Language deprivation in deaf and hard of hearing children

Language deprivation in deaf and hard of hearing children occurs when a child does not receive language exposure during their critical period. Language development can be severely delayed due to the lack of stimulation and socialization. This has been observed in such well known cases as Genie, Kaspar Hauser, Anna, and Isabelle, as well as cases of feral children such as Victor. (All of those children had typical hearing.) Similarly, language deprivation in deaf and hard of hearing children may occur when sufficient language exposure does not occur within the first few years of life, the critical period of language development. This is common because deaf children without hearing aids or cochlear implants cannot access the world around them through auditory means. These children often arrive at preschool or kindergarten with significant language delays that can greatly impact the rest of their education. Accommodations and specialized methods of instruction are required to meet the unique communication needs of deaf children, such as Auditory Verbal/Listening and Spoken Language therapy, cued speech, sign language, or a combination of approaches. Age of enrollment in early intervention services and strength of parental involvement are the strongest success indicators for language development in deaf children.[1]

Critical factors

Awareness

More than 90% of deaf and hard of hearing children are born to hearing parents, who may be unfamiliar with deafness and unsure about how to teach their children how to communicate.[2] Many doctors and early intervention specialists have little experience with children with hearing loss and are not trained in best practices for their development. Audiologists, otolaryngologists, speech-language pathologists, teachers of the deaf, and sign-language interpreters are the specialists who are trained and qualified to work specifically with deaf and hard-of-hearing children and their families on language development and related issues.[3]

Access to language

Children with typical hearing in households where spoken language is the primary means of communication, or children with typical vision in signing households, are exposed to language at a young age. The critical period of language development occurs from birth and continues to age 5. During this period, the child develops language in structure such as syntax, social and brain development.[4] Throughout a normal day, children with access to auditory signals are likely to continually receive input from TV, radio, surrounding conversations, and narration of events throughout their day.[5] Similarly, children with typical vision in signing households are also exposed throughout the day to visual language. Through these avenues, children receive information about language structure, how we use language to interact with one another, and other cognitive and social cues.[6] When a child is not exposed to language early, the child may develop language delays. This can be the case among deaf and hard of hearing children because this population can have limited access to language. Deaf children should be exposed to language early to avoid language delays.[4]

Early intervention services that provide language interventions to deaf and hard of hearing children can result in those children achieving language milestones at the same rates as their hearing peers. Early access to language provides a foundation for developing and acquiring other languages regardless of modality.[7][8] Deaf and hard of hearing children who attend early intervention programs have a higher fluency in language by age five.[9]

Educational placements

Deaf and hard of hearing children often arrive to kindergarten at age 5 already significantly behind their hearing peers (in vocabulary development, social interactions, and other cognitive processes). Due to hearing loss, some of these children cannot access language in the same way as their hearing peers. These approaches often assume that English is their first language (L1) and that these L1 foundations in English are already strong, having been set from birth to age 5. Educational placements designed for hearing students can prove to be unsuccessful for DHH students, especially if those students haven't been previously exposed to auditory stimuli.[10] There are several types of educational placements for deaf and hard of hearing children, including: culturally deaf schools; mainstream general education classrooms; self-contained classrooms in public schools (a classroom that is designed for specifically for children with disabilities);[11] Auditory Verbal, LSL, or OPTION schools for listening and spoken language;[12] and co-enrollment classrooms that contain both deaf and hearing children who use sign language and spoken language to learn.[13]

Communication Approaches

Auditory Verbal/Listening and Spoken Language

The Auditory Verbal/Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) approach is a communication option for most infants, toddlers, and young children with hearing loss. This approach is generally used by parents who want their deaf child to listen and talk in the primary language of the home. The main principles of AV/LSL promote early detection and diagnosis of hearing loss, use of hearing technology such as hearing aids and cochlear implants to help children access sounds and spoken language, and early intervention services to guide and coach parents and caregivers on how to teach a child with hearing loss to listen and talk.[14] Eighty percent of deaf children who have early and high-quality AV/LSL interventions can learn to listen and speak with the same skill level and fluency as their hearing peers.[15] Listening and Spoken Language Specialists must be certified in LSL in order to use the LSLS designation.[16]

Bilingual approaches

These include approaches that use foundations in American Sign Language (ASL) to develop proficient reading and writing skills in English. Bilingual-bicultural education can also address the needs of those students who may be able to access spoken language as well. When ASL functions as the child's first language, some believe it can support second language acquisition, although there is no specific evidence.[17][18] Research done in bilingualism shows that if a child is fluent in a second language, it is due to proficiency in a first language.[17][18] However, most bilingual research has been conducted on bilingual unimodal (speaking and hearing) communicators, not on bilingual bimodal (signing and speaking) communicators. There is evidence that bilingual bimodal communicators using sign language and spoken language do not enjoy the Cognitive advantages of bilingualism that bilingual unimodals do.[19]

Cued Speech

Cued Speech is a visual communication system that uses eight handshapes in four different placements near the face, in combination with the mouth movements of speech, to make the sounds of spoken language look different from each other. It can be used in conjunction with any of 56 spoken languages or dialects.

