• Question: What Language Do Deaf People Think In?

    Asked by 7S+ to Andy, James on 12 Mar 2017.
    • Photo: Andrew Jones

      Andrew Jones answered on 12 Mar 2017:

      Wow, what a good question!

      If they weren’t born deaf I suspect it would be the language their learned as children. If they were born deaf then I am not sure – research suggests in this case language isn’t verbal but based on gestures.

Comments

  • Photo: Wil

    Wil commented on :

    Deaf people do learn to read, and quite a few of them can also learn to speak. So they will be able to think in their native language (maybe the thoughts would be visual instead of based on sound), and as Andy said, also in the type of sign language that is spoken in their country 🙂

  • Photo: Mary Jane

    Mary Jane commented on :

    brilliant questions! Some deaf children are born to deaf parents, so they learn sign language in the same way as hearing children learn spoken language.