The greatest hindrance to deaf children is not their deafness but that people with normal hearing udnerstand very little about being deaf and are unable to communicate well with them. Their visual and motor abilities are, for the most part, fully functional and equipped for langauge development. Literacy, based on visual and motor abilities, relies on actions, pictures, and words to help achieve comprehension. Developing it solely through the child's weakest functions will result in a house that might resemble most other houses but has a weak foundation and is missing many important structural parts. On the other hand, developing it through the child's strongest functions will result in a house that is stronger and complete, although of a different design.
Young children learn primarily through seeing.
Much learning in the first 12 years occurs through visual stimulation. There are many different sign systems. American Sign Language is a natural one and the most widely used signing throughout North America. It is overwhelmingly preferred by Deaf persons because it is full, natural language. Children exposed to a full, natural language and a print language from the earliest possible age tend to do better in reading and writing.