Jay.Croft@p0.f147.n109.z1.fidonet.org (Jay Croft) (03/15/91)
Index Number: 13951
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
A hearing baby hears even before birth. From the moment it's born, the
baby is perceiving sounds and eventually puts those sounds together to
form language. Still later, the baby puts those sounds together to make
a sound that comes out as a word. Eventually those words are put
together to make sentences.
A deaf baby does not have such input. Therefore the process is delayed
until some kind of formal schooling is begun. Many areas now recognize
this and provide schooling for children as young as 18 months.
Without that auditory input, development of *any* phonetically-based
language is going to be stymied.
Gallaudet University is now doing research on using American Sign
Language as a base for learning English. I think James Womack, being in
the teaching profession, can explain this better.
It's an interesting concept, and let's see how it works!
--
Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!109!147.0!Jay.Croft
Internet: Jay.Croft@p0.f147.n109.z1.fidonet.orgAnn.Stalnaker@p0.f14.n385.z1.fidonet.org (Ann Stalnaker) (03/15/91)
Index Number: 13974 [This is from the Silent Talk Conference] > A hearing baby hears even before birth. From the moment > it's born, the baby is perceiving sounds and eventually > puts those sounds together to form language. Still later, > the baby puts those sounds together to make a sound that > comes out as a word. Eventually those words are put together > to make sentences. > A deaf baby does not have such input. Jay - I wouldn't say this is true for ALL deaf babies. I, along with a lot of others, were able to form words without sound. I can't explain it but I believe I've mentioned that my parents didn't realize I was deaf until I was almost 4 years old since I could speak and lipread. I believe there has been formal schooling for this process for many years - in fact, I know there has been as the John Tracy School/Center has been around for 50 years or so. I feel the pre-school programs that several states are implementing in the public school system is going to work out quite well using all forms of communication, not just ASL as the primary language -- Uucp: ..!{decvax,oliveb}!bunker!hcap!hnews!385!14.0!Ann.Stalnaker Internet: Ann.Stalnaker@p0.f14.n385.z1.fidonet.org