Is sign language taught to all Deaf children?
No. Most deaf children are not raised in a signing environment. This has devastating consequences on their language acquisition, academic achievement, and future employment. Many experts and almost all Deaf adults agree that Deaf children should be taught signing from the day of their birth and that they should study it in school. Unfortunately, there is still a dominate train of thought that sees deafness as a pathology to be remediated and not as a cultural phenomenon. As a result, many deaf children spend valuable school hours learning how to pronounce simple words rather than learning age-appropriate academic material.
