Deaf high school students participating in an oral history project interview deaf adults, collect oral and signed histories on videotape, and translate the American Sign Language text into written English captions. The project's goals are to help deaf students build self-esteem, improve English writing skills, and become acquainted with role…

A mother of a hearing-impaired two year old offers examples of utilizing siblings (who have learned sign language) to foster the language development and socialization of the younger child. (DB)

A language arts teacher of junior high students with deafness or hearing impairments familiarized her students with "Romeo and Juliet" by telling the story in speech and signs, exploring the characters's personalities, reviewing vocabulary, putting the characters into contemporary situations, and directing the students in a full-scale…

Ideas to help parents of deaf children foster English language development include communicating regularly in writing, handling public encounters the "deaf" way, interacting with deaf adults, reading books by/about deaf people, learning and maintaining sign language skills, joining local and state associations, and making sure the television has a…

The adoptive mother of a hearing-impaired preschool girl describes ways the family has integrated language practice into every facet of the child's life. The paper focuses on practicing speech, learning language, getting ready for reading, using computers, family involvement in signing, socialization and independence, child care, preschool team…

The article considers whether young deaf children of hearing parents should learn American Sign Language (ASL) as their first language and whether teachers in day high school programs should use manual communication. It concludes that, because ASL is the key to deaf culture, it should be used by parents and teachers. (DB)

Applies principles of whole-language instruction to the teaching of sign language skills. Emphasis is on the holistic use of sign language in natural communicative situations. Some materials for this approach to sign language instruction are suggested. (DB)

Describes the Shared Reading Program, a home-school effort of Gallaudet University's Pre-College National Mission Programs. Under the program, mentors teach parents and caregivers how to read to deaf children using American Sign Language. Describes a family with six young children includes 12 tips for reading to a deaf child. (DB)

Offers hearing parents of deaf infants guidelines on communicating with their child based on changes that deaf mothers make in their signing when talking to their deaf baby. Guidelines focus on restricting language, sign repetition, dramatic expression, waiting for the child's attention, tapping to gain attention, and visual leading. (DB)

Describes how using American Sign Language can facilitate the development of skills in spoken English for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. Discusses factors influencing how well a child with deafness will develop spoken language and the need to teach the two languages separately. (CR)

Describes a preschool class for deaf children co-taught by two teachers (one hearing, one deaf) that uses a whole language approach to build students' American Sign Language (ASL) and written English skills. The class uses a thematic approach to organize learning activities through the creative use of ASL. (DB)

Describes how teamwork, consistency, and use of sign language helped a child with Down Syndrome and deafness to increase her vocabulary from less than 20 words at the beginning of kindergarten to 228 words by the end of first grade. Six specific teaching strategies are outlined. (DB)

Twelve effective strategies commonly used by deaf adults when reading to deaf children are discussed. Techniques for combining American Sign Language and English exposure are presented, as are story-telling strategies for maintaining attention, using role play, using eye gaze to elicit participation, and relating stories to real world concepts.…

Principles of "shared reading," in which a book is read by the teacher, then by teacher and students together, and then by the students independently, are discussed and applied to language acquisition and reading instruction of deaf and hearing impaired children. Students use the book to help them write and compare English and American…

A mother of a deaf child recounts her earlier commitment to an oralist position, her gradual realization that she was asking her child to do the impossible, and the child's rapid acquisition of language when allowed and encouraged to use signs. The importance of hearing parents learning sign language is stressed. (DB)