Language deprivation in deaf and hard-of-hearing children is a delay in language development that occurs when sufficient exposure to language, spoken or signed, is not provided in the first few years of a deaf or hard of hearing child's life, often called the critical or sensitive period. Early intervention, parental involvement, and other resources all work to prevent language deprivation. Children who experience limited access to language—spoken or signed—may not develop the necessary skills to successfully assimilate into the academic learning environment. There are various educational approaches for teaching deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Decisions about language instruction is dependent upon a number of factors including extent of hearing loss, availability of programs, and family dynamics.
Access to language Typical language development for deaf and hard of hearing children Similar linguistic milestones are found in both signed and spoken languages. Reduced access to language may result in behavioral problems, as the child does not have a way to express his wants or needs. Language deprivation may also affect their neurological development.Language_Deprivation_in_Deaf_Children_EHDI_Poster_2019 The timing and quality of language exposure are more important than hearing status for developing age-appropriate skills.
Technology and interventions With currently available technology and interventions, children are likely to successfully achieve age-expected spoken language skills. Technology such as cochlear implants, hearing aids, and bone-anchored hearing aids can potentially help provide access to spoken language. This access can vary greatly from person to person due to factors such as cause and severity of deafness, the age of when hearing technology is introduced, and time of language exposure. Speech therapy, audiology, and other services have the potential to help maximize the access provided through hearing technology. Even for children using hearing technology, the age they were exposed to language (whether visual or spoken) will have a role in how much they can benefit from the technology. Speaking, though, is not the only option for communication for deaf and hard of hearing children. Language exposure, either signed or spoken, from birth builds and strengthens brain tissue that can be used in a variety of language contexts in the future. For example, if in the future the person undergoes surgery to receive a cochlear implant, their language exposure from birth may be an important factor in regards to acquisition of spoken language aided by the implant.
All too often, though, deaf and hard of hearing children do not follow the typical language development timeline. When a child is deprived of language from the beginning, they can be dramatically behind their peers in terms of hitting milestones. This can impact learning for the rest of their lives.
Age and quality of language exposure The first five years of a child's life is a critical time for cognitive development and the establishment of their native language. This critical period deems the first few years of life as the period during which the brain is most primed for language development. The critical period is also referred to as the sensitive period for language development, or the language acquisition window. Studies on stroke in infancy and typical language development unveiled a critical period for language acquisition. After this critical period of language acquisition, it remains exceedingly laborious and strenuous to master a native language. Language development is not impossible after the five year mark, but will likely bear the cognitive and linguistic characteristics of language deprivation.
Timing and quality of language exposure, not language used or how many languages used, are the factors that matter most when determining language and literacy outcomes. When deaf and hard of hearing children are fully exposed to natural language along a timeline equivalent to their hearing peers, they will acquire language along equivalent milestones. This timeline includes babbling around 10 months and first sign around one year. The full timeline of children who use sign was published by Gallaudet University Press and is a resource that parents of deaf children can use to track their child's language development which includes milestones like following eye gaze, pointing, and imitating handshapes. This resource is unique because it is normed for deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and can be used to establish parent expectations for their child's language progress.
Critical period The critical stage in language development is important in deaf individuals. Deaf individuals who lack exposure to sign language at a young age fail to achieve full language proficiency as they develop. Inconsistencies in exposure to a natural language during this critical period of language acquisition could result in persistent symptoms, known as language deprivation syndrome. Symptoms of language deprivation syndrome include language dysfluency (e.g., lack of fluency in native language), knowledge gaps about the world around them, abnormal thinking, mood and/or behavior disorders, academic, and literacy delays. It was found that deaf individuals who acquired sign language after five years of age were not nearly as proficient as deaf individuals who were exposed to sign language from birth.
Misconceptions of critical period One misconception is that deaf children will be at a disadvantage since they lack access to auditory input and, therefore, deafness results in delayed development. Because of this, a focus on auditory language exposure for deaf children is usually recommended. However, deafness, or the lack of auditory input, is not a cause of delayed development, language deprivation is. Profoundly deaf children who had early exposure to a visual signed language possess high levels of language organization. If development of spoken language is desired, listening technology (hearing aids or cochlear implants) can help, but the overall process is enhanced when paired with sign language. These devices vary greatly in benefit to different hard of hearing and deaf individuals and do not guarantee better auditory understanding or speaking ability.
Other studies address the neurological differences between individuals who have experienced language deprivation and those who did not. The first five years of life are foundational for many skills as the brain develops the neural connections and processes that will be built upon for years to come. Without full access and exposure to natural language during the critical period, the brain does not have the tools it needs to build the typical framework for processing and producing language. In turn, language deprivation can cause abnormalities in other areas of cognitive functioning, particularly the establishment of concepts, processing things in a set order, and executive function. Similar results were seen in deaf individuals. Language deprivation influenced altered neural activation patterns in deaf individuals that were exposed to sign language later, as compared to deaf individuals who received typical language development.
Language acquisition in deaf children Most children naturally learn their native language at a young age. Although spoken language is ubiquitous for children who hear normally, congenitally deaf children do not have access to it from birth. Less than 10% of the children with hearing loss are born into deaf families who use sign language as their main communication method. Signed languages are natural languages with linguistic features similar to spoken languages, and the developmental milestones are similar to those of spoken languages. Deaf and hard of hearing children with deaf parents who sign with them thus experience language from birth, like typically developing children with normal hearing. To succeed, children must acquire at least one language (spoken or signed). Some researchers and practitioners encourage families to focus exclusively on spoken language. There is also evidence that suggests that natural sign languages are beneficial to deaf and hard of hearing children.
Incidental learning and access to knowledge When hearing individuals share information with each other in a way that is not accessible to deaf individuals, the deaf individuals are not privy to incidental learning experiences. Incidental learning refers to any unprompted, unplanned, or unintended learning. Hearing children typically learn incidentally when they overhear conversations between other family members in the home. This type of learning occurs in everyday communication including emotional expression, navigating arguments, and managing triggers. Language deprivation syndrome coupled with the lack of these every day incidental learning experiences may impact mental health, physical health, and academic advancements. A lack of incidental learning can also limit an individual's general wealth of knowledge and comprehension skills used to learn about and understand the world around them. Without the wealth of knowledge and language skills hearing children typically demonstrate, deaf and hard of hearing children can arrive at school already behind their peers. This trend can continue as they spend school years working to learn the things their hearing peers picked up effortlessly in the home before starting school. Incidental learning is possible for deaf and hard-of-hearing children when the family uses language that is fully accessible to all family members and includes the child with atypical hearing in family communications directly and indirectly.
Early accessible communication The importance of early accessible communication with family and peers can be seen in "dinner table syndrome"—the experience of observing spoken conversations between other family members and not understanding these conversations. As statistics show, 90–95% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, thus, they may often experience this phenomenon if their family does not incorporate sign language into their communication. These parents may be unfamiliar with Deaf culture and are often unaware of the best communication methods to assist their children with developing into contributing members of society. A famous Deaf artist, Susan Dupor, painted an art piece called "Family Dog" to represent this experience. Her artwork represents the feeling of isolation being deaf in an all-hearing family. This painting was designed to emphasize deaf family members' perspectives with the blurred faces of the family metaphorically representing the difficulties of lip reading. Only 30–45% of the English language can be understood solely through lip reading. In these situations, deaf children are unable to participate in the conversations without using a commonly accessible language. Similarly, these experiences occur during social engagements where deaf individuals cannot communicate with other individuals through a spoken language.
Prevention Language Modality