Beginning Reading and Deaf Children

Reading instruction for hearing children builds on the language development that precedes school entry, but reading instruction for deaf children is often either a means of language introduction or a quick follow-up to new activities or new language. This article describes a reading program appropriate for the average deaf child without age-level language abilities. It has a top-down element that makes use of telling stories and reading aloud and creating narratives from the child's experiences with classmates, routines with picture books, functional literacy, and environmental print. It also has a bottom-up component that deals with letter identification, print concepts, letter sequences (spelling) and word recognition, and the mode of communication. The program is designed to foster independence in the child.