Teaching Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

The Basics

Language Rich Environment

A language-rich environment is vital for supporting cognitive development, building strong language foundations, and fostering social connections, empowering deaf and hard of hearing children to thrive academically and socially. With access to communication, children can fully engage, learn, and grow in an inclusive and supportive setting.

Education, Not Accommodation

Education for deaf and hard of hearing children should be built around their strengths and needs, not just adaptations of what works for hearing kids. It is not enough to provide interpreters or teach in sign language; we must thoughtfully design a curriculum based on what children bring and where they are going, with a clear scope and sequence tailored to their learning goals.

Design a Progression

We believe in starting with what children know and supporting them in taking the right size next step. In bilingual literacy methods, this often means teaching new concepts in sign language first, ensuring a solid understanding, then layering on instruction in written language. This approach builds confidence and encourages lasting success.

Resources

Browse our collection of evidence-based resources, all created to promote complete language access for deaf and hard-of-hearing children.

ASL Vocabulary Assessment

Track your child’s American Sign Language growth with our interactive, in-person assessments, measuring everything from vocabulary to grammar.

Bilingual Grammar Curriculum

Champion bilingual literacy with our Bilingual Grammar Curriculum (BGC), one of the only comprehensive bilingual grammar curricula in the country, bridging ASL to English.

Science of Reading:

No One Size Fits All

Rethink evidence-based literacy with "Avoiding Unintended Consequences," our 2026 policy brief co-authored by BU faculty, showing why one-size-fits-all phonics mandates fail deaf children.

ASL Storybook Library

Discover books to share with your deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) child, chosen for authentic representation and mostly created by DHH authors and families.

Our Blogs

Read our latest thinking on everything from research to community insights and more.

When a Classroom Interpreter Isn't Enough

Most deaf children in the U.S. learn through a sign language interpreter in a mainstream classroom. A Deaf Center paper argues that an interpreter can give a child access, but it can't give a child language — and that difference matters.

What Makes Good Health Care for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Kids?

A new paper in Pediatric Annals lays out what good care looks like for deaf and hard of hearing kids: put full language access first, connect families to early intervention and deaf mentors, and learn from deaf people and families. Sign language is a complete language, not a backup, and it does not hold back spoken language.

How Do You Test Whether a Deaf Child Really Understands ASL?

Most ASL tests only check words and grammar. But understanding a story means more — it means making sense of it. A Deaf Center team built the first test for that deeper kind of ASL comprehension, and learned something hopeful about late starters.

Join Us

Learn more about our teacher preparation program, and other opportunities to get involved in Deaf Education at Boston University.

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