Shared Reading Project’s Keys to Success: Training for Site Coordinators

March 27-29, 2012
Hosted by the Missouri School for the Deaf

Location:
Deaf Empowerment Awareness Foundation, Inc.
25 East Frisco Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63119

Limited enrollment, so register now!

Early bird registration: $250 ($325 after February 1, 2012)
Registration deadline: February 27, 2012
Registration fee includes all materials, lunch, and snacks.

Join one of the most successful national programs for encouraging families to read daily in American Sign Language with their deaf or hard of hearing children!

The Shared Reading Project: Keys to Success Training for Site Coordinators offers schools and programs a three-day comprehensive training program on how to set up a Shared Reading Project site. The training covers topics such as preparing staff, communicating with families, engaging tutors, setting up a lending library of Shared Reading Book Bags, and budget planning and advertising.

For more information: SRP registration

Speaking an Unspoken Language

By Holly Kohn > Parkway West High School | Posted: Tuesday, November 8, 2011 9:30 am

On July 3, 1994, Seth Betzler cried for the first time. However, his mom could not hear him.

Seventeen years later, Betzler, a Parkway West High School junior, still is not able to communicate with his mom through the spoken language.

“The first thing about my mom is not that she is deaf, but that she is actually a normal person and really independent,” Betzler said. “She might not be the normal mother figure, but she has struggled her whole life.”

Betzler’s mom, Lisa Betzler, was born deaf. She learned how to read lips well, which aids her in conversations with hearing people. She also speaks, but her speech is sometimes difficult for others to understand.

“My relationship with my mom is pretty funny,” Betzler said. “We get along just fine, and we’re pretty close. However, we’re also mean to each other, but it’s always in good fun.”

Betzler started to learn sign language to communicate with his mom as a toddler. His house was full of alphabet and sign language books to help Betzler and his two brothers, one older and one younger.

“As a little kid, I used to brag about my mom, saying ‘my mom is deaf and your mom isn’t,’” Betzler said.

To read the rest of the article, click here.