| Presenter Information: |
| Presenter 1: |
Name: Barbara DiGiovanni
Affiliation:
Barbara DiGiovanni, an ASL/English Bilingual Specialist at Rochester School for the Deaf,and has been teaching for more than 16 years. Raised in a Deaf family using ASL and with hearing grandparents using spoken English in the same household, she is fortunate having the experience of a true bilingual environment that allows her advance in academic and social areas of both “worlds”. She has two beautiful Deaf children, A.V. (age 11) and Brianna (age 9), who are also bilingual and have high literacy skills.
Barb obtained a BS degree Social Work and pursued her Master’s degree in teaching. Because of her passion in bilingual practices, she has developed bilingual materials using video technology and creative strategies with her students to gain comprehension in reading.
Barb is actively involved in giving presentations relating to classroom management issues and benefits of using signs from the start with Deaf babies using bilingual approach and resources with families.
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| Presenter 2: |
Name: Lisa DeWindt-Sommer
Affiliation:
Lisa DeWindt Sommer is currently the Family Service Specialist at the Rochester School for the Deaf (RSD) Outreach Center in Rochester, NY where she worked for the past seven years. For the past three years, she also served as the coordinator of the Shared Reading Project at RSD. Prior to joining
RSD, she worked as School Transition Counselor at the Newton North High
School in Newtonville, MA and Director of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services at the Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, MA.
Through these positions, Lisa developed her skills and experience in working with parents on transition issues. Lisa currently resides in Pittsford, NY with Mark, her husband and their two children.
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| Abstract Information: |
| Title: |
Using Bilingual Approach to Promote Literacy |
| Primary Track: |
3-Early Intervention
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| Keyword(s): |
American Sign Language, bilingual, literacy, support, resources |
Abstract: |
The most common reaction from parents when they learned that their child is deaf may be either grieving the fact that their child is not able to hear or denying the actual existence of deafness. Too often, they were led to believe that the use of listening devices would be sufficient to meet the child’s needs and that sign language was not considered a mandatory part of a Deaf child’s life. Today, the legislation has pushed for early newborn screening where earlier intervention is made more possible. Data collected for babies learning signs since birth had indicated higher IQ and better cognitive skills. It is believed that profoundly Deaf babies and toddlers, even those who have mild to moderate hearing loss and wear cochlear implants, will still benefit greatly by using American Sign Language (ASL). Parents have been in the dark about the significant choice of bilingual development by bridging ASL to English. Wealth of resources and the concept of bilingual approach will be shared for interventionists and other professionals involved in the field to provide guidance to parents. The Shared Reading Project needs to be introduced immediately to give new parents support on developing signing and literacy skills with their Deaf babies. The Fairview Learning program will also be discussed as a part of bilingual approach that will help parents of Deaf children gain better understanding and the benefits for their Deaf child’s language development. Several video clips will be shared to show the progress in literacy in both languages, ASL and English, that will include students from infancy to middle school aged children. |
| Presentation(s): |
Not Available
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| Handouts: |
Not Available
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