How to Help a Deaf Child Learn to Read

Deaf children can learn to read.

Deafness is a handicap that affects hearing, not intellect. Deaf children are often eager to learn to read as it opens new worlds of exploration to them. Unlike children who hear the spoken word and use phonics as a method to learn to read, deaf children will relate words to corresponding visual items. Before a deaf child can learn to read, he must learn to identify common items through sign language and lip reading. These skills are imperative for early reading success.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Picture books
• Word cards
• Sign language resources

1. Start deaf children as soon as possible in pre-reading skills that will serve as the basis for reading in later years. A non-deaf infant is learning to identify objects at this age by listening to the way the word is pronounced. Teach a deaf child to identify the same objects and actions through a combination of signing and lip reading. This is an imperative pre-reading step.

2. Increase your own sign language skills in order to teach a deaf child to read. The American Sign Language (ASL) standard form of signing provides a nationally recognized program of hand signs that deaf children learn easily. Work on your own signing skills, not only to teach your child but also to communicate with other deaf children that he will meet in future schools and play environments.

3. Use picture books to teach deaf children the relationship between an object and its written label. Books for very young children feature animals, colors and shapes with the corresponding word. Have the child look at the picture, point to the word and then have him look at your mouth while you speak the word slowly and deliberately.

4. Reinforce the written word with sign language. A deaf child depends upon relating the corresponding hand sign with the written word.

5. Use letter cards to illustrate how individual letters form words. Deaf children quickly learn to place the letters in alphabetic order.

6. Demonstrate the difference between consonants and vowels by putting the appropriate letter cards into separate piles and show how a vowel often follows one or two consonants. At this stage, a deaf child should also study often-used consonant combinations by comparing words such as “train, truck, trolley, trooper” and others that use the common “tr” combination. Teach a new combination every day.

7. Increase your child’s written vocabulary by adding new words daily. Repetition and committing basic words to memory is the key to reading success for any child and deaf children are no different in that manner. As you introduce new words, take the time to refresh previous words and build a large written vocabulary.

Tips & Warnings

• Locate local groups with parents of other deaf children to share techniques.

• Don't underestimate the importance of sign language in a deaf child's reading education. If you're not fluent in sign language, take your child to early education classes where instructors use sign language to teach deaf children.

Resources

• Video American Sign Language video dictionary.
• Additional reading resources for deaf children.