The Early Literacy Development Of Deaf Children

Marschark’s research finds that spoken language can be just as successful for a Deaf student, assuming the child can communicate well with his parents, again, particularly with his mother. Again, if the student has a strong first language, signed or spoken, then he will have a greater chance of success in reading (Redeafined Magazine, 2013). With more than 90 percent of Deaf children being born to hearing parents it is rare that the average Deaf child will obtain a strong language foundation before entering the school system. Per Connie Mayer’s article, “What Really Matters in the Early Literacy Development of Deaf Children,” the first five years of life are most influential towards a child’s abilities in a language and their literacy (Mayer, 2007).