Browsing by Subject "American Sign Language"
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Item Educator-Caregiver Communication Through Technology: A Survey of Early Childhood Educators of the Deaf(2023) Roemen, BrynnThere has been an increasingly steady growth and utilization of communication technology between early childhood educators and caregivers. This practice for communication has revealed benefits for educators, caregivers, and children as well as positive perceptions surrounding the use of technology for communication between school and home. Despite the largely positive findings, there is limited research of this nature in the field of Deaf education with early childhood educators and caregivers of Deaf children. The goal of this study was to develop a survey of educators who serve Deaf children (ages 3-8 years old) to examine the current state of how educators in early childhood were utilizing technology to communicate with students’ caregivers, share American Sign Language resources to support language and literacy development, and identify differences between educational settings. Results revealed educators in early childhood Deaf education utilize a variety of technology for communication and hold generally positive perceptions about technology and how it can increase communication and knowledge between school and home. Perceptions about the benefits and challenges of using technology with caregivers aligned with findings from previous research. However, new benefits and challenges distinctive to early childhood Deaf education in the United States were also found. This research is one of the first studies to contribute and expand on the limited literature in early childhood Deaf education and explore possibilities for future research studies in the field of early childhood Deaf education and educator-caregiver communication through technologies.Item The Phenomenon of Baby Sign Language: A Signing System Used With Toddlers(2016) Ferry, Melinda GBaby Sign Language (BSL) used with young children with typical hearing abilities is a popular phenomenon with many parents. A number of Baby Sign Language studies claim that BSL improves children's abilities to communicate their needs and wants with their parents along with other potential benefits, too. Although BSL continues in popularity, a number of studies dispute the claims made about the benefits of using BSL. The researcher/teacher from a Midwestern college childcare program conducted this pre-experimental quantitative study. The purpose of the study was to determine if a teaching unit on BSL used as an educational intervention with a group of toddlers ranging in age from 16 monthsof- age to 35 months-of-age has an effect on their communication skills according to the parent's perspectives of their experiences of their children at home. The researcher/teacher was interested in the data collected from the study participants that included two fathers and nine mothers who completed both a pre-study survey and a post-study survey. The number of participants in the study was inconsistent since fourteen parents completed the pre-study survey (two fathers and twelve mothers) and eleven parents completed the post-study survey (two fathers and nine mothers). The foundation of this study was the research completed by Thompson, Cotnoir-Bichelman, McKeerchar, Tate, and Dancho (2007). In the current study, many parents found using BSL "helpful” for assisting young children with their communication skills. Many parents used BSL with their toddlers at home some time between their toddler's first and second birthdays and before their children were talking. The parent's motivation to use BSL with their children lessened once their children orally communicated more effectively. This was consistent with some studies who found there was a short window of time when parents used BSL with their children. The use of BSL dropped off once their children became effective oral communicators. The current research found some effect on the toddler's communication skills with the children learning and using BSL, although the results were not statistically significant.