On Sun, Nov 23, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Here we must
be using some other
meaning since the overwhelming majority of deaf children are born to
hearing parents who do not speak sign language.
Really? Do you have some statistics to back that up? Deafness is very
often inherited. It may be a majority, but I doubt it is overwhelming.
Really.
You're not incorrect, which is why it's only a large majority and not
virtually unheard of (there aren't *that many* deaf people, so if it
were just random we'd expect only a very tiny number of deaf children
to be born to deaf parents).
Random cite for 90%: "More than 90 percent of deaf children are born
to hearing parents, many of whom want their children in English-only
programs." [
http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr98/amer.html]. You can find
other sources, it's a fairly frequently cited number.
Also of note: 'More than 90% of children born to Deaf parents have
normal hearing. In fact, so unusual is the birth of a deaf child to
Deaf parents that often the event is greeted by the parents with great
joy, since they have brought into the world "one of their own."'
[
http://www.ket.org/bookclub/books/2006_mar/essay.htm]