choosing and learning a language 75
Using spoken language
People who can hear communicate by talking, and hearing others talk,
in their local language. It is natural for families to want their deaf child
to understand their words and to talk to them using a spoken (oral)
language.
To learn a spoken language, a child who cannot hear well will need to:
• listen with his remaining hearing so that he can learn to understand
spoken words. It may be helpful for him to use a hearing aid.
• watch a person’s lips when she is talking and guess the words she is
saying (lip-reading).
• practice speaking words so that others will understand him better.
Remember, if you use spoken language with your child, you and your
family will have to talk to your child as much as you
can.
Be patient. Your child will learn language
much more slowly than children who can Boon.
hear well. You will need to make your
child use words even when it is easier to do
things for him or give him things without
waiting for him to ask you.
Yes,
Raimon,
a spoon.
Your child will speak differently. Most deaf
children talk differently than a child who
can hear. It is natural to feel embarrassed
at first by the way your child speaks. Once you get used to it, you can
explain this to other people.
This child is wearing
hearing aids in a
body harness.
Different communities have different ideas about
how deaf children should learn to communicate.
A pre-school in southern India tries to teach young
children who cannot hear well to speak, read, write,
and listen.
They try to prepare deaf children to attend regular
schools at the age of 5. Because the school wants
children not to be ashamed of being deaf, they
insist that children wear
body-harness hearing aids (see page 219). Besides
making sounds louder, this sort of hearing aid
helps everyone see and accept that these children
are different.
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)