them, not the limited number of words available in sign.

You might want to check out some chapters of the Hearing Loss Association of America, and of Hands and Voices, a group for people who are parents of kids with hearing loss. They can help you with various issues you will encounter later.

And don’t think that music education is out of Wonder Boy’s reach, either. I’ve been playing various sizes of clarinets (the bigger, the better!) for 40 years now. Some hearing impaired kids can sing, but my folks listened to me sing along to the player piano and strongly suggested that I take up the clarinet!