reph said:
Helen Keller went deaf as a toddler and learned to speak. She must have had the capacity to learn the language, seeing that she did learn it.
There's also elective mutism: not speaking despite being able to.
My ASL teacher also went deaf as a toddler and is able to speak, though not with great enunciation. As well as Marlee Matlin (the actress who has sometimes been derided by the Deaf community because she chooses to use speech in some occassions rather than pure Sign. It was very effective on "Desperate Housewives" wherein she was able to utter the final epitath to Felicity Huffman's character in speech rather than Sign.)
But there's the rub isn't? Even though most people don't think so, language is learned from the moment we're exposed to it. There is a type of memory wherein we 'recall' the words but maybe not the context. Once we start to place the context is when we start to really connect with language. So if, as an infant, I kept hearing about a 'dog' and I finally learned what a dog was, and I recall or am able to learn how to shape the 'sound' of 'dog' (much like I would have learned to shape the 'sign' for dog) then yes, I would be able to learn to speak. Being deaf doesn't automatically mean a person isn't able to learn to speak.
However, an infant that is unable to distinguish the 'shape' of sounds from birth will never have that ability. They may be able to learn to speak through other ways, such as learning to mimic the vibrations of words by feeling another person's throat and imitating that, but their successes can only come from the physical clues of those they are trying to learn from.
My brother, for example, isn't Deaf but hearing impaired. He does speak, primarily, as his mode of communication. I'm one of a handful of peopel that he'll actually use ASL with and even when he does use ASL, it's grudging. But even though he was able to 'hear' some sounds from birth, I've heard more Deaf people that have better enunciation or diction than him. It's a matter of what you are capable to doing. Those born deaf usually do not have the capacity to learn to 'shape' the sounds.
Although, I'm also a huge believer in teaching the limited branch off of 'ASL' to babies in order to get them to communicate more effectively as children. I think it reduces a lot of misunderstanding and ineffective frustration if they're able to tell you that they want something to drink rather than fussing until you finally figure out the clues.
So, wherein I'm refering to the 'capacity' to learn vocal language, I'm not refering to any inability to do so, but rather the ability to be able to learn to 'shape' the sound to become understood by others. It's not unlike some autistic children who create their own forms of language among each other, if they're exposed to each other long enough, that suffices as communication. We wouldn't understand it, but they do. If we were to immerse ourselve into their world, we'd eventually come to understand what they are communicating if not ever really be fluent, because we are not operating at their capacity. (and no, that's not a slam against autistic children, many of whom are often highly intelligent people.)
Rabe...