17144. LANGUAGE ACQUISITION IN DEAF CHILDREN. Drawing on theories about how spoken language emerges in hearing children, this paper considers how the deaf child learns sign language. Oliver Sacks’ book, “Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf” is the primary reference used. The analysis demonstrates that Sign Language is a ‘real’ language with distinct structural properties and shows that Sign Language acquisition in the deaf follows the same general pattern as spoken language acquisition in the hearing. Written 2003. 10 pages; 22 footnotes; 7 bibliographic sources. 2,307 words.