Danny The Dragon Supports Education For The Deaf

By Author: Tina Turbin
Total Articles: 4762
Comment this article

As an active literacy advocate, I do as much as I can to get kids reading. Whether I'm contributing my own literary creations to the world of children's literature with my Danny the Dragon series (http://DannyTheDragon.com), supporting charitable organizations that are implementing successful reading programs across the nation, or reading to children from the latest book in my series, I know how important it is to revert the literacy statistic of this country. There are many people out there who feel the same way.

However, it wasn't until recently that I became aware of another alarming statistic -- the literacy rate among deaf children. Historically speaking, the educational achievement of the deaf community has been much poorer than its hearing counterpart, although there have been many successful deaf people. As deafness is not a mental defect, the reason for low academic achievement can be traced to poor literacy caused by delays in language development. Apart from general low academic achievement, the area in which deaf children have traditionally been lowest in terms of performance is language arts -- reading and ...
... literacy in English.

The average deaf child is diagnosed at two or three years of age for hearing loss. This means that there is a good chance that his language development has been severely affected, as the child may have been missing large portions of spoken language, if not all auditory experience, that hearing children get from birth. What's worse, the demand for academic achievement among deaf children is lower than for other children, resulting in learning and home environments which aren't as focused on reading. With an upbringing that doesn't emphasize language and literature, it is difficult to expect deaf children to perform at the same analytic and linguistic levels as other children.

The day I brought my book, Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy, for a reading to the students at the Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf, I recognized in the group of children before me an inquisitiveness, a thirst for knowledge, which truly set them apart. As I read to them via an interpreter the adventures of Danny the Dragon and his little traveling companion, Skipper, they were thoroughly engaged. I was faced with a barrage of questions about who I am and how I came to write children's books. I saw how important it was that deaf children grow up and learn in an environment that is rich in reading.

I knew at once that I wanted to contribute to deaf literacy and education. That's why I have created the signed reading of Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy DVD, all the profits for which are going to supporting the amazing school I visited, Blossom Montessori. Its Montessori education encourages imagination and allows for real-life applications of subjects learned in the classroom. prepares students to become contributing members of society, and lets students follow an academic program that is suited to their individual needs. Something else that makes the school unique is that it recognizes the importance of getting parents and the whole family to learn sign language and encourages the rich reading environment and parental involvement at home which contribute to academic success and literacy among hearing children. By supporting schools such as Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf, I know I am truly contributing toward reverting the deaf literacy statistic and enriching the lives of many bright children.

For more information on Danny the Dragon http://DannyTheDragon.com.
For more information on Tina Turbin, visit http://TinaTurbin.com.
About Author:
Tina Turbin (http://TinaTurbin.com) is a published children's author, writer, researcher, humanitarian and Mom. She wrote her first children's story at age 16. She has always enjoyed many years of working with and helping children and their families. The Danny the Dragon series (http://DannyTheDragon.com) fulfills a passion of hers to delight children and their families through her enchanting characters in her writing. Tina's style as an author conveys to the young and young at heart and imparts acts of kindness.