Did you know that Deaf Awareness Month is celebrated in September? Its purpose is to increase awareness of Deaf issues, people, culture and language. Additionally, the International Week of the Deaf is celebrated worldwide in the last week of September.
If you ever thought American Sign Language (ASL) is a universal sign language, you might be surprised to find out it is not! Sign language, just like spoken language, has many different sign languages. Each country will have its own sign language with some regions even having their own dialects.
Dancing Hands is a story of friendship between a hearing girl, Sam, and her new neighbor, a deaf girl named Mai. If you are familiar with ASL, you may notice that some Filipino Sign Language (FSL) signs are similar. This is due to Filipino Sign Language being influenced by ASL. You can learn more about FSL as well as other sign languages around the world in the back of the book.
Imagine reading a too scary book before going to bed! Would you still be able to fall asleep? When Milo reads a book about a monster under the bed, he is too scared to fall asleep and turns to his neighbor and best friend, Mel, for help. See how Mel and Milo come up with a plan to scare the monster away in Monster Hands.
Some Deaf kids wear hearing aids and some wear Cochlear Implants (CIs). These can help Deaf kids hear better.
Can Bears Ski? and Harry Can Hear are perfect for understanding what a kid may not be able to hear if they are dealing with hearing loss, then getting a hearing test and hearing aids. I love that you can see Little Bear's bright blue hearing aids and Harry's neon red earmolds in the illustrations.
Follow Emma's adventures in the Emma Every Day series starting with the first book, Crazy for Apples. Emma wears a CI on her left ear and knows American Sign Language which she uses with her family. You can also learn a few cool signs as shown in the back of each book.
How will you celebrate Deaf Awareness Month this September?
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