Despite different childhood experiences--primarily differences centered around language access--the authors share stories of growing up in large Spanish-speaking families with a strong sense of cultural identity and values. Now as they raise three children together, this is what they want for them as well--a sense of cultural identity and pride,…

The article describes development in Illinois of the Department of Rehabilitation Services Sign Language Assessment Tool. The instrument is designed to evaluate the level of receptive and expressive sign language proficiency of rehabilitation personnel serving the deaf. (DB)

Through individual interviews and focus groups, teachers, support staff, parents, deaf students and administrators participated in a training needs assessment (TNA). The focus was on actual teacher signing skills, the optimal performance desired, and possible solutions. TNA proved to be an effective staff development planning tool. (Author/DB)

Nationwide, there are some 1,055,000 young people under the age of 18 who have hearing loss according to statistics from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov). Reported rates of psychiatric disorders for children who have hearing loss range from 15.4% to 54% (Hindley, 1997). Selected…