MESHGuides

If a child has a hearing loss their parents may wish to communicate with them using a sign language. Sign languages are visual languages using the hands, face and body - they are different from spoken languages and have their own linguistic structure.  British Sign Language (BSL) is the language of the UK’s Deaf community, who often describe themselves as Deaf with a capital D to emphasise their deaf identity.

Here is a video showing a deaf child communicating with her mother, using BSL.

The NDCS Family Sign Language website demonstrates different communication styles in families using sign language.  This website also demonstrates some BSL vocabulary, and videos of parents sharing stories with their child etc.

It is necessary to activate Adobe flash to use this site.

In the NDCS booklet, Communicating with your Deaf Child, the following explanation of Total Communication is given:

Below we list some of the assessments that are used with deaf children 0-5, to identify the stages the child is at, in order to help that child to make the appropriate progress.

General development

Historically, research has shown a gap in achievement between deaf children and their hearing peers.  Despite the huge developments in technological and other support available in the early years, this gap can be seen even by the age of five.   However, even within the data reported above there are children who are making appropriate progress and are achieving as well as their hearing peers.  It is important to consider why some children make more appropriate progress than others.

There have been, and continue to be, significant advances in assistive hearing technologies, such as digital hearing aids, cochlear implants, hybrid or Electro-Acoustic Simulation instruments and other implantable devices.

For further information, see below:

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A parents’ story about their young child receiving a cochlear implant.

There are 2 publications which tell of families’ experiences with cochlear implants for their children, available from the Cochlear Implanted Children’s Support Group.    

BSL is a natural and visual language with its own grammar and vocabulary.  People who use BSL use the hands, face and body to communicate.  BSL users can develop language at a similar rate to spoken language development provided that they are exposed to sufficiently high quality input and interaction.  Therefore if parents are choosing this route they must be able to sign fluently and confidently with their babies.  There are BSL classes available locally for parents wishing to learn..

Research by Young, Green and Rogers (2008)³² and Peterson, O’Reilly and Wellman (2016)³³ has shown that children who have a hearing loss are at greater risk of experiencing social isolation, loneliness and difficulty with peer relationships.  Therefore, it is important that deaf children’s social skills are developed.