Is it possible for people who are born deaf to learn to talk to others?

Deaf and dumb, what a sad affliction to be unable to communicate with your fellow human being! The ears of a deaf person do not transmit any vibrations. Therefore it is impossible for the larynx to copy sounds.

Today, deaf-and-dumb people are trained to use their hands to feel vibrations coming from a person’s throat or from musical instruments.

Deaf people can also be trained to produce vibrations, in the same way, from the laiynx and mouth. The sounds they utter are vastly improved when the sound waves are shown on an electronic device, which looks like a television set. By looking at the screen, the deaf person can compare the sound waves he makes with the sound waves he is supposed to make. He can then correct his faults. In reality, a well-trained deaf person has a normal voice. But this training calls for much work, whilst learning to lip-read at the same time.

Doctors pay great attention to the sound training of young babies with hearing problems. Poor hearing corrected early can avoid retarded development. A child with normal hearing recognizes and’, understands sounds at several weeks old.