Resources for Children and Families
The Decibels Foundation is pleased to share the following resources for families with children who are deaf and hard of hearing. We hope you will find this information useful.
Associations and Programs
- Alexander Graham Bell Association
- Boston Children's Hospital Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program
- Family Sign Language Program
- Hearing First
- Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- Massachusetts Universal Newborn Hearing Screening
- Northern Essex Community College Shared Reading Saturdays
- Supporting Success for Children with Hearing Loss
Articles and Books
- If We Could Improve Just ONE Thing by Karen Anderson
- Auditory Brain Development: The Foundation of Spoken Communication and Literacy for All Children by Carol Flexer
- The Milestones of Your Little Rocket Scientist's Development
- University of Texas: Deaf Infants’ Gaze Behavior More Advanced Than That of Hearing Infants
- MIT: Back-and-forth exchanges boost children’s brain response to language
- Signing Exact English by Gerilee Gustafson and Esther Zawolkow, 2002
- Thirty Million Words: Building a Child's Brain by Dana Suskind, 2015
- Children with Hearing Loss: Developing Listening and Talking Birth to Six by Elizabeth B Cole and Carol Flexor, 2015
Demonstrations: Simulated Listening with Hearing Loss and Devices
Cochlear Implant Resources
- Cochlear Implant Help Cochlear Implant HELP is here to help you wherever you are in your cochlear implant journey. Whether you are just starting to research cochlear implants online or are a seasoned user looking for ways to connect to your favorite piece of electronic equipment, Cochlear Implant HELP has what you need.
- Rehabilitation Resources from CochlearInformation and practical exercises are provided for different ages and stages to help you make the most of your hearing journey.
- Sound Foundation for Babies Sound Foundation for Babies is a habilitation tool supporting parents for the first 12 months following cochlear implantation. The tool consists of 40 self-contained sets of goals (in a week-by-week format) in the areas of audition, receptive language, expressive language and speech, as well as a song and story book.
- Sound Foundation for ToddlersSound Foundation for Toddlers follows on from Sound Foundation for Babies, supporting parents through the second year after cochlear implantation. This resource is designed for children of 24 to 36 months of age, who receive their cochlear implant around 12 months of age.
Education and Accessibility
- Accessibility Tips for Remote Learning at HomeFrom The Learning Center for the Deaf, Public School Partnerships, view these tips for effective remote learning for students that are deaf and hard of hearing.
- The Described and Captioned Media ProgramFree Remote Learning resources for families and educators. Families and educators who have at least one student with a disability can register for free membership and access over 8,000 captioned and described educational videos. Teachers can create Student Accounts, group students together in Classes, and assign videos to students and Classes. Users can instantly choose “captioned” or “described” with the Language/Accessibility button found under the video player.
- The National Deaf CenterThe National Deaf Center developed a guideline to ensure that educators provide equitable and accessible course content for their deaf and hard of hearing students in the virtual learning environment. Parents can share with their child's educators as needed.
- How To Turn on Closed CaptioningInstructions for how to turn on closed captioning on YouTube and some other platforms that schools use for virtual learning.
Speech and Language Support
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Child Talk - A Pediatric Speech-Language Therapist's Blog
Parents often wonder how many words their children should have at different ages. This seems like a simple question, but there's not always a simple answer. Vocabulary development can be relatively variable among children of the same ages. However, there are some general guidelines. - How Many Words Should My Child Be Saying? A Quick Guide to Vocabulary Development
- Baby Signs - Wach short videos to learn with this Baby Sign Language Dictionary.
