Can deaf people talk?

I am back from my vacation! I'll write a seperate blog soon but I want to share this first.


It's short. A few days ago my brother asked me "Can deaf people talk?" He knows that I have a CI and that when I take it off I hear nothing.


That was really a smart question. How do you explain such a question to a child? Well I said, Deaf people cannot talk if they have never heard BUT they can be taught. "And if you have heard and then loose your hearing, can you still talk?" Those questions don't seem to end :)


You hear right? Ok, now close your ears and talk. You see, you can still talk and you know what you're talking as you have memory of hearing, you have the knowledge of language, oral and written. You have the memory of sounds so you know what you're talking even though you can't hear yourself.


Someone who has never heard would have troubles to learn to speak but it's not impossible. Helen Keller did learn to speak although she lost hear hearing as a little girl. 


I'm sure there will be more little insights from my little brother.


Will write soon!

Sandra