[Foundation-l] Signal languages Wikimedia projects

[Gregory Maxwell]

On Sun, Nov 23, 2008 at 11:13 AM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at 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]