LEAD-K

LEAD-K stands for Language Equality & Acquisition for Deaf Kids. It is a controversial effort[20] in the United States intended to increase the number of deaf children who use American Sign Language. The LEAD-K initiative aims to "end language deprivation" by promoting American Sign Language, and by putting new laws in place to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing children begin learning both American Sign Language and English before kindergarten enrollment.[21] The main goal of LEAD-K is to promote a foundation for American Sign Language within deaf and hard of hearing children. The organization has drafted state-level legislative bills which passed in California, Kansas, Hawaii, and Oregon in 2015-2016. Versions of the bill have been proposed in at least twelve states since 2016, but all have failed to pass.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moeller, Mary Pat (2000). "Early Intervention and Language Development in Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing" (PDF). Pediatrics. 106 (3): e43.
  2. ↑ Kushalnagar, P.; et al. (2010). "Infants and Children with Hearing Loss Need Early Language Access". HHS Author Manuscripts. 21 (2): 143–154.
  3. ↑ Roush, Jackson; Wilson, Kathryn; Alberg, Joni (February 2008). "Early Hearing Detection and Intervention: Audiologists and SLPs Collaborate in Successful Program". The ASHA Leader. 13: 14–45.
  4. 1 2 Friedmann, N., & Rusou, D. (2015). Critical period for first language: the crucial role of language input during the first year of life. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 35, 27-34.
  5. ↑ Montag, J; et al. (Sep 2015). "The words children hear: Picture books and the statistics for language learning". Psychological Science. 26 (9): 1489–1496. PMC 4567506.
  6. ↑ Saffran, J; et al. (2001). "The acquisition of language by children". PNAS. 98 (23): 12874–12875.
  7. ↑ Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (2008). Lessons learned from universal newborn hearing screening. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools for the Deaf, Great Falls, MT. 37.
  8. ↑ Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (2006). Early identification, communication modality, and the development of speech and spoken language skills: Patterns and considerations. In P.E. Spencer & M. Marschark (Eds.), Advances in the spoken language development of deaf and hard of hearing children (pp. 298-327). New York: Oxford University Press.
  9. ↑ "Advantages of Early Visual Language" (PDF).
  10. ↑ Humphries, T.; et al. (2012). "Language acquisition for deaf children: Reducing the harms of zero tolerance to the use of alternative approaches". Harm Reduction Journal. 9:16.: 1–9. PMC 3384464.
  11. ↑ https://www.thoughtco.com/self-contained-classrooms-3110850
  12. ↑ https://www.optionschools.org/
  13. ↑ Stinson, M. S., & Kluwin, T. N. (2011). Educational Consequences of Alternative School Placements. Oxford Handbooks Online. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199750986.013.000
  14. ↑ https://hearingfirst.org/lsl/what-is-lsl
  15. ↑ https://www.avuk.org/facts-and-figures
  16. ↑ https://www.agbell.org/Teach#lsls-certification
  17. 1 2 Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power, and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Buffalo, NY: Multilingual Matters, Ltd.
  18. 1 2 Dickinson, D., Golinkoff, R., & Hirsh-Pasek, K. (2010). Speaking out for language: Why language is central to reading development. Educational Researcher, 39 (4), 305-310. Data (pp. 881-938). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Research in Child Language Disorders, Madison, WI.
  19. ↑ Emmorey, Karen; et al. (December 2008). "The Source of Enhanced Cognitive Control in Bilinguals Evidence From Bimodal Bilinguals". Psychological Science. 19 (12): 1201–06.
  20. ↑ https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/07/19/fierce-debate-over-sign-language-use-by-some.html
  21. ↑ "Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids". Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
  22. ↑ Tiggs, S. (n.d.). LEAD-K Bills and Deaf Child Bill of Rights. Retrieved February 11, 2018, from https://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=2106355
  23. ↑ About LEAD-K. (2017, May 16). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from http://www.lead-k.org/about/
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