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Roughly 34 million people around the
world are affected by some sort of hearing loss, including deafness. Deafness
is a type of hearing loss that results in having very little to no functional
hearing. So, how do they think?
Humans
commonly think in a sequence of words, images, or a combination of both. Some
people think primarily in terms of words which means that their thoughts are
dominated by words and narrations. Other people think primarily in images,
meaning that their thoughts are influenced by images and pictures.
Deaf
people think in terms of their "inner voice". It turns out that this
varies moderately from one deaf person to another, depending on their level of
deafness and vocal training.
Those
who were born entirely deaf and only learned sign language think in sign
language. What is exceptional is those who were born completely deaf but learn
to speak through vocal training will seldom think in the vocal language with
their brains coming up with how the vocal language sounds, along with the sign
language they know.
Nearly
completely deaf people think in sign language. It is comparable to how an
"inner voice" of a hearing person is endured in one's own voice. A
fully deaf person sees or, feels themselves expressing in their head as they
"talk" in their heads.
Language
is integral in brain functions as memory, abstract thinking, fascinatingly, and
self-awareness. Language has been shown to literally be the "device
driver", so to speak, that drives much of the brain's core "hardware".
So,
deaf people who aren't recognized as such very young or people that live in
areas where they aren't able to learn sign language will be significantly
handicapped mentally until they learn a structured language, though there is
nothing actually wrong with their brains.
The
severity of the problem is even more than it may seem at first because of the
importance language has in the early stages of development of the brain. The
deaf people who learn no sign language until late in life will frequently have
learning problems throughout their lives, even after they have learned a
particular sign language.
Completely
deaf people who use only spoken language are only slightly better off than
those who know no language, in terms of their brain functions. The brains of
the completely deaf never fully comprehend spoken language in the way sign
language gets implanted in their brains.
Due
to this, they don't develop an "inner voice", which is vital for our
brains to process information.
They
do attain remarkably more sense of self and better memory over those who have
no language. But they will never fully reach their brain's potential as in when
they learn sign language.
"There
is still a lot of debate over what are the minimal levels of exposure needed to
stimulate the language centers. But deaf children need early experience of some
sort of language if they are going to be good communicators in later
life," says Professor David Wood, a leading deaf educationalist at
Nottingham University.
Let’s
Look At Some Myths vs. Facts
If
you're thinking that Sign language is universal, you could not be more wrong.
There's no one universal sign language spoken by all deaf people. Deaf
Americans speak American Sign Language (ASL) and it is different from the sign
languages spoken in other countries, like the United Kingdom or Japan.
Some
believe that all deaf people can read lips. In fact, not every deaf person uses
lip reading as a form of communication. There are many factors that affect how
difficult lip reading can be.
Most
people who are born deaf have senses that function in an otherwise
"normal" capacity. However, some study has suggested that the
auditory cortex of the brain, which usually processes sound, processes visual
and touch stimuli to a higher degree in deaf people.
Big
D vs. Little D
There
is a big difference in being Deaf and being deaf. Usually, the "small
d" deaf do not associate with other members of the deaf community. They
may strive to identify themselves with hearing people and regard their hearing loss
only in medical terms.
In
contrast, "big D" Deaf people identify themselves as culturally deaf
and have a strong deaf identity. They're often pretty proud to be deaf. It's
common that "big D" Deaf attended schools and programs for the deaf.
The "small d" deaf tend to have been mainstreamed and may not have
attended a school for the deaf.
The
Bottom Line
Deaf
people process information through their brain, their eyes, their nose, their
tongue, and their touch, all in the identical way anyone would process
information.
Sound
isn't part of their thought process, and because it's not part of their thought
process does not mean they don't have an inner voice. They do. They too are
conscious, sentient beings who think and reason.
Written
by – Anusha Vajha
Edited
by – Adrija Saha
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