This webinar will be hosted via Zoom for national and international attendees on Sunday, September 13, 2026 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm ET.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial disclosures: Will benefits from the sale of his book, The Deaf Baby Instruction Manual, and is receiving payment from Language First for presenting.
Nonfinancial disclosures: Will is the father of a Deaf child. He sits as a volunteer on the board of California Educators of the Deaf (CAL-ED) as director of family involvement, and on EHDI's Parent to Parent advisory committee as a co-chair. Additionally, Dr. Ofori-Sanzo, founder of Language First, contributed a forward to his book.
Course Description:
This presentation will be a multimedia overview of books as essential tools for child-rearing. It will detail the benefits of story time for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) kids and their parents. These benefits get into areas of cognitive, linguistic, and social development that go way beyond literacy. Covering from birth to early elementary, it will include an extensive review of children's literature with a bibliography of more than 80 titles, highlighting the many ways books can support growth and connection in families.
Agenda
4:00-4:05: Introduction
4:05-4:15: Books as a parenting tool
4:15-4:30: Raising a deaf reader
4:30-4:45: Barriers to reading
4:45-4:50: The horde of books
4:50-4:55: ASL books & books with DHH characters
4:55-5:00: Concept books & counting books
5:00-5:05: Books with word balloons
5:05-5:10: Action books
5:10-5:15: Theory of mind and narrative competence-builders
5:15-5:20: Wordless books
5:20-5:25: Comic books & graphic novels
5:25-5:30: Abject crap
5:30-5:45: Classics of the genre
5:45-6:00: Q&A
Learner Outcomes:
Participants will be able to:
Articulate multiple benefits of reading with deaf and hard of hearing children for parents and caregivers, including the ways books support direct and incidental learning, signed and spoken language development, and critical social-emotional connections
State multiple overlapping strategies to support themselves or the families they serve to regularly read and share books with their deaf and hard of hearing children
Name multiple book titles that support specific aspects of deaf and hard of hearing children's development
Registration information:
This is a digital purchase only; no physical ticket is provided. A form will populate for you to complete your registration and then your purchase will be added to your cart in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. You will receive an email with instructions on how to participate as well as a Google Calendar invite with the Zoom link one week prior to the event. Registration ends one day prior to the webinar. All registrants will receive a copy of the presenter’s PowerPoint and the presentation recording. Please email info@language1st.org with any questions.
*IF YOU ARE THE PARENT OF A DEAF CHILD, PLEASE EMAIL INFO@LANGUAGE1ST.ORG TO WAIVE THE REGISTRATION FEE.
This webinar will be hosted via Zoom for national and international attendees on Sunday, September 13, 2026 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm ET.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial disclosures: Will benefits from the sale of his book, The Deaf Baby Instruction Manual, and is receiving payment from Language First for presenting.
Nonfinancial disclosures: Will is the father of a Deaf child. He sits as a volunteer on the board of California Educators of the Deaf (CAL-ED) as director of family involvement, and on EHDI's Parent to Parent advisory committee as a co-chair. Additionally, Dr. Ofori-Sanzo, founder of Language First, contributed a forward to his book.
Course Description:
This presentation will be a multimedia overview of books as essential tools for child-rearing. It will detail the benefits of story time for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) kids and their parents. These benefits get into areas of cognitive, linguistic, and social development that go way beyond literacy. Covering from birth to early elementary, it will include an extensive review of children's literature with a bibliography of more than 80 titles, highlighting the many ways books can support growth and connection in families.
Agenda
4:00-4:05: Introduction
4:05-4:15: Books as a parenting tool
4:15-4:30: Raising a deaf reader
4:30-4:45: Barriers to reading
4:45-4:50: The horde of books
4:50-4:55: ASL books & books with DHH characters
4:55-5:00: Concept books & counting books
5:00-5:05: Books with word balloons
5:05-5:10: Action books
5:10-5:15: Theory of mind and narrative competence-builders
5:15-5:20: Wordless books
5:20-5:25: Comic books & graphic novels
5:25-5:30: Abject crap
5:30-5:45: Classics of the genre
5:45-6:00: Q&A
Learner Outcomes:
Participants will be able to:
Articulate multiple benefits of reading with deaf and hard of hearing children for parents and caregivers, including the ways books support direct and incidental learning, signed and spoken language development, and critical social-emotional connections
State multiple overlapping strategies to support themselves or the families they serve to regularly read and share books with their deaf and hard of hearing children
Name multiple book titles that support specific aspects of deaf and hard of hearing children's development
Registration information:
This is a digital purchase only; no physical ticket is provided. A form will populate for you to complete your registration and then your purchase will be added to your cart in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. You will receive an email with instructions on how to participate as well as a Google Calendar invite with the Zoom link one week prior to the event. Registration ends one day prior to the webinar. All registrants will receive a copy of the presenter’s PowerPoint and the presentation recording. Please email info@language1st.org with any questions.
*IF YOU ARE THE PARENT OF A DEAF CHILD, PLEASE EMAIL INFO@LANGUAGE1ST.ORG TO WAIVE THE REGISTRATION FEE.
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