Deaf children: sign language prevents developmental delay

For their proper cognitive development, babies need to be fed with words. For some hearing-impaired children, their condition often causes developmental delay. But American researchers believe, in a study published on October 11 in the journal Child Developmentthat sign language is just as beneficial for the development of children as verbal communication.

Communication too often associated with speech

Children with hearing loss often have developmental delays, and previous research has linked such delays to inadequate exposure to language early in life. The vast majority of this research, the authors of the new study note, have associated language with speech. “Almost none have studied the cognitive development of deaf children brought up with sign language.says Corina Goodwin, psycholinguist and lead author of the study. We find that early exposure to language, whether signed or spoken, promotes the development of typical cognitive skills.”

For the study, the researchers recruited 123 children, ages 3 to 7. Among them, 46 had good hearing and 77 were deaf or hard of hearing. In this last group, 26 were exposed to sign language from birth while the others were not exposed until later in infancy. The researchers asked the parents to answer questions assessing the children’s executive functioning, that is, their behavior, thoughts and emotions when faced with new situations.

Have early access to language, whatever it is

The results showed no difference between children exposed to the language at birth, whether it was spoken or done with signs. In contrast, children who were delayed in being exposed to language tended to have more problems with executive functioning. “We have shown that the delays that have been observed in previous studies do not concern their deafness, but an early access to language.says Marie Coppola, psychologist and co-author of the study.