We are a K-12 residential school for students with sensory impairments. All of our students are sensory impaired and many of them have an additional disability. We have students living on and off-campus. Our residential students come from all over our state and live on our campus Sunday through Friday. Our school is considered a high poverty school.
The majority of our students have language delays and read below grade level.
Our deaf students use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate. Our students enjoy school and communicating with their peers in sign language.
My Project
90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents with little to no experience with hearing impairments. 88% of hearing parents of deaf children do not know sign language.
Since the pandemic, many deaf children have spent a great deal of time with their non-signing families; therefore, they have missed many opportunities to communicate and develop language.
When children start school with delayed language skills, it is difficult to learn to read. Deaf children need a language to draw upon to develop reading skills.
During this time, hearing parents have been responsible for the majority of their deaf child's educational instruction. These families need materials to assist them with learning sign language. I would like to provide the families with a sign language instructional book so they can learn to communicate, through American Sign Language, with their deaf child. Learning sign language would help them communicate, educate, and bond with their deaf child.
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