Final answer:
True, infants with hearing impairments often babble similarly to hearing infants, though they may not hear the babbling sounds in the same way. They initially make vocalizations and babble regardless of auditory ability, transitioning to more varied sounds and potentially first words around one year of age.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that infants with hearing impairments make noises and babble like other infants up until about one year is largely true. Even though babies with hearing impairments might not hear sounds the same way as their hearing counterparts, the urge to vocalize and practice sounds is a natural part of infant development. As babies grow, they usually begin to coo and then progress to the babbling stage, where they repeat syllables.
Newborns have a well-developed sense of hearing and show a preference for their mother's voice. Hearing plays a crucial role in the subsequent development of communication skills. Studies illustrate that babies who are exposed to sign language can also begin to babble in gestures, indicating that the impulse to form the structure of language is present regardless of auditory ability.
As infants approach one year, typically, they begin to say their first words, and their babbling tends to include a wider variety of sounds, reflecting the language used in their environment. For babies with hearing impairments, the early babbling may seem similar to that of hearing infants, but as they age, differences in vocalization may become more apparent without intervention or hearing aids.