Its native users do not think in English. Participants learn that ASL is a completely-separate language with its own rules and grammar and no relation to sound. Bridges offers classes and workshops in ASL and Deaf culture. American Sign Language is derived from French Sign Language which was derived from French. If your child is diagnosed with hearing loss, we can match you with other families who have chosen hearing aids, cochlear implants, or cultural deafness as well as many modes of communication so that you can make an informed choice for your child's well-being and so that you are surrounded with support from day one.Īmerican Sign Language is not a visual form of English.
We also offer Little ACEs for children birth to school age, weekly classes led by a certified Deaf educator and an adult Deaf language model and monthly, in-home visits from a Deaf Mentor.
#Hard to hear free
Bridges offers FREE ASL classes to the parents and siblings of Deaf children as well as offering community classes onsite and in other locations, including schools. Language deprivation is an Adverse Childhood Experience and must be recognized as such. Deaf children can experience the same 30 million word gap as children born into poverty because they share the lack of early exposure to vocabulary and learning. Lack of communication has many effects on a child's cognitive and social-emotional development and on family dynamics. For a variety of reasons, almost 76% of those parents never learn ASL. Bridges offers workshops in Deaf culture, working with Deaf and hard of hearing people, employing Deaf and hard of hearing people, and interactions with law enforcement and other first responders.Īlmost 95% of deaf children are born to hearing parents. In 2019, Bridges helped pass a law to change "hearing impaired" and "hearing impairment" to "deaf or hard of hearing" and "hearing loss" in the Tennessee Annotated Code. "Hearing impaired" is considered an offensive term as they recognize no impairment or limit to who they are or what they can do. Individuals with hearing loss are hard of hearing, deaf, or Deaf. Deaf with a capital “D” indicates identification with Deaf culture, including its primary language, American Sign Language. Now in our 95th year of service, we are grateful for our rich history and for the even richer opportunities before us.ĭeaf with a lowercase “d” refers to the condition of hearing loss. In 2019, we expanded to open offices in Memphis, TN, now serving Shelby County and surrounding counties in West Tennessee! We serve individuals and families in these areas who live with hearing loss, providing education, outreach, case management, interpreting services, and more-always striving for a vibrant community of equality, access, opportunity, and self realization, a community in which all are welcomed and valued. Today, we are a comprehensive service organization with programs and services for birth through senior years.īridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is nonprofit organization serving Middle Tennessee, northern Alabama, and southern Kentucky. Washington remained a guiding light at Bridges until her death in 1991, seeing the organization evolve through different names and services. That first class of thirteen students was the genesis of Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Ms. In 1927, she taught her first speech reading class at the Watkins Institute in downtown Nashville. where she became a certified lip reading teacher.
After learning she was losing her hearing, this young, Middle Tennessee mother, with no services available to her locally, moved to Washington, D.C. Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing was founded in 1927 by Margaret Lane Washington.