Thad Starner

Almost 95 percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents who may not know sign language or who have low levels of proficiency in sign language. Although 75 percent of hearing parents eventually decide to use sign language with their deaf child, they typically struggle to learn a second language in a visual modality. The deaf children of hearing parents remain significantly delayed in language development throughout their lives when compared to hearing children or deaf children of deaf ...

A majority of deaf children of hearing parents remain significantly delayed in language development throughout their lives when compared to hearing children or deaf children of deaf parents. Due to these delays in language development, deaf children of hearing parents are at considerable risk for poor educational outcomes. The development and evaluation of effective interventions that will promote the development of language skills in deaf children of hearing parents are needed.