Skip to content Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Persons

ASL classes

NVRC is planning to offer a free, online 4 week intro to sign language class for parents starting in mid-February. We would like your input into what should be covered.

Please fill out our short survey to provide input.

Thank you.

 

 

The New York Times
By TINA DONVITO

A long-simmering controversy erupted this spring over how deaf children should communicate.

It started when The Washington Post ran a story on Nyle DiMarco, the deaf “Dancing With the Stars contestant who is also an advocate for American Sign Language (ASL). When Meredith Sugar, president of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, retorted that ASL was becoming obsolete in light of better hearing aid and cochlear implant technology, the arguing went public. But that debate was really just the latest manifestation of a longstanding conflict among deaf people and parents of deaf children: Should children be fitted for hearing aids and taught to speak, or should they use sign language? Or a combination of both?

As the parent of a 2-year-old whose hearing loss was recently diagnosed, the arguments only heightened my anxiety about how to address my son Sam’s needs.

Read more  . . . Parents of Deaf Children

 

 

HuffPost - Accessibility
The Blog
by Mark Drolsbaugh
Author, public speaker, and Deaf advocate

05/24/2016

“Yep,” the audiologist confirmed. “Your son does indeed have a hearing loss.”

“That makes sense,” I said. “I’m Deaf, Melanie’s Deaf. I guess our kid’s not going to skip the family curse.”

Melanie and I smiled. After a brief pause, so did the audiologist. For a moment I wondered if she thought there was something wrong with us. It must have been odd for her to witness a nonchalant response along the lines of “How about that? Another Deaf Drolsbaugh.”

 

The audiology exam was the easy part. The hard part was the first IEP meeting the following school year. Melanie and I walked into that with no idea what to expect.

We got ambushed.

School staff, administrators, and representatives from the school district took turns telling us what to do with our Deaf child.

 

Read more . . . Parents of Deaf Children