UC San Diego

Deaf and hard of hearing students with multiple disabilities endure struggles in closing the gap in their academic years and opportunities for progress is researched far and in between. The need for early intervention in formal language development in ASL-English is critical for their future. Little research is done in the area of using Community Based Instruction in combination with an Authentic Language Experience. I've implemented a curriculum in relation to language experience embedded in community outings that addresses the issues for our students with multiple disabilities. Student motivation increases in an authentic situation for ASL and English dialogue, providing them with dual access in both crucial life-skills for socialization and academics. My curriculum takes place in a self-contained Deaf and Hard of Hearing classroom with multiple disabilities. I had a classroom of seven students who participated in the curriculum design with varying needs. I used field notes, copies of student work, and an assessment inventory supported by pictures as evidence of the results. Due to student absences or academic pull-outs, not all students were able to participate 100%. Also students were at varying levels of writing stages from letter recognition to sentences. Students were measured on their capabilities of learning new ASL vocabulary/phrases as well as the ability to read and write English vocabulary/phrases. They demonstrated improvement in learning new ASL vocabulary appropriately was 8 out of 10 times for 7 students. In using ASL sentence frames in a structured, role-playing environment, students signed the phrases on average 7 out of 10 times. Students were able to transfer the ASL phrases into English writing 4 out of 10 times. Results demonstrated that repeated exposure to English and ASL through authentic language experience via community based instruction is needed to ensure success for students who are Deaf with additional disabilities