"The problems of deafness are deeper and more complex, if not more important, than those of blindness.

Deafness is a much worse misfortune. For it means the loss of the most vital stimulus--the sound of the voice that brings language, sets thoughts astir and keeps us in the intellectual company of man." - Helen Keller

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE DEAF?

According to Merriam-Websters dictionary, deaf is defined as: lacking or deficient in the sense of hearing.

EFFECTS OF HEARING LOSS ON DEVELOPMENT

Hearing is critical to speech and language development as well as communication and learning. The earlier that a child experiences hearing loss, the greater affect it has on his or her development.

WAYS HEARING LOSS AFFECTS CHILDREN

There are four major ways that hearing loss affects children development. 1. There is a delay in the development of language and speech skills. 2. The deficit in language results in learning problems which result in lower academic achievement. 3. Lack of communication skills can lead to social isolation from other children. 4. There is a possibility that certain vocations are chosen because of the disability.

VOCABULARY
Vocabulary is developed more slowly in children with hearing loss. Children are more likely to learn concrete words such as cat, jump, five, and red than more abstract words such as before, after, equal to, and jealous. They also have difficulty with function words like the, an, are, and a. The vocabulary gap between hearing-abled children and deaf children grows more and more as the children get older. The deaf children will not catch up to the hearing children unless someone intervenes on their behalf.

SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Deaf children have a more simplistic sentence style. Deaf children have difficulties writing and comprehending complex sentences. Since deaf children cannot hear the endings of words, sometimes the verb is used in the wrong tense. Plural words can also be misinterpreted due to the lack of hearing word endings.

SPEAKING
Children who are deaf also have a hard time speaking. They may not hear themselves speaking, and they may speak too loudly or too softly. Their voices may sound like they are mumbling because of poor stress on words and syllables or poor rate of speaking. Some deaf children may choose to not speak at all. Not speaking results in having little or no communication with other people. They may use sign language to communicate with others.

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
Academic achievement is greatly affected by deafnessespecially in reading and mathematics. Children with mild to moderate hearing losses achieve up to four grade levels lower than their hearing peers. Children with severe or profound hearing loss normally only achieve to third or fourth grade levels unless they are given special treatment and more educational intervention. The achievement level corresponds with parental involvement and the quantity, quality, and timing of the support services children receive.

IN CONCLUSION
Children that suffer deafness are less likely to achieve at the same level as children with perfect hearing. Certain educational interventions can prevent children from not achieving their maximum potential. Also, deaf children tend to feel lonely and isolated from the world. Deaf children need special care to make sure that they feel apart of the learning environment just as normal students. Their disability plays a HUGE role in their development of basic skills needed for every day life.