17th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 18-20, 2018 • Denver, CO
3/18/2018 | 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM | Visual Communication and Sign Language Checklist, Online Version (VCSL:O) Training | Granite A-C
Visual Communication and Sign Language Checklist, Online Version (VCSL:O) Training
Few assessment tools are available to document and measure the language development of children who are learning language visually and communicating in sign language. As a result, the VCSL checklist serves to fill an important need. Having a fully functional language by age five is important for all children, regardless of how they communicate. Many children who are language delayed and struggle with communication may experience academic challenges later on if language issues are not resolved in early childhood.
Given these issues, the VCSL is the first standardized assessment tool to track visual communication and visual language milestones in children. The VCSL is a tool that documents language growth and identifies gaps or delays in typical language development. It assists teachers and ECE service providers in planning language development activities for individual children.
The VCSL was created by Drs. Laurene Simms, Sharon Baker, and M. Diane Clark. It was normed on deaf and hard of hearing children who were acquiring visual language typically, within a social context supporting this language acquisition. The standardization process continued for one-year to collect a sufficient number of responses. An online system is now available to collect data and includes background questionnaires to collect information about the teachers, families, and children.
The participates would be able to conduct online mock language assessment with the trainers who developed VCSL and/or who have received VCSL trained. This training requires more than two hours because each aspect of the assessment needs to be addressed, which would include lecture, hand-on practice training which would require everyone to have access to internet, and time for discussions to ensure every participate are well informed and leave the training with full understanding of how to conduct proper VCSL:O.
- Participants will be able to utilize methods to identify whether or not children acquiring American Sign Language are following typical developmental pathways or experiencing language delays.
- Participants will be able to learn a skill that will help them monitor this typical language development when they return home.
- Participants will acquire the knowledge needed to train others how to administer the VCSL, both on paper and online.
Presentation:
15805_7781BethHamilton.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
15805_7781BethHamilton.docx
Presenters/Authors
Beth Hamilton
(), N/A, BMHamilton5@gmail.com;
A dynamic educator, researcher, and presenter, Dr. Beth M. Hamilton specializes in early language and child development among deaf and hard of hearing children. She works as deaf/hard of hearing Educational Consultant around the nation. She holds a doctoral degree in Deaf Studies and Deaf Education from Lamar University and master degree in education and a bachelor degree in art therapy from Marylhurst University. She also has certifications in conflict and resolution mediation and early intervention.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
M. Diane Clark
(), Lamar University, diane.clark@lamar.edu;
M. Diane Clark, Ph.D., Co-PI, is professor and Chair of the Department of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education at Lamar University. Dr. Clark earned her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 1985 with a specialization in cognitive developmental psychology. She has published three edited volumes (with Marc Marschark) and was involved with the NSF funded Science of Learning Center on Visual Languages and Visual Learning at Gallaudet University (VL2), focusing on the integration of research and education. She has presented with her students in over 100 different venues as she mentored them in their educational process. In addition, she has published peer-reviewed papers in Sex Roles, Sexuality and Culture, Psychology, the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, and the Journal of Physical and Developmental Disabilities, as well as the American Annals of the Deaf. These articles focus on deaf individual’s memory and how they become skilled readers as well as on the Traditional Sexual Script and its impact on flirting, dating, sexual coercion, and rape. Recently with colleagues Laurene Simms and Sharon Baker, the Visual Communication and Sign Language (VCSL) Checklist was developed and released. The VCSL is the only normed ASL assessment for children birth to 5 years of age.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.