17/07/2019
While the article references "American Sign Language", the research has been conducted in countries - Australia, the Netherlands, England, Scotland - where the sign languages are different.
It is important as educators that there is constant review and reflection on how our students learn and retain information. Only then can we guide them towards successful learning.
Some key research findings so far:
• The deaf students who perform best academically usually are the ones whose parents have effectively communicated with them from an early age.
• Children who sign early on generally outperform those who do not sign during their early school years.
• Early language skills—both American Sign Language and spoken language—correlate with reading ability, with no evidence that one is necessarily better than the other.
Research at NTID is shifting the way deaf students are being educated. Recent research suggests that even with qualified interpreters in the mainstreamed classroom, educators need to understand deaf children learn differently, are more visual, and often process information differently than their hea...
