S.E.E. CENTER BROCHURE The S.E.E. CENTER for the ADVANCEMENT of DEAF CHILDREN S.E.E. CENTER P.O. Box 1181 Los Alamitos. CA 90720 (562) 430-1467 (Voice or TDD) FAX (562) 795-6614   While most three-year-olds already have a good command of language, this does not necessarily apply to deaf children. Deaf children and their parents need special help to make this possible, but help is not always available. The initial frustration and anguish some parents feel when they discover their child is deaf and have to seek assistance is compounded by the limited availability of referral services and programs. What is the S.E.E. Center? The S.E.E. (Signing Exact English) Center for the Advancement of Deaf Children was established in 1984 as a nonprofit organization to work with parents and educators of hearing impaired children. What is the Goal of the S.E.E. Center? The goals of the S.E.E. Center for the Advancement of Deaf Children are: To promote early identification and intervention. To promote development of improved English skills. To promote development understanding of principles of Signing Exact English and its uses. To promote information to parents on deafness and related topics. To foster the positive development of self concept in the deaf child by promoting the interaction of the child and family with both the deaf and hearing communities. What Specific Services does the S.E.E. Center Offer? A Telephone information service. The S.E.E. Center has information on services for Deaf Children nationwide. In addition, questions about communication and deafness can be answered or referrals made to appropriate sources. A parent information packet. Providing basic introductory information about deafness, communication and resources. Question for parents. Lists of questions parents may wish to ask their child's audiologist, school, speech therapist, etc. Sign skills, evaluations and Workshops. These are available on request to schools, school districts, and parent groups. Videotapes. Informational videotapes emphasizing early medical and educational needs. How Many Children Need Services? One baby in a thousand is born profoundly or severly hearing-impaired. Up to 5% of elementary children have some hearing loss. Because of this low incidence rate, many doctors and educators are not sufficiently familiar with the signs of hearing loss or its educational impact. Why was the S.E.E. Center Established? How do babies who cannot hear develop normal English Language skills? How do you talk to the baby? How does the child acquire language when he/she cannot hear you? Speechreading (or lip-reading) is a very difficult task for an infant who has no idea of what language is -- especially when half the sounds of English look like some other sound . . . such as pan/ban/man, pat/bat/mat. In addition, many of the affixes of English (-s, -ed, -ing_ are very hard to see. Children who have residual hearing often miss a lot, since what they hear is usually full of "holes". Since 95% of the parents of hearing-impaired children are hearing persons with no previous contact with deafness, the challenge of helping these families communicate with one another is a great one. The first few years of a child's life are vital in establishing parent-child rapport and communication. Many new parents do not know what to do or where to turn. What is "Signing Exact English"? Signing Exact English is a sign language system that represents literal English, to make visible everything that is not heard, SEE supplements what a child can get from hearing and speechreading. Since American Sign Language or ASL has different vocabulary, idioms and syntax from English, SEE modified and supplemented the vocabulary of ASL so children can see clearly what is said in English. This system was first made available in 1972. How Widely is S.E.E. Used? During the 70's there was a great shift to add sign language to speech, speechreading and hearing aids. By 1978, Signing Exact English was reported the most used English sign system in public school programs for the hearing impaired in the U.S.. In 1985, more programs wanted teachers skilled in S.E.E. than any other sign system. Today, S.E.E. is used in every state and in other countries, too. Is S.E.E. Hard to Learn? Not really! Families who begin learning when their child is a baby learn basic vocabulary and use basic English sentence structure. Their vocabulary grows as the child grows. It is always easiest when there are sign classes to attend and other people around to practice with, however, videotapes are available for families who are not able to attend classes. It is like learning any other new physical skill - typing, shorthand, driving a car, etc. - if you want to learn and are willing to practice, the skill develops easily. AVAILABLE MATERIALS PARENT PACKAGE A packet of basic information for new parents of hearing impaired children. Includes information on statistics, normal language development, a glossary, hearing aids, organizations, publications, speech and language and communications. Downloaded Copies FREE               Mailed Hard Copy $3.00 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RESEARCH ARTICLES ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MANUALY CODED ENGLISH. (5 pages) Downloaded Copies FREE               Mailed Hard Copy $1.00 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ARTICLES ON THE USE OF SIGN WITH HEARING CHILDREN HAVING LANGUAGE PROBLEMS. Downloaded Copies FREE               Mailed Hard Copy $1.00 QUESTIONS PARENTS SHOULD ASK. A. Audiologists B. Speech Therapists C. School Program   Downloaded Copies FREE               Mailed Hard Copy $1.00 'ILY' COOKIE CUTTER Red plastic cookie cutter in the "I-Love-You" sign hand shape.   $3.00 ALL IN FAVOR: SIGN CHOCOLATE a 77 page cookbook of chocolate recipes illustrated with signing bears.   $5.00 VIDEOTAPES Fifteen minute videotape "Deafness - The hidden handicap". Explains the importance of early intervention with hearing impaired infants and the need and means for early complete language input. Also illustrated are some of the communications options.   $7.00 Twenty-five minute demonstration tape "Growing Up With S.E.E. A Closer Look". The purpose of this videotape is to give the viewer some idea of what students are like who are growing up today with Signing Exact English. The youngest students on this tape are not yet three years old. The oldest are college students.   $7.00