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There are important times for learning to listen, and there are important times for learning to communicate. We think that most hearing children have finished learning basic language communication skills before they begin kindergarten. Adults and children communicate through language, and babies with normal hearing begin paying attention to language and learning language as soon as they are born. Deaf babies with Deaf parents also begin to pay attention and learn as soon as they are born. Hearing parents and babies and Deaf parents and babies share a common language. They share that language because they can understand each other. |
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All parents want to bond and communicate with their children. When parents have normal hearing and their babies have hearing loss the communication pattern can be interrupted. The family needs to find some form of communication that everyone can understand. The decision about how to communicate in your family will be a very important one. |
The types of communication most commonly used with deaf children & families are described on www.babyhearing.org. They include:
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- Auditory/Verbal communication
- Auditory Oral communication
- Cued Speech
- Simultaneous communication
- American Sign Language
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What is the best communication choice for your family?
Sometimes a family will find a single form of communication works best, and sometimes families may use more than one form. For example, one family may choose auditory/verbal or oral methods for a child who is going to receive a cochlear implant at one year of age. Another in this situation may sign to the baby until the implant, and then transition to oral approaches, maintaining sign language for clarification. A baby with both Deaf and hearing family members may learn sign language while using residual hearing to develop spoken language. Another child may speak clearly but do best with an interpreter in school. A decision about communication options will be the most helpful if parents gather information first. It is valuable to spend time talking with professionals and other parents, reading and scanning the internet. Information gathering is the first step in making your early decisions. It is especially important to know that decisions can be changed, based on the needs of your child's communication needs. Over time, you will become a good observer of your child's communication needs. These observations will be a useful guide.
To learn more, take a look at our own links page, under "Deaf Related Resources." |
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IF EVERYONE IN YOUR FAMILY IS HEARING, remember, hearing babies need to communicate pre-verbally too. Take a look our story, and success stories to read personal experiences from families signing with their babies and toddlers. |
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In many recent studies, research has indicated that babies who sign early may have a head start not only with sign language, but in speaking and vocabulary growth as well. In one study, two year olds who signed as babies appeared to have, on average, a larger vocabulary than babies who did not sign. This may stem from the idea that in being understood, a child can gain confidence in all areas. The idea that signing early on raises self-confidence is not a new one. A baby can learn a great deal when he feels important, which not only creates a "more confident person, but a more confident communicator (Murkoff, 2003)." |
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To ask Lora questions about communication and language development, whether your child is hearing, hard of hearing, or deaf, feel free to e-mail lora@mybabyfingers.com. You can also click here to "ask the expert" at Parentricity!
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