General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 8 Month Old Deaf Baby's Reaction To Cochlear Implant Being Activated [View all]Bibliovore
(185 posts)Although Signed English and Signed Exact English are not natural languages, American Sign Language is, and can be a big help to children in simply developing language skills in the first place. Various studies have shown that Deaf children who learn ASL early on function better in spoken and written language later than those who don't. That's theorized to be because they get the early brain wiring on how to process language, period. (Cochlear implants in early childhood can give the same advantage, by allowing kids to soak up a spoken natural language.) Once the brain patterns and cognition are in place for language in general, growing up with both ASL and a spoken language becomes much like growing up bilingual with any other two languages.
(This is all per a Deaf Language and Culture class I took last year, from a professor who does audiology and language research and is a strong advocate for Deaf culture and values; I'd be happy to look up specific studies and references if anyone wants them.)