How to Teach Deaf People How to Read
Suffering from a hearing impairment has a significant effect on a person's life. It can make everyday tasks more difficult and the acquisition of requisite skills, such as reading, more challenging. There are, however, a number of techniques that can be effective in helping the deaf and hard of hearing learn to read. These techniques present the skills necessary to reading in an accessible and understandable way and allow the hearing impaired population to learn to read despite their limitations.
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Things You'll Need
- Manipulative Visual Language tools
- Educational videos
- Reading skills based computer programs
- Dialog Journal
Instructions
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Try Manipulative Visual Language tools.One useful device to consider in teaching the deaf population to read is the Manipulative Visual Language system.This tool allows the deaf learner to replace the sounds that they are unable to hear with colorful images. This system consists of brightly colored manipulative shapes made of plastic or wood that contain visual images as well as words. This allows the deaf learner to capitalize on their sense of sight and use it to make up for what they are missing due to their disability.
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Acquire educational videos. Educational videos are an incredibly useful tool in the development of early literacy skills. There are a wide array of videos on the market that aim to help the hearing impaired learn to read. These videos feature sign language accompanying written text to help learners connect concepts they already know to new information. A particularly useful set is the "Read with Me" series produced by Boys and Girls Town.
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Consider the use of computer software. There are tons of computer programs available which aim to help individuals learn to read. These programs can be highly effective in assisting the deaf population in learning the skills necessary to read successfully. The programs are typically highly engaging and the fast-paced program allows learners to acquire a large amount of information quite quickly.
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Use a dialog journal. Once a deaf individual has learned the basics of reading, a dialog journal can be very helpful in ensuring continued literacy growth. A dialog journal is a journal in which two people communicate back and forth. In a dialog journal, the learner will write to the teacher and vice versa. Because of the high interest nature of the activity, it is frequently successful in producing academic growths in students who experience reading difficulties. Deaf learners in particular frequently find this type of journal enjoyable and even liberating because it gives them the opportunity to communicate with an individual who they might not otherwise be able to reach.
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