User:Phlaremaster/sandbox

Role of the environment[edit]

Deaf-children born to deaf parents[edit] Some deaf children’s lag in language development and subsequent struggles in school are not solely attributable to deafness. Deaf children born to deaf parents acquire sign language just as quickly and with as much effort as hearing children acquire spoken language. Although they may communicate less frequently than their hearing counterparts, deaf mothers’ language is made more accessible and thereby more salient to their children. Furthermore, deaf children born to deaf parents surpass those born to hearing parents in regards to academic performance.

Deaf children born to hearing parents[edit] More than 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents. Due to an entirely different view and experience of the world, this often leads to difficulties in parent-child communication. Signals from the environment help children create a language system. A child must be inserted into the language-learning situation equipped with certain propensities in order to be able to take advantage of ‘hints’ offered by the environment. Such environmental cues include other people pointing at things, nodding or shaking their heads, or performing certain actions that show intentions and meaning.