Teaching Metaphor to Deaf Children

A research-based program for teaching metaphorical language to deaf children is described. The results of the specific research which led up to the program of instruction are presented in detail. In the research program, deaf children as young as 10 years of age were shown to be capable of understanding metaphorical language with regularity. In addition, with the use of appropriate instructional procedures, the performance of deaf children on metaphorical tasks significantly improved. Those procedures are presented as part of the instructional program.