# Born Blind & Deaf...? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086 "2010-05-20T02:09:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086/21 "2010-05-20T07:12:59Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Not to put doubt on your claim, but I often hear parents say “Listen! She’s saying mommy!” > > Baby: Muahahdklayudalk. > > “That’s right! Mommy! Her first word!” I have no idea why you’re challenging **njtt** , other than that’s what you seem to do to posters in every thread. Babies do develop comprehension and speech, you know (and in fact can learn to communicate with sign language a couple of months before they can speak the words). \*\*njtt \*\*is simply stating that Helen Keller had 19 months of development before losing her sight and vision, and that that is a lot of development compared to being blind and deaf from birth. Then he references his own daughter at an earlier age, stating that she, while not a genius, still had a good amount of comprehension at a younger age. You do realize that babies develop comprehension and language, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086/22 "2010-05-20T07:45:26Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I have no idea why you’re challenging **njtt** , other than that’s what you seem to do to posters in every thread. Babies do develop comprehension and speech, you know (and in fact can learn to communicate with sign language a couple of months before they can speak the words). \*\*njtt \*\*is simply stating that Helen Keller had 19 months of development before losing her sight and vision, and that that is a lot of development compared to being blind and deaf from birth. Then he references his own daughter at an earlier age, stating that she, while not a genius, still had a good amount of comprehension at a younger age. You do realize that babies develop comprehension and language, don’t you? All I think he is saying is that you need to offer a reason for us to believe that the baby actually understood what she was saying. I could see that she might not have known what answer she was supposed to give, and just said a bunch of gibberish, and then when she heard the parental response, decided that the right answer was “Ellie.” Still, it would be remarkable that she knew you wanted an answer, and knew to try to give it. Whether she knew her name or not, it shows a remarkable level of understanding of the nuances of speech way before being fluent. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086/23 "2010-05-20T08:36:23Z")
No, it would be unremarkable. That’s how babies develop, and that is the age that they begin to speak. They understand plenty for quite awhile before they are physically coordinated enough to be able to form words. What **njtt** ’s daughter did sounds perfectly age-appropriate. Some begin a little earlier, some a little later. My daughter began understanding and speaking at about the same ages, and she was not an outlier. I doubt **aClockworkMelon** has much knowledge of infant development, being what, 19? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086/24 "2010-05-20T09:15:42Z")
To the OP: if the baby were otherwise cognitively normal, then he/she could develop some sort of intelligence as long as he/she was cared for well. The child would still be sensing the outside world via smell, touch, taste and all those less obvious senses like proprioception. It would be possible for the baby and its carers to communicate via touch (much like Helen Keller did, though her situation was different). Without the more complex stimuli available through sight and hearing, would the child ever have any great philosophical thoughts or ever move beyond ‘this tastes good. I am happy. I am sad. Are you happy?’ It doesn’t seem very likely. I don’t think there can be a GQ answer to your question, because, as AsWeirdAsItGets says, there are just so few (if any?) babies born in that situation. > [@BigT](#): > > All I think he is saying is that you need to offer a reason for us to believe that the baby actually understood what she was saying. I could see that she might not have known what answer she was supposed to give, and just said a bunch of gibberish, and then when she heard the parental response, decided that the right answer was “Ellie.” > > Still, it would be remarkable that she knew you wanted an answer, and knew to try to give it. Whether she knew her name or not, it shows a remarkable level of understanding of the nuances of speech way before being fluent. Have you never had a ‘conversation’ with a baby? Where you say something, and they babble back, and you act as if they’re actually talking to you. They’re talking gibberish, but they’re pausing to listen to what you’re saying, and then making language-type sounds in response. Often they’ll even imitate some body language. This is with babies of around, say 10-14 months. Babies of that age can certainly understand some questions, too - like ‘do you want banana? Nana?’ To which the baby shakes its head and/or says no. Having a sense of self at that age would be much more unusual, but then kids do sometimes develop at vastly different rates to the average. My daughter was an extremely early talker (and I’ve always been glad I had other people around to hear her talk and recognise it as actual sentences, because otherwise people would have just assumed I was being a doting mother exaggerating her child’s abilities) but couldn’t do a three-piece for jigsaw till _years_ later than most kids. Just because both of those developments go against the average doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![cromulent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b4bc9f/32.png) [@cromulent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cromulent)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086/25 "2010-05-20T13:12:00Z")
In addition to Usher syndrome already mentioned, congenital rubella syndrome is another possible cause of being born both blind and deaf, although patients with this syndrome are usually not _completely_ blind and deaf. There’s a wide variety of severity. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086/26 "2010-05-20T15:51:30Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > The incident I described above was quite different. By that time she did have some, limited, spoken language, and some understanding of things of things said to her (like “come here” or “no”). She was very clearly responding to my question, and trying hard to say her name, and, when she realized she actually _could_ say her “nickname” she was delighted. What amazed me about it was that, with such limited speaking skills, she clearly easily understood such an abstract question. I thought **Melon** was just teasing. I didn’t read it that he was genuinely challenging you. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086/27 "2010-05-20T16:32:58Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Not to put doubt on your claim, but I often hear parents say “Listen! She’s saying mommy!” > > Baby: Muahahdklayudalk. > > “That’s right! Mommy! Her first word!” “And she’s a genius! She’s speaking Inuit!!” ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086/28 "2010-05-20T17:45:52Z")
The hard part is ignoring the words they come up with: Kid: Fuk! fukfukfuk! Parents: Run from room to laugh somewhere else and avoid positive reinforcement. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/born-blind-deaf/540086.md?page=1)