ERIC Number: EJ1458241
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Feb
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4669
EISSN: EISSN-1538-4764
Age-Expected Language and Academic Outcomes for Deaf Children with Hearing Caregivers
Erin Finton; Wyatte C. Hall; Michele Berke; Ronald Bye; Stuart Ikeda; Naomi Caselli
Journal of Special Education, v58 n4 p232-243 2025
While deaf children learning American Sign Language (ASL) from deaf caregivers generally develop along typical trajectories, some have been skeptical that deaf children who have hearing caregivers--the majority of deaf children--can similarly benefit from ASL exposure. This study tracked ASL fluency and academic achievement among a large sample of children for 4 years. Children with hearing caregivers who entered the school before age 3 (i.e., participated in early intervention) reliably had comparable academic achievement to deaf children who had deaf caregivers. The relationship between early entry and academic achievement was partially, but not entirely, mediated by increased ASL skills. The results should assuage concern that deaf children with hearing caregivers cannot benefit from sign language-focused bilingual education and instead illustrate that early bilingual education can have long-term benefits for academic growth.
Descriptors: Deafness, Caregivers, American Sign Language, Language Fluency, Academic Achievement, Bilingual Education, Student Characteristics, Individual Characteristics, Hard of Hearing
SAGE Publications and Hammill Institute on Disabilities. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California (Fremont)
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Measures of Academic Progress
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A