Apple Valley, MN — There is a significant lack of deaf education expertise within early childhood intervention programs, an important concern as the language development window is between infancy and three years of age. Deaf educational professionals often do not meet families of deaf children until this window has closed, often when the child starts school. I will use my fellowship to identify accurate research related to how deaf children acquire spoken language in conjunction with a sign language program. I plan to work with various early childhood intervention programs locally as well as within the medical/audiological areas to ensure accurate information is provided to families as they weigh their academic options for their deaf child.
