Question

What are early eductional opportunities for deaf babies? How can we implement these opportunities?

Answer 1

Deaf babies are those who are born with a congenital hearing loss present at birth or whose hearing loss occured before they began to speak which is usually before the age of one. The etiology for the hearing loss may be genetic or nongenetic factors. Nongenetic factors include maternal infections, maternal diabetes, toxemia during pregnancy, lack of oxygen, low birth weight, birth injuries, drugs or alcohol consumed by the mother prenatally or complications arising from RH factor incompatibility.

The decision to educate the baby must be made early as the first few years of life are significantly crucial to a child's language development. During this critical period, the primary goal for the baby is communication.

The use of sign language between birth and age three provides the best opportunity for a child to learn language at an early age. This is supported by the "plasticity" of new born brains. That is, they learn and develop neural pathways quickly and easily. As a child aged there is less plasticity and hence less chance of establishing neural pathways in learning new information such as language. By the age of five, it is considered that a child who hasn't been exposed to language will probably always be at a disadvantage at learning language and other verbal processes such as spelling and writing. Thus early exposure to sign language wires the brain in ways that technology cannot and is the most reliable means of preventing language deprivation in deaf children. The following are the benefits of sign language for deaf babies:

- Sign language reduces frustration for a deaf child as it helps pull down the communication barrier caused by lack of auditory stimulation. Frustration in children can lead to socially unacceptable behaviors such as temper tantrums and aggression. Helping the child communicate through sign language creates an emotionally secure social environment for the child.

- Signing strengthens connections in the brain that are used for speech development. Speech and language are the building blocks of social development. These enable the child to make social connections. Most babies develop the gross motor skills needed for signing before they develop the fine motor skills that are associated with verbal speech.

- Using sign language with the deaf baby helps build excellent expressive and receptive language skills. Language stimulation and conceptual information are key to vocabulary development in deaf children and this is reinforced through signing.

- Signing boosts confidence because communication becomes easier. When this expression is reinforced through social interaction, confidence begins to develop.

Thus sign language strengthens the academic, social and linguistic potential of deaf children.

Apart from this, the use of sensory toys like textured balls, books with different textures, colors, and eye-catching illustrations. These help stimulate the senses and help the deaf child learn.

Cochlear implants are an extraordinary scientific achievement. This technology allows babies to function as fully hearing children. Infants with hearing loss are being given hearing aids by 6 to 8 weeks of age, then followed regularly in the audiology clinic with the goal of ensuring that they receive cochlear implants by 12 months of age, the minimum age approved by the FDA for the use of devices. Research shows that children who are fit with appropriate amplification before six months old can develop language skills on par with their hearing peers because language grows most rapidly in the first two years of life. Even implantation after eighteen months yields less positive outcomes than implantation in the first year. In comparison to traditional hearing aids, cochlear implants provide sound awareness to children with severe to profound hearing loss. Cochlear implants send electronic signals from a microphone on the outside of the head directly to the auditory nerve, but here the result is different from normal human hearing, and deaf children need intensive speech and auditory therapy to learn to use and benefit from the implants.

The two general methods of implementing deaf education are manualism and oralism. Manualism is instruction using sign language while oralism uses spoken language. A bilingual approach is best advocated to support such children in their education. An individually-planned teaching program, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings will help the deaf child achieve higher level of self-sufficiency and sucess in the later school years.

In conclusion, it is important to note that the parents have to develop a close and trusting relationship with their baby. The sense of bonding and security will help him or her discover the world better.