LEAD-K

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The Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K) campaign is a grassroots organization. Its mission is to work towards kindergarten readiness for deaf and hard-of-hearing children by promoting access to both American Sign Language (ASL) and English. [1] LEAD-K defines kindergarten readiness as perceptive and expressive proficiency in language by the age of five. Deaf and hard-of-hearing children are at high risk of being cut off from language, language deprivation, which can have far-reaching consequences in many areas of development (e.g., cognitive development, socio-emotional wellbeing, academic outcomes). [2] There are a variety of methods to expose Deaf and hard-of-hearing children to language, including hearing aids, cochlear implants, sign language, and speech and language interventions such as auditory/verbal therapy and Listening and Spoken Language therapy. [2] The LEAD-K initiative was established in response to perceived high rates of delayed language acquisition or language deprivation displayed among that demographic, leading to low proficiency in English skills later in life. [1]

Contents

The general mission of the group is to promote the use of American Sign Language by Deaf and hard-of-hearing children as early as possible. It has been met with a wide variety of responses, including pushback from organizations and families that promote Listening and Spoken Language for deaf children. [3] The pushback exists due to this flawed research where it used an inappropriate methodology to show that children who receive cochlear implants and appropriate therapy tend to learn language at the same level as their hearing peers. [4]

Approach

The LEAD-K organization approaches the goal of equal language access in two primary ways: by providing information and statistics on the language skills of deaf and hard-of-hearing children, and working with other groups to change public policy at the state level. [5]

Awareness

There are a number of materials that have been published by LEAD-K providing information about different aspects of language acquisition and education of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. These include fact sheets summarizing current statistics on English proficiency, definitions of language development milestones, and clarifications of common misconceptions. [1] There is also an active social media campaign, mainly on the social media platform Facebook, through which the organization shares information on these subjects and interacts with other individuals and groups as they respond to LEAD-K action. [1]

Legislation

The LEAD-K organization has published an official model legislation to be followed by states currently pursuing action, which includes a number of guidelines and stipulations for both schools and parents. As stated by the organization, the goal of these guidelines are to ensure sufficient language skills in children entering the education system by promoting access to both ASL and English. [6] The model consists of two parts with a total of 12 subsections, which outline the procedures that states may follow to establish and assess language development milestones and approach the education of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. [6]

State action

As of May 11,2018, according to Sheri Ann Farinha, LEAD-K director and CEO of Norcal, an agency that provides services to Deaf people in California, [7] the states of California, Hawaii, Kansas, Oregon, South Dakota, Georgia, and Louisiana have signed versions of a LEAD-K bill. Michigan, Rhode Island, Mississippi, New Hampshire, West Virginia, Missouri, Alabama, and Texas have rejected versions of the bill. [8]

The national LEAD-K campaign team works with individual states to create national campaign state teams, composed of local educators, parents, and other community members. These volunteers reach out to the community and legislative members in an effort to gain support for the bill. The purpose of state teams is to tailor the bill to the existing educational legislation of a given state, and assist in efforts to promote the bill on a local scale. [9]

Thirty states have national campaign state teams including Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. [10] [11]

Responses

The LEAD-K initiative has been met with both support and opposition. Several national groups have issued critical responses to the LEAD-K initiative. Such organizations include the AG Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), and the American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACIA). [12]

Support

Nyle Dimarco

Nyle Dimarco is an American actor, model, dancer, and Deaf community activist. He is currently the official celebrity spokesperson for LEAD-K. [13] Dimarco supports the educational and legislative efforts of the LEAD-K organization in interviews and social media outreach, as well as through the Nyle Dimarco Foundation. [13]

NAD

The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) has partnered with LEAD-K since the 2016 NAD annual conference, where they named it one of the association's top five priorities. The NAD has stated that it agrees with the goals of the LEAD-K organization, and has since commenced efforts to spread awareness of the legislation and the organization itself. [14]

NBDA

As of March 12, 2018, the National Black Deaf Advocates (NBDA) association has partnered with LEAD-K in promoting the bill. They have voiced support for the legislation and have launched informational campaigns on their website and on social media. [15]

