Sign language delays in deaf 3- to 5-year-olds with hearing parents.
Donna A Morere, Thomas E Allen
PMID 39363852WHAT IT FOUND
Deaf children of hearing parents showed nearly double the rate of sign language delays compared to deaf children of deaf parents.
Even those scoring within normal limits had weaker American Sign Language grammar skills than their deaf-parent peers.
Key findings
01Approximately 40% of deaf children of hearing parents were identified with early language delays, a rate twice as high as that observed in deaf children of deaf parents.
02Deaf children of hearing parents who scored within age-based expectations still demonstrated significantly lower mastery of ASL grammatical structures compared to deaf children of deaf parents.
03Children classified as 'very delayed' showed widespread deficits across cognitive and general language domains, not just ASL, suggesting a need for broader multidisciplinary assessment.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used archival data, so researchers could not control rater training, inter-rater reliability, or the timing of assessments. Key environmental variables, such as the age at which ASL was introduced, parental ASL fluency, and consistency of use, were not recorded. The sample was a convenience sample of children already being assessed, which may not represent the broader population of deaf children of hearing parents. Some age and delay subgroups had very small sample sizes, particularly 5-year-olds classified as 'very delayed'.
Declared interests
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and Gallaudet University. No commercial conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a deaf child of hearing parents who scores within the 'normal' range on a standard checklist has fully age-appropriate language skills. This study found that even children in the 'not delayed' group had significantly weaker ASL grammar skills than deaf children of deaf parents, indicating that 'within limits' does not mean 'equivalent to native-signing peers'.