For Immediate Release: AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR DEAF CHILDREN ANNOUNCES SIGNING TIME’S RACHEL COLEMAN AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Washington, D.C. - February 5, 2018 - The American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC), the oldest national non-profit organization providing resources to parents of deaf children, announced today that its board of directors has selected Rachel de Azevedo Coleman as the organization’s Executive Director. “After a nationwide search we are thrilled to have Rachel as our new Executive Director,” said Board President Avonne Brooker-Rutowski. “We are confident that Rachel’s experien ..read more

A New Language: Fun, Challenging, and a Blessing for the Whole Family  My name is Emily. I am the wife of a very busy medical student and a mother of two amazing daughters. My oldest daughter Lottie Belle is 3 years old, and her little sister Poppy Rae is 9 months old. Poppy was born with permanent bilateral hearing loss due to misshapen cochleas. As of right now she has “mild” loss in one ear and “moderate-severe” in the other. There is a chance that Poppy’s hearing loss is progressive, but time will only tell when or if she will lose more hearing. Amongst all the unknowns of Poppy's hea ..read more

Will learning both ASL and English delay my child's language development? Get the facts here! Reprinted with permission from the authors: Unfortunately, many erroneous beliefs still persist with regard to language acquisition in bilingual children. The above infographic was created to help dispel these myths and to encourage practices that promote multilingualism. Please help by downloading and posting this image in public spaces, including social media platforms and classrooms, in order to educate the public. To obtain the infographic, right click the image and select “save image as” to save ..read more

April 15 is National ASL Day My reflections about American Sign Language (as shared on Facebook today) 1997: As a parent of a 1 year old, deaf child, I was told, "Don't bother trying to learn ASL, it's too hard and you'll never learn it." (Parent Infant Program - Early Intervention Worker) 2004: As the parent of a deaf child, who just woke up from cochlear implant surgery, I was told, "You need to stop signing with her." (ENT surgeon) They have been adamant. It's time WE are just as adamant. "If they sign, they will never speak," IS A LIE. ASL is the BEST option for deaf child ..read more

Deaf History Month Mental Floss shared this fun video about the story of American Sign Language.  In celebration of Deaf History Month, we are posting it here for YOU. Enjoy! Start learning ASL now Psst! If you are a parent living in the U.S. with a child who is deaf or hard of hearing that is 36 months or younger, click here to apply for your free online ASL class.  ..read more

My life changed the day I learned that my daughter, Leah, was deaf. If you've recently learned that your own child is deaf or hard of hearing, this video is for you.  Learn American Sign Language ..read more

It's Deaf History Month Do you ever wonder how American Sign Language got started? Watch this video on the history of ASL and learn some surprising facts about this beautiful language.  Learn American Sign Language Online  ASL for Kids ASL for Adults (and high school students, too!)   ..read more

Bilingual Benefits Watch this video to find out what researchers have discovered about the powerful brain-boosting benefits of learning a second language for children and adults. Learning ASL American Sign Language is a linguistically complete language*. Like English and Spanish, it has its own unique vocabulary, syntax, grammar, idioms, and even dialects. Because ASL is a visual-spatial language, it engages both the left and the right hemisphere during use*.  Benefits of Sign Language for Kids Research shows that learning sign language can have a positive impact on the cognitive developm ..read more