When a deaf child hears for the first time, how do they understand the words?
I love watching the heart tugging videos where a deaf child hears his/her Mother’s voice for the first time, how do they understand what is being said to them? It seems to me that they’d have no frame of reference with which to understand.
I love the video of the baby hearing for the first time where the Mother says “I love you” & calls his name. The baby grins from ear to ear & it looks so sweet. I would think that the sudden noise would startle a baby creating the reaction of a startled cry.
There’s also one of a boy who appears to be 6–8 y/o. His Mother is sitting behind him & as they turn on his cochlear implant his Mother simply says his name. I understand that through sign language that he would know his name; but, how could he understand that was his name when hearing it for the first time?
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10 Answers
They don’t. They only respond to the new sensation of sound.
Perhaps they are able to recognize familiar patterns of vibrations?
And if they were facing the source of sound, they would probably be able to lip-read.
My wife was born deaf, and received cochlear implants several years ago, relies on visual clues, like lip reading.
Repetition and context, just like a baby does.
There is a whole debate in the deaf world about cochlear implants and what it is doing to deaf culture. I don’t have an opinion and am not entitled to have one but it is an interesting subject to learn about.
I saw a short film called “Sound and Fury” that explores the issue of implanting cochlear implants and its impact on a family. It is worth watching.
I second @kritiper. They don’t. They’re just reacting to a voice.
In order to lip read you have to already know, in advance, what they are saying. Kids who have been deaf all of their lives don’t know that in advance. They don’t have the connections.
Deaf kids can learn to lip-read.
Same as if they were learning ASL.
OK, yes. But they’d need to be taught the words first, before they can lip read them, in order to make the connection.
I believe it is similar to the blind when they first see, but it isn’t just that one day.
There is a movie called At First Sight, with Val Kilmer. It demonstrates quite well the struggles and effort involved with acquiring a new sense.
The doctor shows him an apple, but he is unable to identify the item until he holds it.
Since a child knows their mother is present, they may expect the sound they hear to be caused by her, but without sign or lip reading they won’t recognize the name, or even the sound as a voice.
If they could suddenly hear without a plan, sound might frighten them, but when several visits and much discussion involved, they know what is about to happen, even if they don’t know what it will be like.
All the heart warming videos show the baby smiling in delight at the first sounds..I’ll bet many more start crying.
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