Natives and newcomers: gaining access to literacy in a classroom for deaf children
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For the purposes of this article, Ramsey and Padden analyzed the progress of 12 deaf students in a third grade classroom at a residential school for the deaf. The children had different levels of experience with ASL and those differences affected their ability to learn. Six of the children were native signers that likely had other dear family members, from whom they learned to sign. Two of the students were not native signers but had been at the school for a few years and had picked it up there. However, “newcomers,” or those who did not have previous experience with signing lack the knowledge base that would allow them to successfully participate in the class. 90% of deaf children have hearing parents, so there are generally more newcomers than native signers.