Human Growth and Development / Unit 5 HGD 0643 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Deaf Children and Early Language
The idea
About two to three in every thousand children are born deaf, more than ninety percent to hearing parents. What matters most is access to a full language early: children with no language input in the first two years risk never achieving fluency. American Sign Language is a natural language with its own grammar, phonology, morphology, syntax and pragmatics, and the brain processes it much as it processes spoken language. Cochlear implants and hearing aids give some auditory input.
In practice
A deaf toddler signing fluently with deaf parents, beside a deaf toddler with hearing parents still waiting for a shared language.
Where people slip
The misconception is that sign language is a set of gestures or a stand-in for speech. It is a complete language, and early access to it protects language development. The source text reports an ongoing debate over whether prioritising spoken language serves deaf children or others; the course reports that debate without taking a side.
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