Deaf children come from all races, classes, and backgrounds, but as a group they have a hard time learning to read and write. The more hearing a child has, the better the child performs on tests of reading ability. Parents who can communicate well with their deaf children help them to perform well at school, but beyond "good" communication, there are few specifics. Only about 10 percent of all deaf children have parents who are deaf. Research shows that, on average, the deaf children of deaf parents have better reading abilities than deaf children of hearing parents. Deaf children from middle-class, educated deaf families consistently perform well in reading and writing. For some deaf children, mainstreaming has been a disaster because they are isolated from other deaf children and adults, and their special needs cannot be addressed in classrooms designed primarily for hearing children. For others, it has brought new educational opportunities. Deaf children need to know how hearing people use reading and writing in everyday life. At the same time, they need to learn the uses of literacy among other deaf people. To develop literacy for deaf children, educators need to understand better what kinds of knowledge the children already have about reading and writing before they come to school, how they use sign language and finger spelling, and how they learn about speech. Deaf children must learn the rules of orthography. The first step in producing literacy for deaf children is to recognize that deaf children are not hearing children who do not hear, but children with special sets of knowledge. (Ten references are included.) (CML)