We are excited to share several upcoming opportunities and new resources for families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Illinois School for the Deaf – Parent Institute, June 11 – 16, 2023
The Institute is a one-week program (Sunday-Friday) for parents of children (through age 7) who have a significant hearing loss. Parents and caregivers will learn about hearing loss and their child’s individual strengths and needs. Participants will also meet other parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing. To learn more, Carrie Balian and her team with Illinois’ Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side also created a short video with information and testimonials (a small part is in spoken Spanish too) about this event. View the event flyer for more information.
Research Opportunities for Families
We are happy to share this information on behalf of our partners at the University of Connecticut. The UConn Family ASL group is currently recruiting hearing families with deaf toddlers between 2-5 years of age to participate in a research project focusing on how hearing families with deaf children learn ASL together in their home setting. To learn more, view this video describing the project. The the UConn Sign Linguistics and Language Acquisition Laboratory is directed by Diane Lillo-Martin and explores human language acquisition with a focus on sign linguistics.
- Study 1: For hearing families with deaf children between the ages of 2-5 to participate in two or more 30-minute language task blocks. The time commitment is up to 6 hours and thank you payment is up to $10 per half-hour.
- Study 2: For hearing families with deaf children between the ages of 2-3 to participate in a year- long opportunity of periodic ASL services, 30-minute play sessions and in six sets of language tasks. A table for recording, toys, and books will be provided. Thank you payment is up to $50 a month.
Free Online American Sign Language Classes
Oklahoma School for the Deaf has developed two online courses in American Sign Language and has made them available for the public. The online class sets up videos of the instructor signing to demonstrate to you from PowerPoint with sign illustrations of vocabulary and with phrases in the three-dimensional nature. Participants will need to enroll for the class by completing a brief questionnaire.
- American Sign Language I – This is an 8 lesson self paced course. You will have access to these lessons from February 13, 2023 until July 31, 2023.
- American Sign Language II – This is an 8 lesson self paced course. You will have access to these lessons from February 13, 2023 until July 31, 2023.