Thirty sessions were available for participants to choose among during the American Society for Deaf Children Biannual convention hosted by Oklahoma School for the Deaf June 24-28.

The American Society for Deaf Children is an organization which supports and educates families of deaf and hard of hearing children and advocates for high quality programs and services. ASDC was founded in 1967 as a parent-helping-parent network and is not a national, independent non-profit organization. The biannual convention provides especially for parents who live in isolated areas the opportunity to meet other parents and professionals in the field of deafness and gain the support and knowledge they need.

OSD Superintendent Larry Hawkins welcomed participants during the opening Keynote session Thursday morning. He outlined several major student accomplishments as OSD during the last school year including Great Plains Schools for the Deaf Championships in Academics, Football, and Girls Basketball. He also cited state and national art honors for OSD students this last school year.

Hawkins recognized the many generous contributions which made the ASDC Convention possible including major gifts from the Nobel Foundation of Ardmore and the Oklahoma State Department of Education. These generous gifts allowed many families to receive scholarships to be able to attend the meeting. A full schedule of activities for preschool, school-age, and teens was offered in addition to sessions attended by parents and other adults.

Emmy nominated Rachel Coleman, co-creator of the PBS childrens program and DVD series Signing Time, was the Friday Keynote speaker. She led those present to discover the importance of using American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with children of ALL abilities including physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

Coleman also told her own story as the mother of two daughters with special needs - one deaf and the other born with spina bifida and cerebral palsy. Through learning to sign early in life, both little girls have successfully learned to communicate using ASL.

Speaking of her deaf daughter who is now 12 years old, Coleman said that she and her husband grieved at first when they learned she was deaf and then realized, "We didn't need to fix her or change her, we just needed to learn to adapt to her." When told her child would graduate high school with a Third Grade reading level, Coleman said she realized the "system was broken" and realized "the most important skill we could give her is reading." she is now an avid reader with books all over the house, she said.

The Saturday Morning Keynote speaker was Ed Bosso who is deaf and is the Dean of the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center at Gallaudet University, the national deaf university located in Washington D.C. He is currently completing his doctoral work in Educational Leadership at the University of Delaware and is currently the Present of the Conference of Educational Administrators of Schools and Programs for the Deaf (CEASD).

Bosso encouraged those present to "Keep your eyes on the prize," which he explained was the kids and the programs that serve them. "The family is the cornerstone for educational planning and student success," he said. Bosso urged parents to "push the schools to do the best that they can do" on behalf of their deaf and hard of hearing students.

Regarding language, Bosso stressed, "Deaf students must establish linguistic competence above all from Day One." He added that this is one of the main missions of the Clerc Center. "We want to promote early acquisition of language," he said.

Several OSD faculty and parents presented sessions at the ASDC Convention. A "Dad's Panel Discussion" was presented by Michael Paradiso who is an OSD parent from Lawton, Ron Lawer who is an OSD sign language instructor and parent from Sulphur, Lawson Pair who is an OSD teacher and parent from Sulphur, and Tommy Varner who is an OSD teacher parenting both hearing and hard of hearing children attending Sulphur schools.

"There's a lot of information out there but people just don't know how to find it," Paradiso said. He added that parents need to seek out this information and also seek out other parents to have comradery with who are facing the same thing. "being there with your child is the most important thing. Deafness is just a language problem that can be overcome. They're still a kid," he said.

Varner encouraged those present to "spend time with them (their children) so that when they grow up they will spend time with their children too." Pair reflected this comment and encouraged parents to "Put aside the barriers and have fun with your child."

Enriching Children's Education Opportunities was presented by Melanie Coldren, 21-year teacher at the OSD Preschool located on the University of Central Oklahoma campus in Edmond. Three to six babies in 1000 are born with some degree of hearing loss each year and the primary impact of hearing loss is on language development, Coldren said.

Coldren, who is also Coordinator or Project ECCO for 3-6 year old children's language enrichment, stated, "Children identified early before 6 months of age who receive intervention can have language development within the normal range." she added this intervention may include hearing aids, a cochlear implant or other adaptations. "Language is the basic need of a deaf child ages 3-6," she said.

"Early intervention needs to occur as close to birth as possible and it needs to be family centered in the child's natural environment," she told those gathered for the presentation. "The kids by high school graduation that are highly successful are the ones that had parents that did what they needed to do and saw it thought," she added.

Coldren later joined with Sara Lee, Preschool Teacher at the OSD Collinsville satellite school, to present a program about the OSD Regional Satellite Preschool Programs, including the newest program in Chickasha.

OSD Librarian Sue Galloway of Sulphur presented The Life and times of Laurent Clerc detailing the life and many of the personal documents including pictures of the man who originated sign language in France and brought it to the United States in 1816. Galloway is the great great great granddaughter of Laurent Clerc who taught 41 years at the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT. He had originally planned to come to the United States for 3 years and then return to France. However, he ended up marrying and gaining his citizenship here. Laurent Clert is highly revered within the deaf community much as George Washington is honored in American history.

Other OSD presenters included Teacher and OTOD Directory Gina McLaughlin of Sulphur who told those present about the OSD Occupational Training Opportunities for the Deaf Program which provides job training for high school students. Also, OSD sign language teacher Linda Dyer of Ada presented The Sign Language Proficiency Interview Process. She is Program Coordinator for the SLPI interview process which is used to measure required levels of sign language proficiency acquisition by OSD employees.

Among the additional ASDC presenters were Dr. Donna Morere, Gallaudet University, and Dr. Poorna Kushalnagar, a Texas site co-investigator in Houston for a University of Washington two-year research study about quality of life for deaf and hard of hearing children.

Dr. Morere, a clinical psychologist, explained, "deaf children have to pay attention to take in language" so special instructional techniques are needed especially for children who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, one of the most commonly co-occurring conditions with deafness. she encouraged those present to train possibilities and outcomes with children and to never remove a reward that has already been earned.

Dr. Kushalnagar stated that their research team is approaching the halfway point of gathering research data detailing factors which contribute to the Quality of Life of deaf and hard of hearing children and youth.

Some of the most commonly recurring themes in this research so far which those polled thus far have responded include Access to communication at home (such as sign language usage in home), Shared Identity with friends including both deaf and hearing peers, and a Supportive Environment with key adults such as teachers and coaches who understand the needs of deaf and hard of hearing children. "Deaf often feel like they have to prove they can do things," stated Dr. Kushalnagar who was born deaf to a bilingual Tamil and English speaking family. She received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Houston.

A $25 stipend is being provided to those parents and youth who participate in the Project Hearing Quality of Life research survey. Survey forms may be obtained by calling toll free (800) 283-5827, Fax (206) 616-3135, or email to projhql@u.washington.edu. Survey forms take about 30 minutes to complete, according to Dr. Kushalnagar.