Opposition

AG Bell

The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, an organization that promotes the Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) communication for deaf children and adults, has historically not supported initiatives that advocate utilizing sign language as the primary means of communication for deaf and hard of hearing people. In September 2017, LEAD-K published an open letter to the AG Bell Association stating concern over the contentious relationship between the Association and LEAD-K, as well as the Deaf community at large. [16] In communication following the letter, the two groups agreed to hold a meeting in October 2018. [17] As a result, the groups agreed on amendments to the model legislation intended to ensure that the information provided to parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children regarding communication options and language milestones is complete and unbiased. [18]

ASHA

In an official response to the LEAD-K initiative, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association states its opposition to the proposed legislation which it deems redundant. ASHA's response emphasizes the right of parents to choose language modality for their children, with the establishment of a comprehensive information resource for parents and educators. [19] ASHA also recognizes the authority of existing state-established agencies responsible for the creation of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) to protect parents' rights and services to children, which LEAD-K advocates the reconfiguration of. [6]

ACIA

Following an open letter addressed to the American Cochlear Implant Alliance published in February 2019 by the LEAD-K organization, the ACIA penned a response expressing disagreement with the legislative goals of LEAD-K. [20] The response also establishes the alliance's position supporting the early introduction of cochlear implants and the role of family choice in regards to language modality. The letter states opposition to LEAD-K on several issues, primarily the level of importance of ASL access to the language development of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

The three models of deafness are rooted in either social or biological sciences. These are the cultural model, the social model, and themedicalmodel. The model through which the deaf person is viewed can impact how they are treated as well as their own self perception. In the cultural model, the Deaf belong to a culture in which they are neither infirm nor disabled, but rather have their own fully grammatical and natural language. In the medical model, deafness is viewed undesirable, and it is to the advantage of the individual as well as society as a whole to "cure" this condition. The social model seeks to explain difficulties experienced by deaf individuals that are due to their environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cochlear implant</span> Prosthesis

A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted neuroprosthesis that provides a person who has moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with sound perception. With the help of therapy, cochlear implants may allow for improved speech understanding in both quiet and noisy environments. A CI bypasses acoustic hearing by direct electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve. Through everyday listening and auditory training, cochlear implants allow both children and adults to learn to interpret those signals as speech and sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf culture</span> Culture of deaf persons

Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as a cultural label especially within the culture, the word deaf is often written with a capital D and referred to as "big D Deaf" in speech and sign. When used as a label for the audiological condition, it is written with a lower case d. Carl G. Croneberg coined the term "Deaf Culture" and he was the first to discuss analogies between Deaf and hearing cultures in his appendices C/D of the 1965 Dictionary of American Sign Language.

Cued speech is a visual system of communication used with and among deaf or hard-of-hearing people. It is a phonemic-based system which makes traditionally spoken languages accessible by using a small number of handshapes, known as cues, in different locations near the mouth to convey spoken language in a visual format. The National Cued Speech Association defines cued speech as "a visual mode of communication that uses hand shapes and placements in combination with the mouth movements and speech to make the phonemes of spoken language look different from each other." It adds information about the phonology of the word that is not visible on the lips. This allows people with hearing or language difficulties to visually access the fundamental properties of language. It is now used with people with a variety of language, speech, communication, and learning needs. It is not a sign language such as American Sign Language (ASL), which is a separate language from English. Cued speech is considered a communication modality but can be used as a strategy to support auditory rehabilitation, speech articulation, and literacy development.

Audism as described by deaf activists is a form of discrimination directed against deaf people, which may include those diagnosed as deaf from birth, or otherwise. Tom L. Humphries coined the term in his doctoral dissertation in 1975, but it did not start to catch on until Harlan Lane used it in his writing. Humphries originally applied audism to individual attitudes and practices; whereas Lane broadened the term to include oppression of deaf people.

