Originally Posted by Cheri

I respectfully disagree, It isn't about the family, it's about the deaf child. Tell me why a deaf child is forced to learn the family's language? This is a very difficult task. It's like telling a handicapped child to walk because the whole family walks. They should find a better and more effective way to communicate even if the hearing parents/family have to learn a whole new language. The difference between a hearing and a deaf child is that spoken and signed languages use dfferent modalities. In the case of the hearing children, they use their hearing mode. In the case of deaf children, they use the visual or seeing mode. So, You cannot expect a deaf child to learn the family's language. It sounds unfair in my opinion.