Signs for Hope

Signs for Hope

NLD ID #84089
Signs for Hope logo

Contact Information

149 Churchill Downs Drive
Fairview, NC 28730

Primary Contact

Becky Lloyd

(828) 691-2581

beckyblloyd@gmail.com

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Program Overview

Signs for Hope seeks to provide English reading and literacy curriculum and training to families who use (or are learning) American Sign Language (ASL) with their deaf children. Deaf children (and adults) who use ASL as their primary language can benefit from training in English literacy skills for reading and writing. The curriculum and training provided will be used by families in a one-on-one setting, including critical parent and child interaction time.

Signs for Hope is a non-profit Christian ministry that works to connect deaf and hard of hearing children with families who desire to adopt them. Post-adoption (and throughout the adoption process), Signs for Hope works to provide resources to families on parenting deaf and adopted children, including information on learning American Sign Language, deaf education and literacy.

In 2016, Signs for Hope hosted its first annual ASL-Immersion Family Retreat where 14 families - comprising 65 children! - spent a weekend connecting with other Deaf and adoptive families. Literacy breakout sessions are already planned for the 2017 retreat where reading in ASL and other ASL-based literacy skills can be modeled by Deaf families.

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Cost Info

Signs for Hope does not charge any fees for its services.

Student and Volunteer Success Stories

Vicki Raleigh is a Signs for Hope mom of six children – four of whom have been adopted, and three with some degree of hearing loss. She and her family use ASL at home for everyday communication and in their homeschooling of the children. Vickie shares the importance of ASL, particularly for her daughter Ava:

"When Ava was adopted at age 4, she had no formal language system and rarely engaged with others in her environment. Her only forms of communication were pointing or leading us to a
desired object. She had no way of expressing her wants, needs, or emotions…

Introducing sign language changed all of that – and more –
for Ava. For the first time, her world had meaning. Objects and people had names and she could use those names to draw attention, express her needs and desires, and form novel ideas…

Sign language helped foster trust, thus aiding the attachment process. Additionally, signing facilitated [her] acquisition of spoken English. It helped to cement vocabulary in [her] minds and was available to them when they had difficulty remembering an English word."

Families like Vickie's are a perfect example of ASL as an innovative solution for deaf children learning to communicate and read.

This program listing was last updated: October 27, 2016.

All information has been provided by this organization. Do you see outdated information? Please contact NLD Support.

Education services

  • Read and write better
  • Help my child learn
  • Learn English