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Getting
Started with Early Intervention
Other
Parents and Support Organizations
ASDC
Snapshots: Increasing Literacy
Skills with Your Deaf Toddler
 As
your child initiates activities and responds to you, expand
his/her language by adding new words and new ideas.
Add new words and new ideas to your sentences when you speak
and sign. For example, your child says, "Kitty."
You say and sign, "Yes, I see Kitty." Then you
could add, "Kitty is on the window. He is saying 'Meow.'"
Talking with your child helps her gain control of language
and prepares her for reading. When you read to your child,
involve him in conversations. Relate what is on the page
to something in his life. Say and sign, "the boy has
a blue shirt. You have a green shirt."
A good way to stimulate your child's
thinking is to offer choices. Choices also encourage your
toddler to communicate. Point to some books. Say or
sign, "Which one?" Let your child pick the story
she likes best.
Talk and sign with your toddler
all the time! Cleaning, gardening, sewing and setting
the table: any activity can be a time to share communication.
Many toys and activities encourage
reading, writing, and speaking. Let your child play
with alphabet blocks and magnetic letters. Make your own
letters, numbers, and words with crayons, pencils and paper.
Point to an object and name what you see. Talk about it.
For example, if you are sorting laundry, say, "This
is a towel." Show your child that towels go with wash
clothes, cups go with saucers, shoes go with socks and toothpaste
goes with a toothbrush.
Before you start any activity, get
rid of distractions.
Some Things to Remember:
- Your deaf baby needs to see
you more than a hearing baby. Deaf babies do not know
you are there without seeing you.
- Your deaf baby responds well
to movements. For example, he will watch the movements
and changing expressions of your eyes.
 Your
deaf baby uses your face to understand what you say. For
example, hearing babies learn the difference between a
question and an order by listening to their parent's voices
go up or down in pitch. Deaf infants watch their parents'
faces for a questioning facial expression or a firm, ordering
expression.
- Keep it simple. Show simple
objects and pictures to your infant. Babies become confused
when there is too much to look at. For example, your baby
will be more interested in one toy than in a chest full
of toys.
- Keep a diary of your child's
progress. Write down the many things you and your child
do together: Facial expressions I used and my child watched…My
child watched with interest when I…My child watched
my face and signed when I said these words…Words
I want to use with my child in the future are…Pictures
and things I want to show my child in the future are…Facial
expressions I want to show my child in the future are…
--Rosemary Garrity and Robert
Anthony, Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf
The
information sheets on this web page come to our site courtesy
of the American Society for Deaf Children (ASDC). ASDC would
like to share this information with all parents of children
who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The
American Society for Deaf Children can be reached at:
P.O. Box 3355, Gettysburg, PA 17325
717/334-7922 v/tty Business
717/334-8808 Fax
800/942-ASDC v/tty Parent Information and Referral
 
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