Introduction
There is research to show that early language exposure is important to any child's language development. This is easy enough when a hearing child is born to a hearing family and they are exposed to language and sounds around them from birth. However when a deaf child is born to hearing parents the situation is different, as often the parents don't know Sign Language. More and more evidence is showing that Sign Language is the natural and preferred language of those who are deaf. So why don't parents learn and use Sign Language with their deaf children? The argument is complex and there are many reasons. One option is for the child to receive a cochlear implant which is seen as "cure" to deafness, which is not true. With the varying degrees of success with cochlear implants, relying solely on a cochlear implant and not exposing a child to sign language can have negative effects on family relationships and the education success of deaf children. In these blog posts I will discuss with supporting evidence why all deaf children should be encouraged to learn Sign Language.
Early access to language
Research shows that the sooner a child is exposed to language and starts to learn a language, the better the child's communication skills will become. Even the early months are important.
Hearing children born to hearing parents are exposed to language from birth as they are surrounded by verbal language. However 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents and the situation is different, as not being able to hear means they are unable to access the spoken language around then. Children are screened at birth to assess if they are hearing or not. This means that parents who have a deaf child should have access to information about communication options so they can start their child's language development.
Unfortunately the reality is is often parents are told by doctors that they need to look into
having a cochlear implant, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
However it seems parents are not encouraged to use Sign Language with the child who is deaf. And in this 'success story' from The Hearing House, "spent the first nineteen months of her life unable to hear and unable to develop language." Children can learn to sign before they can talk (this applies to deaf and hearing children) thus saying that Ali was unable to develop language is false. If her parents has been informed about using Sign Language with Ali then she would learn Sign Language which is in fact the third official language of New Zealand. Thus, Ali missed out on nineteen months of language development.
Francois Grosjean states one of the reasons that deaf children need to learn Sign Language is because
"It is crucial for Deaf children to see a visual, 100 percent accessible, natural signed language, that they are able to completely comprehend the information as they grow up."
