Looking for American Sign Language help for my hearing 3-year-old
My youngest (infant) son was recently identified as deaf. This set off a scramble in the house to find American Sign Language classes and mentors. So far, we've been able to find excellent classes for the adults and great resources for the baby, too. Whew.
The last frontier is finding language support for baby's older brother, 3 1/2 years old. We're teaching him ourselves, and he's getting some exposure to other signing adults, but he'd benefit from better exposure to fluent ASL signers in a fun environment on a regular basis. The only local classes / support we can find for his age group are either CEID (which doesn't teach ASL, only SEE) or going down to CSD Freemont, which seems prohibitively distant (and which seems to start at age 5.) Does anyone know of ASL classes or playgroups for children his age, or an instructor who works well with little kids?
Parent Replies
Hey get hooked up with the Center for Early Intervention on Deafness in Berkeley, they will be able to steer you to everything you need: http://ceid.org/
excellent organization
My daughter studied ASL and is currently volunteering at CEID so I told her about your letter. First of all, she was delighted to hear that you are all learning ASL. She has loved learning this language and learning about deaf culture. She also really loves working at CEID and suggested that they would be a great resource for you even if you didn't send your child there. Based on her experience there are children there with a variety of connections to deafness from being deaf to having a deaf family member and it sounds like there is a mix of ASL and SEE happening. You may want to try talking with them more in depth about your child's needs and see what they say. Kudos to you for embracing ASL!
If you have a deaf infant, you should have a teacher of the deaf early intervention specialist working with your family and an Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP). Those will be your best resources. Your IFSP should document your family's concerns and needs, so language support for your 3 year old should be added if it's not already included. In addition to weekly home visits, which can (and for you, sounds like they should) include your 3 year old, your teacher will be able to direct you to other resources your district offers. No matter where you live in the bay area, you can go to DCARA's website and sign up for a deaf mentor to work with your family. That's a deaf adult who will come to your home weekly and teach your whole family sign language. Other options depend on where you live. For example, in West Contra Costa residents, there's a weekly family class/playgroup you could attend with both kids, and your 3 year old might be eligible to be a "play pal" (hearing peer) at the deaf/hard of hearing preschool. Some other districts offer similar programs; ask your teacher, she'll get you hooked up. And all that is free!
If you don't have success with that, come back and let us know where you live and who's administering your IFSP (which Regional Center, SELPA, or school district) and we may be able to give more specific suggestions.
There’s DCARA in San Leandro. It has Deaf dance camp and literacy camps. Family mentors that come weekly to your house. Csd fremont has a great weekend camp there. Northern California helping hands ( I think that’s what it is called) have a bunch of fun activities like Deaf amusement park days etc . Contact me and I can help you. I was in the same place as you a few years ago.
Have you talked with the folks at CEID? I know their website still says they use SEE, but when I talked with them the director told me everyone there actually uses ASL. They have support for families -- including coming into the home and teaching. I would imagine this would include teaching siblings, as well. Might be worth reaching out, if you haven't already. And on CEID -- I should mention that they have a preschool, too, which has a group of hearing kids who are using ASL in the classroom.
Hi there,
Our infant son was also diagnosed with bilateral severe-profound hearing loss. He was born in April and it’s been a challenge finding other parents of deaf/hard of hearing children in the Bay. Would love to connect with you and talk about resources/mentors/childcare options.
Our OUSD infant specialist said she teaches a toddler sign class I’m not sure if it’s for only DHH kids, but I could ask her
We we live in Rockridge
Candace
Hi, everyone, and thank you for the suggestions. We are already working with CEID—Jessica has been wonderful in helping coordinate IFSP for the baby—and with DCARA and their Deaf Mentor program (we love Malage and Kelly!) Our whole family has benefited greatly from both, but we're looking specifically for age-appropriate ASL classes, teachers or playgroups to support for our 3 year old, and haven't been able to find a resource through those avenues.
Regarding CEID, their unclear situation vis-a-vis SEE and ASL gives us serious pause; we hear different things about the classroom environment from different people, both hearing, Deaf and CODA, and we'd very much prefer having both our sons in a program committed to ASL instruction.
Per anonymous' suggestion, we are including language support for our older child in the IFSP, but our case manager at Berkeley Unified School district didn't have any strong ideas of what program might be appropriate for him. If anyone's currently using either Oakland or West Contra Costa's services, I'd be delighted to hear about it, and I'm reaching out privately to everyone who offered--thank you!