Literacy and Academic Achievement
Historically speaking, educational achievement among the deaf has been poor. However, there have been numerous deaf people have become successful. Remember: Deafness is not a mental defect. The reason for low academic achievement begins with language delays. If a child is diagnosed at two or three years of age as having a hearing loss, there is a high potential for language delays since the child may have been missing large portions if not all of the auditory input that hearing children get from birth. Compounded with this, there has been lower expectations on academic achievement of deaf children. In general, a child who is expected to achieve high goals and who is encouraged at home and at school tends to do better. The area in which deaf children have traditionally been low is in reading and literacy in English. Every child, including deaf children, need a rich reading environment at home. They need exposure to both analytic (grammar, vocabulary, etc) reading and functional (meaning, literature-based, concepts) reading.
Below, you will find one approach to improving literacy in deaf children. This is not the only approach to literacy, but a look at how deaf children of deaf parents learn to read. Deaf children of deaf parents have been known to reach a higher level of achievement and literacy than other deaf children. One of the reasons for this is that deaf parents expected their children to read, there is no question, just as hearing parents expect their children to read.
Reading Strategies for Deaf
Children
Here are some strategies that a classmate at California State University, San Jose developed for a class project. She interviewed deaf parents of deaf children. She asked them how they taught their children how to read. Here is a list of the Top Ten Strategies Deaf Bilingual Parents use to Promote Literacy Skills in Their Deaf Children
by
Kathy Holcomb
1. Have age-appropriate books ready on hand in each room, even in the bathroom.
2. Start with waterproof books and board books with clear pictures for the babies. Read at least one book every night for this age group. As the children get older, increase the number of books.
3. Use props such as stuffed animals to role-play while reading the books together.
4. Translate from written English to ASL to explain the concept of the story since ASL can reflect the moods and emotions more clearly.
5. As the children become aware of the English language, point out key words as you sign. Sign in English word order and fingerspell words with affixes whenever appropriate.
6. Fingerspell to the children at an early age. Children develop an ability to understand fingerspelling by age 2 - 2 1/2. By age 3 or 4 they can become proficient at reading and understanding fingerspelling.
7. Take the children to the bookstore and library often to encourage them to buy or borrow books. Also, have them subscribe to their own magazines.
8. Encourage the children to write, including thank you notes and letters.
9. Interpret the television shows until the children develop independent reading skills.
10. Have the children practice typing on TTY (teletypewriter) and call their friends. This provides two way communication to develop their English skills.
THANK YOU, KATHY!!!! :-)
