Transcript:
“I am so sorry. Your child is deaf.” That’s what I often see and hear coming from doctors and nurses. They always advise parents with deaf children to get them cochlear implants or hearing aids and then guide them to put their deaf children in speech therapy like there are no other options. People always try and programme deaf children to become oral instead of teaching them sign language. I am not saying that speaking is a bad thing, in fact I do encourage it. However, sign language is most deaf people’s primary language. I strongly believe that all deaf children should have access to sign language from the moment they are born. Not when they turn into one year olds or five years old. Time is always ticking, and it never stops for anyone.

Exposure to sign language in early childhood comes with many benefits such as enhanced language development, promotes social and emotional well-being and supports cognitive development. Some people think that sign language affects learning process negatively. However, that is not the case. The scientific evidence says otherwise. Dr. Laura-Ann Petitto declared that “Signed languages are biologically equivalent to spoken languages and are a biological necessity for young deaf children,” at a prestigious National Science Foundation event. She stated, “They have stronger visual attention skills and better vocabulary, higher cognition, language, reading and self-regulation skills than non-sign exposed deaf children, with some reading and language abilities exceeding hearing monolingual children.” This evidence suggests that sign language, in fact, does not slow down learning process. Instead, it enhances the learning process. Not only that, but it also helps other areas part of a deaf child’s life such as socialising skills, an ability to express, and reading skills. These things give self-esteem to deaf children. Unfortunately, not all deaf children have access to sign language. Joseph Murrary, the president of World Federation of the Deaf, wrote about the significance of sign language. Now, I want to ask you all a big question. How many deaf children do you think have access to sign language? Murray stated that it is estimated less than 2% of the 34 million deaf children worldwide receive early childhood exposure to a signed language. I think it’s really ironic that only a very few of deaf children had been exposed to sign language despite the evidence I had provided.

Language deprivation is a common struggle that most deaf people experience, and it can just be prevented by exposure of sign language. Some people simply argue that deaf children can just learn how to speak, because we have amazing and advanced technology now. Cochlear implants and hearing aids exist. However, what they don’t realise is that speaking is not a viable option. This term, “Language deprivation” means delayed language development, and this impacts on many things negatively. This happens when a person does not have access to a natural language. In the article, Joseph Murray stated, “The research evidence strongly suggests that language deprivation, rather than strictly hearing loss, is the underlying cause of poor language, educational and health outcomes in the deaf population, and is traceable to a lack of a signed language exposure for deaf children in their early development.” This evidence strongly suggests that language deprivation does not happen due to hearing loss, but a lack of sign language. Deafness doesn’t correlate with intelligence.

Why are we still trying to teach speech to deaf children? It’s like trying to nurture a baby plant with oil. We want everyone to have the right to access their own language. I grew up as a deaf person, and I was lucky enough to have access to sign language in my childhood. It wasn’t easy to navigate in life as a deaf person, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to achieve great things. I can communicate with hearing people. For instance, I order my food by typing on my order on my phone and show it to a worker. I’ve never had an issue with it. If anything, people should have patience and adaptability when serving people. It’s already quite difficult to live as a deaf person with a lot of various requirements, but we can make deaf people’s lives easier by simply giving them access to sign language. This will reduce language deprivation in most deaf people. Now’s a time that we nurture deaf children with sign language instead of programming them to become fully oral.

- Year 11 VCE student