Learning a visual language gives hearing mothers the possibility of participating in their deaf children's culture. Yet, mothers also grapple with the demands of an unmarked global hearing culture, especially as their children's deafness becomes mediated by technology and medical intervention, under the guise of progress, social mobility, equity,…

Argues that the study of natural sign languages can enhance understanding of what language really is. The aspects of sign language that are similar and dissimilar to the characteristics of spoken language are described. (Author/CB)