Although there is evidence that academic registers of English are important for hearing monolingual and multilingual learners as they develop through adolescence, there has been less research in this area with deaf and hard of hearing students. The current study sought to determine whether students who were exposed to American Sign Language (ASL) before age 5 experienced a different relationship between language and literacy skills (e.g. reading comprehension, reading fluency, academic English, ASL proficiency) as compared to students who learned ASL after age 5. Findings suggested that academic English was a predictor of reading comprehension across all students, though differences in language development seemed to exist between those who had early ASL and deaf parents as compared to students with later ASL exposure and/or hearing parents. Findings indicate the need to continued research in these areas and for increased opportunities for language learning during the earliest years of life.