ASL Rose Newsletter
Vol. 2 No. 2
March 2008

The March issue of ASL Rose’s Newsletter salutes Mr. Fred Rogers, of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Mr. Rogers show, which ran from 1968 to 2001, with its land of Make Believe, Mr. Rogers’ living room and the trolley that went between the two worlds, contributed immeasurably to the growth of many children in the United States. With Mr. Rogers’ steady and familiar presence, children learned to feel good about their selves, learned the skills needed for growing up, and learned to appreciate and respect others. Mr. Rogers would have celebrated his eightieth birthday on March 20th.

Suppose Mr. Rogers visited his Deaf Neighborhood today, would he grieve over the amount of television/video programs that do not exist for Deaf children? ASL Rose believes he would probably express deep concern over the fact that the videos and programs created for Deaf children in ASL are few and far between. If we could tell him that Deaf children need to see their language and culture used in the media to help with the development of a healthy self-esteem and world knowledge, what would he have done? One way or another, ASL Rose is sure Mr. Rogers would have done something give young Deaf children access to programs in their language, because we know that he cared for all children, both hearing and Deaf. Should he need some advice from Deaf people, what would we tell him?

First and foremost, we would tell him that Mr. Rogers' television program, even with captions, needs more readily available English text on the screen to help with reading development. Once Deaf children have the ability to read English, captions on television become much more accessible for them.

Second, we would tell him that without exposure to television programs and videos/DVDs similar to Mr. Rogers' style, young Deaf children then cannot build up a knowledge base of social information. Social understanding is a critical part of developing their literacy skills, which is needed for human relations and everyday living. Also, stories about Deaf role models’ accomplishments will provide much hope in Deaf children for their future success. All Deaf children should be able to learn about problem-solving from a character like Mr. McFeeley, but in ASL!

Third, we would tell him that it is time for Deaf children to have the television shows they deserve-- ones that are designed for them, where they can enjoy storytelling being told in ASL. Presently, too many young deaf children miss out such learning opportunities, unlike their hearing peers, because they are not adequately exposed to both live and media-aided storytelling in ASL. We would tell him that we need, and want, to work together in figuring out ways to help Deaf children enrich their knowledge base through storytelling, especially through the media. Producing a plethora of stories in ASL is a necessity.

Where are the videos/DVDs on the shelves that are specially designed for young Deaf children, and focus on the development of important skills? Here is a partial list:

• Four for You! Fables and Fairy Tales
• Rainbow's End
• Dr. Wonder’s Workshop
• The ASL Parent-Child Mother Goose Program
• Deaf Planet
• Our own Have You Ever Seen…? An ASL Handshape (HYES) DVD

ASL Rose Company hopes to see an establishment of a Deaf Neighborhood television program in the near future where Deaf children have the opportunities to be enlightened, entertained, and educated about today's world. It will be a gigantic task to make it happen, but it is not impossible. Before going into the production, it would be necessary to find out first what is the appropriate design of television program that works well for young Deaf children, and needless to say, Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood is a perfect model. It is carefully designed to match the capabilities of young viewers through widely accepted principles of child development and child psychology. ASL Rose would love to become a part of such a program!

Happy Birthday, Mister Rogers!

ASL Rose is a Deaf-run company with focus on developing and promoting bilingual materials in ASL and English. The company wants to make many products for the purpose of benefiting Deaf children educationally and linguistically. Your support for ASL Rose will make differences for Deaf children which have been the steadfast goal of ASL Rose Company. You can learn more about ASL Rose by visiting the website.