What are the pros and cons of teaching deaf children sign language?

Answer 1

Evaluating the pros and cons of teaching sign language to a child with a severe-to-profound hearing loss (who cannot benefit from the use of hearing aids) should take into account several important factors.

A child who is born with a hearing loss that is inherited genetically and whose parents are also deaf will grow up learning sign language. Using sign language, the child will communicate effectively with family members and probably an extended deaf community. Effective communication with family members is definitely a "pro" of teaching sign language to a relatively small proportion of deaf children.

However, a child relying exclusively on sign language typically is not able to communicate easily and effectively with most hearing persons. That's the primary "con" of teaching to a child who is deaf sign language as the primary method of communication. Most children with deafness are born to hearing parents.

Nowadays, the family of a child newly identified with profound hearing loss is always given the option of management first with hearing aids and then, after a trial period of 3 months or more, the possibility of a cochlear implant. A cochlear implant is a complex device that converts sound to electrical signals that activate the hearing nerve directly.

Cochlear implantation is followed by intensive auditory rehabilitation and speech-language therapy to develop effective oral communication (speaking and hearing). Children who receive a cochlear implant in the first few years after birth typically develop good speech and language skills.

Children benefiting from cochlear implantation go to school with hearing children, speak on the telephone, function quite well in various communication settings, and have the same opportunities for work and higher education as hearing children.

Informed decisions about communication method and education of children with deafness are generally made soon after birth by the child's parents, with accurate and up-to-date information supplied by audiologists, physicians, and other health care professionals.

Consideration of sign language doesn't need to be an either/or decision. Children with deafness who receive a cochlear implant during the first few years after birth can, with proper rehabilitation ,develop oral language like hearing children while they also also learn sign language. These fortunate children grow up essentially bilingual, just as children who are exposed on a daily basis to two languages (like English and Spanish) become naturally bilingual speakers.

Answer 2

This is a matter of opinion, but I would give the following pros and cons:

Pros

1. Sign language gives the person complete language.
   
2. Sign language helps connect deaf people to their community.
3. Sign language opens the door to the world, allowing for a life of equal opportunity in both education and career choices.

Cons

I can't think of a single one. I believe the cons listed in the community answers below are based on prejudice.