With modern hearing-aids and cochlear implants, many deaf kids soak up language without any obvious reinforcement.
Some with cochlear implants learn by overhearing incidentally.
Others need natural language practice with their families, at home or out and about. Daily, simple interaction with your kids is what’s required.
The key points are:
- Parents who understand their child’s deafness and hearing levels
- Good amplification worn all day (hearing-aid or cochlear implant)
- Active language clarification during child-family interaction time
- Parents actively talking with their kids (reading/writing is good too)
Parents As The Child’s First Language Teachers
Many parents feel anxious if a speech or language therapist is unavailable, or can give only limited time due to heavy caseloads.
In fact, parents and carers can develop their child’s language themselves, in partnership with a well-skilled teacher of the deaf and speech therapist.
These Get Chatty (US) and KidTalk (Canada) websites have great tips for articulation, language development, grammar, social skills & word finding.
Remember to pace yourselves and to enjoy the learning process!
Other language-development articles on this site:
- Linking Items To Words
- Early Language Teaching At Home
- Picture Diaries For Natural Language Development
- Digital Photos For New Words & Concepts
- Teaching Deaf Children To Listen & Speak
- Search this website with ‘speech’ to source more posts.
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