Children who experience limited access to language—spoken or signed—may not develop the necessary skills to successfully assimilate into the academic learning environment.
Decisions about language instruction is dependent upon a number of factors including extent of hearing loss, availability of programs, and family dynamics.
[7] With currently available technology and interventions, children are likely to successfully achieve age-expected spoken language skills.
Speech therapy, audiology, and other services have the potential to help maximize the access provided through hearing technology.
[17] This resource is unique because it is normed for deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and can be used to establish parent expectations for their child's language progress.
These devices vary greatly in benefit to different hard of hearing and deaf individuals and do not guarantee better auditory understanding or speaking ability.
Less than 10% of the children with hearing loss are born into deaf families who use sign language as their main communication method.
This type of learning occurs in everyday communication including emotional expression, navigating arguments, and managing triggers.
[41] As statistics show, 90–95% of deaf children are born to hearing parents, thus, they may often experience this phenomenon if their family does not incorporate sign language into their communication.
[42][43] These parents may be unfamiliar with Deaf culture and are often unaware of the best communication methods to assist their children with developing into contributing members of society.
[44][45] A famous Deaf artist, Susan Dupor, painted an art piece called "Family Dog" to represent this experience.
In turn, deaf children born to hearing parents struggled more with the ability to code-switch and communicate in various conditions.
Parents' hearing status and age that the child is exposed to language affect deaf children's ability to code-switch.
[56] Deaf children may lack proficiency or fluency in either language during early language-learning development, they still engage in code switching activities, in which they go back and forth between signing and English to communicate.
A main focus of early intervention programs and services for deaf and hard of hearing children is language development.
[citation needed] Everyone, including the child, learns to sign together and use their skills to communicate with one another with the mentor helping to facilitate mastery by being a native-level language model.
Early interventionists can also work with the family in the home through game play, language and communication instruction and activities, providing strategies, helping establish routines and discipline methods, and more.
Geographic location of the family influences available services and resources due to distance, but virtual intervention measures have helped address this challenge.
Newborn hearing screening supports early identification and allows professionals to help keep the child's language development on track.
[73] ASHA expressed its concern that parents might not receive information regarding all possible options and that the policy elevated one modality over all others.
[75][76] One notable revision came via a collaboration between LEAD-K and the Alexander Graham Bell Association, a historically spoken-language-only group.
These two traditionally opposed groups were able to reach an agreement by focusing on the shared desire to provide equal language acquisition opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing children as are received by their hearing peers and promote the spread of accurate and balanced information.
All deaf and hard of hearing students have a right to access general education instruction at their local school with their peers, but it depends on the individual if this option will be the best fit.
This translates to the possibility of one deaf child belonging to a classroom of all "hearing" children[79] and can result in unique barriers.
For example, teachers and students within the general education setting may not know sign language, causing significant communication and cultural barriers to social interaction, friendship, and learning.
Accommodations such as sign language interpreters, communication access real-time translation (CART), or an FM system can help with some of these issues, but they will always be present.
These accommodations work to increase access, but for students using sign language in general education settings, communication will be indirect since it is through the interpreter.
[80] Students who use hearing technology and spoken language can be supported by reducing classroom background noise, seating close to the instructor, and speakers who face the class while talking one at a time.
Deaf children without early access to signed language remain at risk for starting school unprepared for the rigors of academic learning.
Bi-Bi supporters argue because of the variability in cochlear implant and hearing aid outcomes, sign language access is crucial for preventing deaf and hard-of-hearing children from experiencing inequalities in education.