It is our hope dispel the myths about deafness and spread the world that deaf children can hear and talk. What it mean to be "deaf" has changed.
A recent in the Washington Post's "The Reliable Source "column highlighted Nyle DiMarco as a deaf model, a contestant on ABC's "Dancing with Stars," and a political activist who has established the Nyle DiMarco Foundation with a mission to promote deaf infants access to American Sign Language (ASL). DiMarco has stated that "there are many deaf kids out there being deprived of their own language."
For families who choose a listening & spoken language outcome, which is the majority of families, DiMarco's statements perpetuate the misconception that deaf children cannot listen and speak well. Deaf children growing up today have unprecedented opportunities to develop listening and spoken language, thanks to newborn screening, early identification and intervention, and the latest technology, such as advanced hearing aids and cochlear implants.
Given the tremendous advances in hearing technology, deaf children are able to learn spoken language by listening. Indeed, when identification & intervention with appropriate technology occur early enough, most of these children develop language much as children with typical hearing do. Recent studies show that children who solely utilize listening and spoken language, rather than a combination of this ASL, demonstrate better listening and spoken language skills rather than do children who follow a combination approach, and that these children frequently develop expressive and receptive language test scores similar to their typical hearing peers.
In informing parents about communication options for their deaf children, current and emerging evidence should be considered. While bilingualism (use of ASL long with spoken language) may be helpful to deaf children who are unable to fully achieve spoken language, a young child whose family desires spoken language often achieves their desired outcome better through a full immersion in spoken language. Moreover, the window for a deaf child to acquire listening and spoken language is much shorter that the window in while ASL can be acquired.
Deaf children frequently communicate quite well listening and spoken language alone, and the number of children who have a for ASL had decreased dramatically. when parents are told that their deaf children should or must learn ASL as part of a Deaf Culture, they increasingly respond that their children actually are part of a hearing culture-that their families, friends and the world at large. The voices of our deaf children tell the story. In videos available on AG Bell's YouTube channel, families share the remarkable abilities of deaf children today-making music, singing song, and participating fully in sports, theater and more, with wonderful speech and remarkable hearing.