Potential Barriers to Implementing a Bilingual/Bicultural Program for Deaf Children

Educational programs for deaf children in the United States continue to turn out functionally illiterate high school graduates. One effort to reform this situation is the use of American Sign Language (ASL) as the language of instruction in a bilingual/bicultural educational program. As such programs are being implemented it would be well to look at what may help and what may hinder their success. The present study investigates, at two mid-Atlantic residential schools for deaf children, possible barriers to the implementation of an ASL/English program, and seeks to determine some perspectives within the field of Deaf Education on the value and use of ASL and English for instruction.