Before hearing aids, cochlear implants, etc., the average person who was born completely deaf only reached a third grade reading level. That is because you need to exercise and develop the auditory part of the brain
I actually need to step in here with a slight correction. The 3rd-grade reading level thing is due to language deprivation in childhood, not auditory deprivation. It was the result of a century of oral-only dogma in deaf schools. The deaf kids who have the HIGHEST English reading and writing skills (often college-level or higher) are . . . deaf children of deaf signing parents. The kids who get full exposure to a natural language from birth.
I would never sit on speech delay.
I agree. Language acquisition is too important, and it has a window.