A child of deaf adult, often known by the acronym coda, is a person who was raised by one or more deaf parent or legal guardian. Ninety percent of children born to deaf adults can hear normally, resulting in a significant and widespread community of codas around the world, although whether the child is hearing, D/deaf, or HH has no effect on the definition. The acronym koda is sometimes used to refer to codas under the age of 18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Learning Center for the Deaf</span> Private, publicly funded school

The Learning Center for the Deaf (TLC) is a Framingham, Massachusetts-based non-profit organization and school serving deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing</span>

The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, also known as AG Bell, is an organization that aims to promote listening and spoken language among people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with chapters located throughout the United States and a network of international affiliates.

In the United States, deaf culture was born in Connecticut in 1817 at the American School for the Deaf, when a deaf teacher from France, Laurent Clerc, was recruited by Thomas Gallaudet to help found the new institution. Under the guidance and instruction of Clerc in language and ways of living, deaf American students began to evolve their own strategies for communication and for living, which became the kernel for the development of American Deaf culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf education</span> Education of the hearing-impaired

Deaf education is the education of students with any degree of hearing loss or deafness. This may involve, but does not always, individually-planned, systematically-monitored teaching methods, adaptive materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help students achieve a higher level of self-sufficiency and success in the school and community than they would achieve with a typical classroom education. There are different language modalities used in educational setting where students get varied communication methods. A number of countries focus on training teachers to teach deaf students with a variety of approaches and have organizations to aid deaf students.

Prelingual deafness refers to deafness that occurs before learning speech or language. Speech and language typically begin to develop very early with infants saying their first words by age one. Therefore, prelingual deafness is considered to occur before the age of one, where a baby is either born deaf or loses hearing before the age of one. This hearing loss may occur for a variety of reasons and impacts cognitive, social, and language development.

The deaf community over time has worked to improve the educational system for those who are deaf and hard of hearing. The history of deaf education dates back to Ancient Egypt where the deaf were respected and revered. In contrast, those who were deaf in Ancient Greece were considered a burden to society and put to death. The educational aspects of the deaf community has evolved tremendously and still continues to grow as the science of linguistics, educational research, new technologies, and laws, on local, national, and international levels are steadily being introduced. Strategies, however, remain controversial.

Language acquisition is a natural process in which infants and children develop proficiency in the first language or languages that they are exposed to. The process of language acquisition is varied among deaf children. Deaf children born to deaf parents are typically exposed to a sign language at birth and their language acquisition follows a typical developmental timeline. However, at least 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents who use a spoken language at home. Hearing loss prevents many deaf children from hearing spoken language to the degree necessary for language acquisition. For many deaf children, language acquisition is delayed until the time that they are exposed to a sign language or until they begin using amplification devices such as hearing aids or cochlear implants. Deaf children who experience delayed language acquisition, sometimes called language deprivation, are at risk for lower language and cognitive outcomes. However, profoundly deaf children who receive cochlear implants and auditory habilitation early in life often achieve expressive and receptive language skills within the norms of their hearing peers; age at implantation is strongly and positively correlated with speech recognition ability. Early access to language through signed language or technology have both been shown to prepare children who are deaf to achieve fluency in literacy skills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deaf rights movement</span>

The Deaf rights movement encompasses a series of social movements within the disability rights and cultural diversity movements that encourages deaf and hard of hearing to push society to adopt a position of equal respect for them. Acknowledging that those who were Deaf or hard of hearing had rights to obtain the same things as those hearing lead this movement. Establishing an educational system to teach those with Deafness was one of the first accomplishments of this movement. Sign language, as well as cochlear implants, has also had an extensive impact on the Deaf community. These have all been aspects that have paved the way for those with Deafness, which began with the Deaf Rights movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nyle DiMarco</span> American model, actor, and activist

Nyle DiMarco is an American model, actor, and deaf activist. In 2015, DiMarco was the winner of The CW's reality television series America's Next Top Model in season 22, becoming the second male winner and the first deaf winner. In the following year, he and professional dance partner Peta Murgatroyd were the winners of the ABC televised dance competition Dancing with the Stars in season 22.

Language deprivation in deaf and hard-of-hearing children is a delay in language development that occurs when sufficient exposure to language, spoken or signed, is not provided in the first few years of a deaf or hard of hearing child's life, often called the critical or sensitive period. Early intervention, parental involvement, and other resources all work to prevent language deprivation. Children who experience limited access to language—spoken or signed—may not develop the necessary skills to successfully assimilate into the academic learning environment. There are various educational approaches for teaching deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Decisions about language instruction is dependent upon a number of factors including extent of hearing loss, availability of programs, and family dynamics.

