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Animals That Help Deaf People

Deafness can be a deeply isolating disability, especially for children who have not yet learned how to communicate by speech, lip reading and American sign language. For deaf people of all ages, animals can provide love, protection and companionship but can also serve as teachers' helpers for deaf children learning how to give names to what they see, feel and experience in the world around them.

  1. Trained Hearing Dogs

    • In the same way a guide dog for blind people acts as a substitute for vision, hearing dogs are trained to respond to a range of specific sounds like a ringing telephone, a knock at the door, a crying baby, an alarm clock, or emergency sounds including fire and smoke alarms. The dog will then touch its deaf owner with a paw to get her attention then lead her to the source of the sound. If the sound signals a potential emergency, the dog is trained to communicate that by touching its owner and then lying down.

    Deaf Pets for Deaf People

    • Every year, many deaf animals, including purebred dogs, are euthanized in animal shelters because people assume that they cannot be trained and are therefore poor candidates for adoption. But deaf dogs can quite easily be trained to respond to hand signals and sign language, thereby becoming special companion animals for deaf people. Various animal welfare organizations across the United States specialize in rescuing deaf dogs and cats and arranging for adoptions by deaf people.

    A Cow Says Moo...

    • When one of the five senses is absent, the others have to work harder, so teachers of deaf children are more reliant on utilizing direct experience to stimulate interest in learning than teachers of hearing children. Farm animals are especially useful as teaching aids because children have a natural affinity for them and their names, along with the sounds they make, are easy to pronounce--a cow says moo, a sheep says baa, a pig says oink, and so on.

    Non-Traditional Service Animals

    • Service animals specially trained to assist people with disabilities may help more or comparably to humans. An increasing number of people are saying that other species, including dogs, help to improve quality of life. Capuchin monkeys, for instance, show a great aptitude for this kind of work and because of their physiology, can do many things that dogs can't do. Other people swear by such other non-traditional guide animals as cats, miniature horses, parrots, and pygmy goats, but the issue remains controversial.

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