A LEAD-K and Nyle DiMarco production created by Convo.
There are many misconceptions about how a Deaf child acquires language. We’ve seen many of them: sign language hinders your child’s ability to learn English; parents must be fluent in sign language in order to teach their Deaf child. What’s the truth? Five common myths about your Deaf child, resolved.
Baby Signs has become increasingly popular over the last decade, Kate Raddatz reports.

MYTH: Early exposure to two languages causes language delay and language confusion.
MYTH: to be a good reader, students with multiple language exposure must practice harder at only their English skills.
Get important scientific data behind busting these and other common myths about how deaf children acquire language in this informative fact sheet!
Here is a list of resources to help maximize the exposure of ASL at home.
Access and Exposure
In order for children to acquire languages, they require access and exposure to the full languages they are acquiring. Access and exposure to a language happens through direct, indirect, and incidental learning. A lot of learning moments throughout a child’s day are incidental. Understanding how your child access information and what kind of exposure your child has throughout the day is very important.
ASL Exposure Checklist
This checklist is used to identify the American Sign Language exposure the family and child has on a daily basis at home, in daycare, and in the community. This checklist is used to better understand family and child’s opportunities for ASL development and is used to support families and professionals in figuring out how and when to incorporate ASL on a daily basis so that child’s language exposure is maximized.
Self Talk
Self talk is an excellent way to model ASL. Self talk is when you talk about the things you do as your child watches – the same way you might speak to a hearing child during routine activities.
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