This article puts forward a solution to the impending shortage of culturally and linguistically competent interpreters: the education of heritage signers as heritage language learners. It examines the current landscape of American Sign Language (ASL) as a course of study and the difficulties heritage signers report when they begin learning ASL. In…

This document is designed to provide educators with an objective synthesis of the current research on language development in children who are deaf. The materials reviewed were primarily peer-reviewed articles published in the last 10 years. Only references that focus primarily on deafness were included; however, some studies also involved…

This paper describes the activities and outcomes of a program in literacy education for the deaf funded by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. The "L.E.A.D." program began in El Paso, Texas, on September 1, 1995, and ceased operations on July 31, 1997. The program was designed to improve communication in economically disadvantaged…

Deaf children come from all races, classes, and backgrounds, but as a group they have a hard time learning to read and write. The more hearing a child has, the better the child performs on tests of reading ability. Parents who can communicate well with their deaf children help them to perform well at school, but beyond "good"…

This brief paper reports on a study of learning disabilities in students with deafness. The study attempted to first determine to what extent deficiencies in communication skills affect the screening of deaf students for learning disabilities and, second, to describe the phenomenon of learning disability in students with deafness. The research…

The paper documents the "failure" of deaf education and proposes a model program for the education of deaf children. Reasons given for this failure include lack of linguistic access to curricular content and the cycle of low expectations. Early acquisition of American Sign Language (ASL) is encouraged both to develop cognitive skills and improve…

This book discusses the development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing and the educational and practical issues that face them and their families. Chapters discuss: (1) the effect of a child with deafness on a family, and family adjustment to early childhood hearing loss; (2) the population of people who are deaf, the causes of early…