8th annual Language First Conference
What is the Language First Conference?
The Language First Conference is a chance for speech-language pathologists (SLPs), teachers of the deaf (TODs), educational interpreters, educational audiologists, ASL specialists, and any other professionals who utilize an ASL-English bilingual approach to gather and learn best practices for working with Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children. You do not have to be fluent in ASL to attend, as ASL-English interpreters will be provided throughout the conference.
Schedule
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
12:00-2:30 pm: Registration and check-in
2:45 - 4:00 pm: Dr. Qi Cheng | Early language experience wires the linguistic brain: Evidence from deaf individuals with varying early language experience
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
7:45-8:00 am: Welcome and opening remarks
8:00-9:15 am: Dr. Oscar Ocuto | Connecting Worlds: Navigating Family Interactions in Deaf Children's Home Environments
9:30-10:45 am: Lori Bell & Melissa Mykle | What's up in Canada? A Look at BC's System of Early Language Services
11:00-11:30 am: Deirdre Curle, Kerianne Christie, & Krissy Walker | Teaching ASL Handshapes to Families of DHH Infants and Toddlers
11:45 am - 12:15 pm: Peyton Pruitt, Sarah Smith, & Jennifer Fazer | Connecting Communication: Collaborative Approaches to Multimodal Instruction
12:15-2:00 pm: Lunch on your own
2:00-3:15 pm: Dr. Brittany Lee | Know Better, Do Better: Setting Community-Informed Standards for Working with Signing DHH Children
3:30-4:00 pm: Heather Parker & Rachella Moore | Family Immersion Camp for DHH Children 0-5 and their Parents
4:00 pm: Closing and giveaways
Thursday, April 24, 2025
8:00-9:15 am: Morgan Lee | Intersectionality, Language Deprivation, and You
9:30-10:45 am: Megan Havens | Phonological Awareness Instruction in ASL
11:00-11:30 am: Megan Havens | The Science of Reading in Vocabulary Instruction for DHH Students
11:45 am - 12:15 pm: Michaela Hanley, Esq. | Sign Language as a Human Right- Leveraging International Law to End Language Deprivation
12:15-2:00 pm: Lunch on your own
2:00-3:15 pm: Celena Ponce | Considerations for Working with DHH Children from Immigrant Families
3:30-4:00 pm: Sarah Honigfeld, & Victoria Haggarty | Regional Early Acquisition of Language (REAL) Project
4:00 pm: Closing and giveaways
This conference is offered for 1.1 ASHA CEUs and 1.1 RID CEUs.
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Past conferences:
2025 - Tacoma, WA
2024 - Virtual
2023 - Natick, MA
2022 - Baton Rouge, LA
2021 - Virtual
2020 - Virtual
2019 - Trenton, NJ
2018 - West Hartford, CT
Future conferences:
2026 - Knoxville, TN
2027 - St. Augustine, FL