- All About Audiology
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American Society for Deaf Children
The American Society for Deaf Children has programs that will help you learn sign language to support your child’s language and communication. There is a great assortment of videos, games, ASL read-a-longs, and more. -
Baylor University - "Using Music to Support Language Development in Children with Hearing Loss"
This resource discusses the effects hearing loss has on language development and gives a description of different kinds of hearing loss. How a multicultural approach using music benefits children with hearing loss and what steps parents can take to include music in speech therapy at home are also highlighted in detail within the article. -
Boston University - Deaf Education Library
Comprehensive list of ASL resources for deaf education. - Central Institute for the Deaf (CID)
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College Consensus - Resources For Deaf And Hard Of Hearing College Students
Available resources for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students pursuing higher education opportunities. -
The Hanen Centre
This is a non-profit that is dedicated to providing training and resources for professionals who work with children with language disorders, as well as many resources for parents. They have a wide variety of resources that address early language development, social skills and literacy. -
Hear Builder
This educational software targets following directions, phonological awareness, sequencing, and auditory memory skills. - Hearing First Lots of great resources, including a whole community message board, loads of handouts, and a podcast (Powering Potential). They are free but require you to create an account for access.Registration: link Listening and Spoken Language Strategies and Techniques: link
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The Learning Center for the Deaf
The Learning Center for the Deaf provides behavioral health services statewide, Early Intervention programs and family support, newborn hearing screenings, and mainstream school services, as well as two school programs and community ASL classes. www.TLCDeaf.org
Listen with Lindsay
- Website and blog
- She also has an excellent roundup of ASL resources link
- Mommy Speech Therapy Free speech and articulation worksheets.
- Sign ItFun, online courses in ASL. There is a free basic sign language course and other programs are available for purchase.
- Super Duper Inc.Provides many learning materials for professionals and parents.
Free and Printable Materials
Tools, Charts and Checklists
Apps
- ASL NookA Deaf family shares quick video clips with different signing themes.
- ASL StorytellingThis YouTube channel includes stories read by professional ASL interpreters with Closed Captioning.
- Author Cece BellDuring the Covid-19 pandemic, author Cece Bell (El Deafo) was providing an engaging ‘’inside story” chapter by chapter on YouTube. Families can subscribe if desired. El Deafo is an autobiographical graphic novel enjoyed by many families of children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
- Author Laura Brown on Twitter @AuthorLBrown Not everyone is on Twitter, but for those who are, author Laura Brown is deaf, teaches sign language and shares on Twitter routinely. She raises awareness about ASL. Families can learn to sign from a deaf individual. Her Twitter handle is @AuthorLBrown. You can also use the hashtag #aslsignoftheday.
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My Play Home
Fun, interactive app for preschool aged children. Ask your child to tell you what the characters in the house are doing to work on sentence structure, language formulation or articulation skills. - Articulation Station Colorful flashcards, matching games and stories that target specific speech sounds for articulation practice.Also look for these, (if you are using these at home, it is important to sit with your child to model/stimulate language): Toca Boca, Peek-A-Boo Barn, The Listening Room
Social and Emotional Support
- Hands & VoicesHands & Voices is a non-profit, parent-driven organization dedicated to supporting families of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.
- Alexander Graham Bell AssociationAG Bell has a list of resources for continued learning at home and language-based activities for children.
- Chad Ruffin, MDDr. Ruffin is an orally deaf otolaryngologist, has an informative website with a page specific to deaf and hard of hearing adults and children.
- The Federation for Children with Special NeedsThe Federation for Children with Special Needs is always an expert provider of information and training for parents and professionals.
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Mindfulness
Mindfulness, intentionally bringing your attention to what is happening in the present moment, and meditation, are useful and free ways to manage stress and to provide yourself with a little bit of self-care. Many people want to try this but are nervous because they do not know how or have never done it before. The link below will bring you to a website of thousands of free meditations, guided meditations, podcasts, lectures, music and more for all levels of interest and experience.There is also an app for your phone of the same name: https://insighttimer.com/
Facebook is a quick and easy way to follow news and information, but the right pages can also create a sense of support as you become part of a virtual community of people with shared interests. Some of our state agencies and programs have pages that make it easier to stay current with the vast content being created and shared right now.
Facebook Groups
There are many parents and caregivers of children who are deaf and hard of hearing who are going through these times as you are. Or some who may need to hear what you have done to get through; highs and lows and successes and struggles. These pages are well moderated and very welcoming.
- Reading TogetherReading together continues to be a primary vehicle for working on any and all language milestones. Many wonderful stories are available on Youtube (one story is highlighted below). For older children, reading content material together is also of great benefit. Parents are encouraged to pay special attention to the language of the directions and questions that children must navigate. (Keep reading for pleasure too!) On StorylineOnline, stories read by members of the Screen Actors Guild. There are classics and new high quality children’s literature and picture books.
- ASL Stories Directory