• Question: if you are born deaf does speech programme in your brain (like the way peoples mouth moves) the same as someone that isnt deaf and can hear the sound aswel??

    Asked by okelly to Tim on 21 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Tim Fosker

      Tim Fosker answered on 21 Jun 2011:


      Hi @okelly

      What a fantastic question! I’m not really an expert on deafness, but I will try and answer your question from what I do know.

      I do know that babies that are born deaf make playful sounds like hearing babies, but they don’t develop the same complex babbling (the babbling that sounds like real words) that hearing babies produce. This is assumed to be because the lack of heard feedback, which means that they can’t form a motor programme that is associated with a specific sound. However, deaf children and adults often form unique associations between words and mouth movements. This is called ‘speech reading’ or sometimes ‘lip reading’. In tests deaf children and adults are often better at speech reading than hearing children or adults, but hearing children are better at understanding speech in noisy environments when mouth movements can be seen. So even hearing children and adults use mouth movements to help them understand speech.

      I hope that answers your question.

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