The impact of deafness; theory of mind and child development
Keywords:
Deafness, Sign language, Child development, Theory of mindAbstract
This paper adopts a wider conception of language which goes beyond viewing language as being limited to speech. The concept of language in this paper includes all forms of socially agreed systems of exchanging and communicating ideas and information which include sign language as a formal language of interaction for the deaf. Thus the paper is premised on the cultural model of deafness which designates sign language as the primary medium of communication for the deaf while at the same time the paper is cognizant of the impact of deafness on child development with regards to aural-oral environments. In these regards, the paper links the impact of deafness to the concept of theory of mind development in order to seduce parents, educators and other stakeholders to strongly consider the need for deaf children to be fully exposed to sign language and deaf culture as a way of promoting their overall development. The paper concludes that; while deafness does impact on child development, quality exposure to and fluency in sign language can facilitate theory of mind development hence mitigate the impact. In the same vein, the impact of deafness becomes an even more critical phenomenon with regards to theory of mind development discourses.
References
Allen, T.E., 1986. Patterns of academic achievements among hearing impaired students: 1974 and 1983. In Schildroth, A.N., Karchmer, M.A. (eds). Deaf Children in America. San Diego: College-Hill Press.
Astington, J.W., Edward, M.J., 2010. The development of theory of mind in early chilhood. Social Cognition. Toronto: EECD.
Bartsch, K., Wellman, H.M., 1995. Children talk about the mind. New York: OUP.
Bernhardt, B., Gick, B., Bucsfalvi, P., Ashdown, J., 2003. Speech habitation of hard of hearing adolescents using electropalatography and ultrasound as evaluated by trained listeners. Clin. Linguist. Phon., 17, 199- 216.
Boone, D.A., McFarlane, S.C., 2000. The voice and voice therapy (6th Edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Bouvet, D., 1990. The path to language: Bilingual education for deaf children. Clevedon: Multilingual matters.
Conrad, R., 1979. The deaf school child. London: Harper and Row.
Crocker, S., Edwards, L., 2004. Deafness and additional difficulties. In Austen, S., Crocker, S. (Eds). Deafness in Mind. London: Whurr Pub.
Deaf Children Australia, 2012. Language development and deaf children. www.deafchildrenaustralia.org.au
Gonzalez, A., Quintana, I., Barajas, C., Linero, M.J., 2007. The role of age and oral lexical competence in false belief understanding by children and adolescents with hearing loss. Volta Rev., 107(2), 123-139.
Gweon, H., Saxe, R., 2013. Developmental cognitive neuroscience of theory of mind. Bloomberg; Elsevier.
Harris, M., 2010. Early communication in sign and speech. In Marshark, Spencer, P.E. (Eds). Oxford handbook of deaf studies, language and education. New York: Oxford.
Herman, R., Morgan, G., 2011. Deafness, language and communication. In Hilari, K., Botting, N. (Eds). The impact of communication disability across the lifespan. Jacksonville: J and R Press Ltd.
Humphries, T., Kushalnagar, P., Mathur, G., Jo Napoli, C., Padden, C., Rathman, C., 2014. Ensuring language acquisition for deaf children: What linguists can do. Lang. Publ. Pol., 90(2), e31-e52.
MacSweeney, M., 1998. Cognition and deafness. In Gregory, S., Knight, P., MacCraken, W., Powers, S., Watson. (Eds). Issues in deaf education. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Marshark, M., Rhoten, C., Fabich, M., 2007. Effects of cochlear implants on children’s reading and academic achievement. J. Deaf Stud. Deaf Educ., 12, 269-282.
National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCs), 2010. My school in Scotland: A review of deaf pupils’ experience of mainstream schools. London: NDCS.
Nunes, T., Pretzlik, U., Olsson, J., 2001. Deaf children’s social relationships in mainstream schools. Deaf. Educ. Int., 3(2), 123-136.
Parsloe, R., 1998. Use of speech pattern audiometer and the electropalatograph to explore the speech production / perception relationship in a profoundly deaf child. Int. J. Lang. Comm. Disord., 33, 109-121.
Peterson, C., Wellman, H., Liu, D., 2005. Steps in theory of mind development for children with deafness or autism. Child Dev., 76, 502-517.
Peterson, C.C., Wellman, H.M., 2009. From fancy to reason: Scaling deaf and hard of hearing children’s understanding of theory of mind and pretence. Br. J. Dev. Psychol., (27), 297-310.
Peterson, C.C., Wellman, H.M., Slaughter, V., 2012. The mind behind the message: Advancing theory of mind scales for typically developing children and those with deafness, autism or asperger syndrome. Child Dev., 83, 469-485.
Pyers, J.E., Senghas, A., 2009. Language promotes false-belief understanding; evidence from learners of a new sign language. Psychol. Sci., 20, 805-812.
Sandler, W., Lillo-Martin, D., 2001. Natural sign languages. In Aronnoff, M., Rees-Miller, J. (Eds), Handbook of Linguistics. MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Schick, B., de Villiers, P., de Villiers, J., Hoffmeister, R., 2007. Language and theory of mind: A study of deaf children. Child Dev., 78, 376-396.
Schick, B.S., Marschark, M., Spencer, P., 2006. Advances in the sign language development of deaf children. New York: O.U.P.
Taumoepeau, M., Ruffman, T., 2008. Stepping stones to others’ minds: Maternal talk relates to child mental state; language and emotion understanding at 15, 24 and 33 Months. Child Dev., 79, 284-302.
Tomasuolo, E., Valeri, G., Direnzo, A., Pasqualetti, P., Volterra, V., 2013. Deaf children attending different school environments: Sign language abilities and theory of mind. J. Deaf Stud. Deaf Educ., 18(1), 12-29.
Trybus, R.J., Karchmer, M.A., 1977. School achievement scores of hearing impaired children: National data on achievement status and growth patterns. Am. Ann. Deaf, 122(2), 62-69.
Van Staden, A., 2009. Comparing native signing, late signing and orally trained deaf children’s theory of mind abilities. South Afr. J. Psychol., 40(1), 99-106.
Wallhagen, M.I., 2014. Hearing loss: Impact, policy implications and future directions. http://www.ncpssmfoundation.org/Portal/0/hearingloss.pdf
Want, S.C., Gattis, M., 2005. Are late signing deaf children mindblind? Understanding goal-directedness in imitation. Cognit. Dev., 20, 159-172.
Wellman, H.M., Banerjee, M., 1991. Mind and emotion: Children’s understanding of the emotional consequences of beliefs and desires. Br. J. Dev. Psychol., 9(2), 191-214.
Wirz, S., 2001. Managing voice with deaf and hearing impaired speakers. In Freeman, M., Fawcus, M. (eds). Voice Disorders and their Management (3rd Edition). London: Whum.
Wolfe, T., Want, S.C., Siegal, M., 2002. Signposts to development: Theory of mind in deaf children. Child Dev., 73, 768-778.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Patrick Sibanda
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
