The Importance Of Speech Development In Deaf Children

A deaf child born to deaf parents adapt language normally, because the parents know how to relate to their child. However, a deaf child born to hearing parents, who have no prior exposure to the deaf culture, struggle to learn how to communicate with their child. The absence of communication will interfere with a child’s development (Easterbrooks & Baker 2002). Hearing parents do try their best, but there are things a deaf child needs. The knowledge of visual and spatial relationships is a skill most hearing parents do not understand, however their child will need that understanding (Easterbrooks & Baker 2002).

It is a hard and laborious method and in the past often had extreme measures, that were border line abusive, put in place to try and ensure success. Manaulism is when a deaf person uses sign language as their primary from of communication. Learning to communicate using sign language is much more easier on a deaf or hard of hearing person. Although the majority of Deaf culture views oralism as a form of abuse and an attempt to “fix” their disability, instead of embracing their differences and culture, many deaf families view oralism as a way to interact with the “normal” society of the hearing world and embrace the idea of allowing their profoundly deaf children to “hear” and talk to hearing people through a spoken language. When people hear the word “deaf” many times they think of their grandparents or other elders who have lost their ability to hear due to old age.

Although American Sign Language (“ASL”) has been recognized as a true language since the 1960’s, the number of deaf children enrolled in schools with signing programs has been rapidly declining (Bollag, 2006). Instead, they have been increasingly educated through the oralism alongside their hearing peers in a ‘mainstream’ environment. The oral approach stresses that deaf children can – and should – learn to lip-read and speak, possibly with the assistance of technology like hearing aids or cochlear implants in order to maximize their hearing ability. At the same time, this method warns against (and in many cases, prohibits) the use of ASL, the native and natural language of the deaf. This is based on the theory that the ease of communication afforded through ASL will prevent children from trying hard enough to become successful oral adults (Lynas, 2005).

The struggle deaf people face ASL is not something a lot of people learn to do. Many schools do not offer the students the opportunity to take ASL as a language. It is believable to understand, that schools may not understand how important it may be to offer ASL as a class. The history, and information that can be given to students about the deaf culture is important. After being introduced to Land of the deaf by Nicholas Philibert, See what I mean: differences between deaf and hearing people by Thomas K. Holcomb and Anna Mindess, and Deaf Mute Howls by Albert Ballin, it was clear that it isn’t easy for deaf people to learn how to speak to one another.

In America, English exists as the standard language. For that reason, it is understood that children will learn this as their primary language. However, according to the “National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders” website, “about two to three children per 1,000 are born deaf or hard of hearing”(Quick Statistics [NIDCD Health Information]) . Moreover, an article by Karen Kalivoda points out that “depending on the age of onset and the severity of the hearing loss, an individual's spoken language development may be radically affected”. Babies learn to speak by parroting the sounds around them; however, a deaf child does not hear these noises and, therefore, the child does not “develop their language” skills (Kalivoda).

Student who are hard of hearing many be only to hear specific frequencies or sounds within a certain volume range. They will most likely have speech; however, their speech could be impaired due to their inability to hear their own voices clearly. While those students who are deaf may have little or no speech depending on the severity of their hearing loss, and they are more likely to use American Sign Language than those students who are hard-of-hearing (“Deaf or Hard of Hearing,” 2004). Hearing loss can affect a child dramatically in their early development. It is important to be aware and cautious of noticing signs towards possible hearing loss, because language and communication skills deve... ... middle of paper ... ...ded.

Infants are unable to say meaningful words in the first 10 to 13 months of their lives, however this does not mean they are doing nothing these months. Infants are using this time to listen to the speech that is going on around them, absorbing these words and sounds for use at a later point in their development. According to research infants are able to distinguish between phonemes, or the building blocks of words. These are sounds like b, p, and t. Infants also display evidence that they understand word segmentation, and understand a sentence is not one long word, but a string of several words put together. They are also sensitive to the intonation of language as well.

Deaf and hard of hearing children who lack phonological awareness struggle reading because reading requires children to be able to map sound to the letters that they read (Nielsen and Stahlman, 2002). Even though some deaf children can use their visual memory of words to read, they still need to improve their phonological awareness to develop their reading proficiency (Miller and Clark, 2011). In general, phonological awareness skills are important, but it cannot... ... middle of paper ... ...m Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Paul, P. & Whitelaw, G. (2011). Hearing and deafness: An introduction for health and educational professionals.

Deafness is a disability that many people are misinformed about. There isn’t a big difference between how deaf people live and how a hearing person lives on a daily basis. In fact, at a young age deaf families with deaf children already have a good grasp on a language, compared to hearing children who can’t speak as well till years later. The amount of discrimination deaf people face and daily challenges are difficult. I have personally seen the discrimination first hand and will be informing you about how deaf people live.

Which is deaf children should go to deaf school or mainstream. “The differences between education at a school for the Deaf or in a mainstream school can seem vast, and indeed, there are a lot of factors to consider. Below is a chart highlighting the basics about a mainstreamed education vs. a Deaf school education. Keep in mind that different schools for the Deaf offer different communication tracks; additionally some mainstream schools are more or less equipped to serve Deaf students than others.” according Redeafined Magazine. The Redeafined magazine has an information about which is best in between with the institute for the Deaf or mainstream in a hearing school.