Dr Hassan Garba Wangara
Abstract
Children with hearing impairment have developed visual language that unites them together to form their communities and culture all around the world. This visual language is sign language and it has its symbols in which conventional nature of language is established. This sign language gives to deaf children what spoken language gives to hearing children. This paper highlights the concept of language and language learning, and the importance of language to deaf and hard of hearing children. The paper also discusses deaf and hard of hearing children, the process of identifying them, as well as the effect of deafness on a child’s development. More so, the importance of early learning of sign language are explained and some of the strategies for teaching sign language to deaf and hard of hearing children are spelt out, including demonstration and dramatization, use of pictures of various colours and sizes to add interest and convey meaning, among others. The paper recommends that parents, siblings and teachers should learn sign language as early as possible, as this will help them to effectively teach sign language to their deaf and hard of hearing children.