Speech pathologists and the deaf community are struggling with a difficult issue

Question

Speech pathologists and the deaf community are struggling with a difficult issue regarding language development: Should hearing- impaired children be encouraged to learn American Sign Language (ASL) or should oral language be emphasized? Children with hearing impairments can develop language skills through ASL that parallel those of hearing children in both contents (i.e., the elements of language) and timing. However, mastery of ASL may segregate them from the hearing community. Conversely, acquiring oral language skills is very difficult for many hearing-impaired children. What form of language should hearing-impaired children be taught?

Explanation / Answer

Perhaps the focus for hearing-impaired children should be towards oral language skills. Challenging as the task may be for them, it would benefit them greatly during their adult years. Unfortunately, our mainstream culture does not offer a conducive environment for the use of American Sign Language for carrying out day to day functions. However, if given the opportunity, the best outcome for hearing-impaired children would be to also learn American Sign Language simultaneously, so that this maybe used in conjunction with or in place of oral language.

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