IHP ASL Services

IHP - ASL Services

About the program

Infant Hearing Program – American Sign Language Services

The first few years of a baby’s life are critical for developing language. The Infant Hearing Program (IHP), through the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCCSS), provides early language services to support language development in infants and preschool children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing.

IHP ASL Services is an early American Sign Language (ASL) language and literacy development support provided free of charge for families with Deaf & Hard of Hearing children between the age of 0 to school entry who meet IHP referral criteria.

Qualified IHP ASL Consultants work with and support families to provide a language-rich environment for their child to acquire ASL. IHP ASL Consultants monitor the child and family’s language learning progress using standardized outcome based metrics. IHP ASL Consultants provide each family with a unique and individualized learning plan to accommodate their language learning goals and needs. The provision of IHP ASL services is family centered and coordinated with the rest of the IHP team.

Individualized Learning

IHP ASL Consultants provide each family with a unique and individualized learning plan to accommodate their language learning goals and needs. This learning plan includes:

ASL instruction focusing on the language needs of young Deaf children and their families
Information on ASL developmental milestones
Information on how to encourage a child’s language and early literacy development through play
Support for the parents/caregivers in incorporating ASL into their daily lives
Assistance for the family in accessing local community resources and participating in Deaf community events and activities

Infant Hearing Program

The Infant Hearing Program (IHP) is a province-wide program of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services that identifies babies born deaf or hard of hearing and provides services to these children and their families to support language and early literacy development so they are ready to start school.

IHP Provides:

Universal newborn hearing screening in hospitals and community settings
Audiology assessment and hearing aid selection
Monitoring for those babies born at risk of early childhood hearing loss
Services to support language development in infants and preschool children who are deaf or hard of hearing

Infant Hearing Program Brochure

For more information about IHP Language Development Services,
please contact your local IHP Coordinator in your area.

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Language Window of Opportunity

Deaf children who learn to sign in the first few years of life show stronger English reading and writing skills than children who do not learn to sign.

American Society for Deaf Children
> Sign Language Use for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Babies

more resources

Is it time to be getting ready for school?
Decisions, decisions!

It is important to know, that when registering your Deaf/Hard of hearing child, the process and options are a little different than general school registration. Most of the time, you will first register with your home school, and then find out what options are available through that school board. After registering with your local school, you still have the option to register with the Provincial Schools Branch as well, they have four Schools for the Deaf in Ontario.

schools and daycare