2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
DUKE ENERGY CONVENTION CENTER
3/06/2023 | 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM | Deaf Gain: Visual Strategies for Spoken and Sign Language Acquisition | DECC 212
Deaf Gain: Visual Strategies for Spoken and Sign Language Acquisition
Visual strategies are important for deaf children learning spoken and sign languages. In this presentation we highlight examples of Deaf Gain contributions to society and discuss research on visual strategies deaf parents and teachers use to support language acquisition of young deaf infants and toddlers. To this end, it is essential for hearing families, caregivers, and professionals to learn and use visual strategies used by deaf parents and teachers regardless of language modality. Visual strategies are extra-linguistic behaviors such as attention-getting, parentese, joint attention and book reading, that enable effective communication in a visual modality. A factor of the Multilingual Deaf Education theoretical framework is that deaf children need “interactive communication in an accessible language” (Kurz et al., 2021, p. 11). Visual strategies are an important component of making language accessible and scaffolding acquisition (Loot et al., 2005). Providing deaf children access to language visually is essential because not having sufficient access to accessible language early results in language delays (Hall et al., 2019).
Deaf children who have access to a visual language from their deaf caregivers have positive language outcomes (Davidson et al., 2014; Hassanzadeh, 2012; Watkins et al., 1998; Yoshinaga-Itano et al., 2017). However, hearing parents with deaf children do not typically use visual strategies effectively. Studies show hearing parents with deaf children are less likely to meet their children’s visual communication needs and need visual communication training and support (Jamieson, 1994; Mohay, 2000; Waxman & Spencer, 1997; Willie et al., 2019; Willie et al., 2020). Hearing parents and professionals working with young deaf children should apply strategies that deaf caregivers and teachers use with their young deaf children to facilitate their children’s language development.
- Identify at least three Deaf Gain contributions to society
- Describe why it is important to use visual strategies for spoken and sign language
- List at least three visual strategies Deaf adults use for effective communication
Presentation:
3420032_15592ElaineGale.pdf
Handouts:
3420032_15592ElaineGale.pdf
Transcripts:
3420032_15592ElaineGale.docx
Presenters/Authors
Elaine Gale
(), Hunter College, CUNY, egale@hunter.cuny.edu;
Elaine Gale is an associate professor and program leader of the deaf and hard of hearing teacher preparation program at Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY). She is currently the chair of the Deaf Leadership International Alliance (DLIA), an organization established to advocate deaf adults collaborating with professionals and connecting with young deaf children and their families. Her research experiences include joint attention, theory of mind, and sign language development. At present, she is the Lead Investigator for the Hunter College consortium on a research project titled Family ASL: Bimodal Bilingual Acquisition by Deaf Children of Hearing Parents supported by the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Amber Martin
(), Hunter College, CUNY, am2631@hunter.cuny.edu;
Dr. Amber Martin is a faculty member in the department of psychology at Hunter College. She runs the Cognition Language and Sign Laboratory where she studies language acquisition and cognitive development in deaf children. She serves on the board of St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf in Brooklyn.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.