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Exciting News from the Deaf Bilingual Coalition

Saturday, 20 February 2010

Great news! The DBC has secured a meeting with top Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) directors and EHDI conference planners. The meeting will be held during the EHDI conference on March 2, 2010. Representatives from other organizations will be joining with the DBC to advocate to ensure that parents of Deaf babies are getting full and accurate information regarding bilingualism so that their children can be given opportunities to develop language through both ASL and English, on par with their hearing peers. Everything begins with language. This is only a first step. The goal is to educate those whose activities have an impact on the lives of Deaf infants and children, find common ground, and begin partnerships that include bilingualism: American Sign Language and English.

THE DBC BELIEVES THAT NO DEAF CHILD SHOULD BE LEFT BEHIND.

Study in France Shows High Rate of Complications for CI Usage

Thursday, 18 February 2010

A recent study of cochlear implant usage in France shows a relatively high rate of medical complications of almost ten percent for one group studied.

Excerpt:

"The study included 434 children in France who were followed for an average of 5.5 years after they underwent cochlear implantation. Complications were classified as early (within eight days after surgery) or delayed (more than eight days after surgery), and minor or major (requiring hospital re-admission and/or extended hospital stay). Forty-three patients (9.9 percent) experienced complications, including 28 with delayed complications, with an average delay of 2.2 years. Of those 43 patients, 13 (30.2 percent) required cochlear re-implantation."

Link:

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/635028.html

According to Zero to Three: "Brain Development"

Friday, 04 December 2009

What is a "critical period" in brain development?

photo courtesy of Baby Signs Pruning or selection of active neural circuits takes place throughout life, but is far more common in early childhood. Animal studies have shown that there are certain windows of time during which the young are especially sensitive to their environment: newborn mice must experience normal whisker sensation in the first few days of life or they will develop abnormal tactile sensitivity in the face region; cats must be allowed normal visual input during the first three months or their vision will be permanently impaired; and monkeys need consistent social contact during the first six months or they will end up extremely emotionally disturbed. Many of the same critical periods appear to hold for human development, although we are less certain about their exact length. Thus, babies also require normal visual input or they may suffer permanent impairment; children born with crossed or "lazy" eyes will fail to develop full acuity and depth perception if the problem is not promptly corrected. Language skills depend critically on verbal input (or sign language, for babies with hearing impairments) in the first few years or certain skills, particularly grammar and pronunciation, may be permanently impacted. The critical period for language-learning begins to close around five years of age and ends around puberty. This is why individuals who learn a new language after puberty almost always speak it with a foreign accent.

Photo courtesy of Baby Signs.

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DBC in Action

Alaska Deaf Council

Governor's Council on Disabilities & Special Education
The Office of Children's Services

February 4, 5, and 6, 2010

The DBC presented to the Governor's Council, school district educational administrators and staff, the community and parents in Anchorage, Alaska. In attendance was First Lady, Sandy Parnell. The presentations focused on advocating for quality early intervention and education for families of Deaf babies so that their Deaf children can be bilingual in ASL and English.