Language exposure for children is the act of making language readily available and accessible during the critical period for language acquisition. Deaf and hard of hearing children, when compared to their hearing peers, tend to face more hardships when it comes to ensuring that they will receive accessible language during their formative years. Therefore, deaf and hard of hearing children are more likely to have language deprivation which causes cognitive delays. Early exposure to language enables the brain to fully develop cognitive and linguistic skills as well as language fluency and comprehension later in life. Hearing parents of deaf and hard of hearing children face unique barriers when it comes to providing language exposure for their children. Yet, there is a lot of research, advice, and services available to those parents of deaf and hard of hearing children who may not know how to start in providing language.

Treatment depends on the specific cause if known as well as the extent, type, and configuration of the hearing loss. Most hearing loss results from age and noise, is progressive, and irreversible. There are currently no approved or recommended treatments to restore hearing; it is commonly managed through using hearing aids. A few specific types of hearing loss are amenable to surgical treatment. In other cases, treatment involves addressing underlying pathologies, but any hearing loss incurred may be permanent.

According to The Deaf Unit Cairo, there are approximately 1.2 million deaf and hard of hearing individuals in Egypt aged five and older. Deafness can be detected in certain cases at birth or throughout childhood in terms of communication delays and detecting language deprivation. The primary language used amongst the deaf population in Egypt is Egyptian Sign Language (ESL) and is widely used throughout the community in many environments such as schools, deaf organizations, etc. Ths article focuses on the many different aspects of Egyptian life and the impacts it has on the deaf community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deafness in the Philippines</span>

The Philippines is an archipelago comprising over 7,000 islands in southeast Asia. Its capital city is Manila, on the island of Luzon. The Philippines has heavy Spanish and American influence, since Spain and the United States conquered the Philippines. They gained full independence from the United States on July 4, 1946. Over 112,000,000 populate the island country, and around 121,000 Filipinos are Deaf.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "LEAD-K Campaign" (PDF).
  2. 1 2 Hall, Matthew L.; Hall, Wyatte C.; Caselli, Naomi K. (2019-03-13). "Deaf children need language, not (just) speech". First Language. 39 (4): 367–395. doi: 10.1177/0142723719834102 . ISSN   0142-7237.
  3. ↑ "Hearing First".
  4. ↑ "Early Sign Language Exposure and Cochlear Implantation Benefits".
  5. ↑ Hill, Joseph (2019). Sign Languages: Structures and Contexts. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-138-08916-7.
  6. 1 2 3 "MODEL LEGISLATION FOR STATES". Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids. 2018-11-23. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  7. ↑ "NORCAL Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing".
  8. ↑ "Interview with Sheri Ann Farinha, LEAD-K National Director". thedailymoth. Retrieved 2019-03-17.
  9. ↑ "Interview with LEAD-K National Director Sheri Farinha | California Association of the Deaf" . Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  10. ↑ "ASL 4 Deaf Kids". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  11. ↑ Glickman, Neil (2018). Language Deprivation and Deaf Mental Health. Routledge. ISBN   978-1138735392.
  12. ↑ "American Cochlear Implant Alliance - Supporting Parent Choice for Children Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing".
  13. 1 2 "Language Equality & Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K)". The Nyle DiMarco Foundation. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  14. ↑ NADvlogs (2017-10-11), The NAD and LEAD-K Partnership , retrieved 2019-04-17
  15. ↑ NorCalMedia (2018-02-20), LEAD-K and NBDA Announcement , retrieved 2019-04-17
  16. ↑ "National Lead-K Campaign for Deaf Kids". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  17. ↑ "AG Bell > Resources > Articles & Documents > View". www.agbell.org. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  18. ↑ "AG Bell > Resources > Articles & Documents > View". www.agbell.org. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  19. ↑ "Language Equality and Acquisition for Deaf Kids (LEAD-K)". American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
  20. 1 2 "ACIA Letter" (PDF).
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