One of the most frequent complaints educators hear from their deaf and hard of hearing students is how they are left out of what is happening around them in their families. Relationships are confusing, abstractions can only be guessed at, jokes are a mystery, anger and frustration are on-going and frightening. Visual communication carries special weight in homes of deaf and hard of hearing children, and this frequently presents a challenge for hearing parents, who must shift communication style and pathways.
Skilled mimes show everyone the eloquence of gestures.
But sign language is not gesture, and no one needs the skills of a mime to communicate visually. Even hearing parents with hearing babies are learning simple signs to communicate with their babies. It is amazing how much these babies understand and imitate. For deaf and hard of hearing babies, this is especially important. It is the route to developing American Sign Language, which, like English, can be used to express almost everything.