Deaf Mentor Outreach assists programs in implementing bilingual/bicultural home-based programming for young children who are deaf. Children of hearing parents who receive the SKI-HI Model are typically exposed to an English-only approach (signed or spoken English) and to the hearing culture of their parents, family members, and parent advisor. The Deaf Mentor approach provides the family the choice of also using a Deaf Mentor (deaf adult) who makes regular visits to the home, interacts with the child using American Sign Language (ASL), shows family members how to use ASL, and helps the family understand and appreciate deafness and Deaf Culture. Meanwhile, the family continues to receive Parent-Infant Program services. This enables the child to learn both ASL and English and to be exposed to a bicultural environment of both "hearing" and "deaf" cultures. A new, revised Deaf Mentor Curriculum Manual is now available through HOPE, Inc.

Deaf Mentor Outreach offers assistance in implementing the Deaf Mentor program. This assistance includes training for deaf mentors and parent advisors. The training team consists of one hearing person and one person who is Deaf. Before and after training, project personnel are available to implementing sites for technical assistance and for continued training. The project is also developing more materials for professionals and families.

For More Information

For a schedule of trainings taking place during the next few months, select Training. For comments from users, select Testimonials. To see which states are using Deaf Mentor select Map.

For more information about the Deaf Mentor Project, contact Paula Pittman at (435) 797-5589 or e-mail her at ppittman@cc.usu.edu. For information on how to order Deaf Mentor materials, contact HOPE, Inc., at (435) 245-2888 or e-mail hope@hopepubl.com.

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