Winter Storm Workshop

The Maryland Language Science Center's annual Winter Storm workshop takes place next week from January 20th through January 23rd. Learn more about sessions offered and RSVP on the Language Science Center website. 

HESP Interest: Roundtable on Language Access

One session offered on January 20th at 3:00pm may be of particular interest to HESP faculty and students: a roundtable on early language access for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children in hearing families. 

In Maryland, an estimated 210 DHH children are born each year, and 90–95% are born to hearing families who may have little prior exposure to deafness. This session creates space for an open, research-informed discussion about language choices and supports for families, including spoken English through hearing technology (such as cochlear implants), ASL, or bilingual approaches. With UMD resources like the Maryland Cochlear Implant Center of Excellence, a growing ASL program, and collaborations with Gallaudet University, the roundtable aims to connect perspectives across disciplines and spark ongoing dialogue and potential collaboration.

Topics may include bimodal bilingualism, tools and challenges in teaching spoken language to pre-lingual CI users, outcomes for CI users in bilingual environments, and what effective support looks like in real-world listening and learning contexts.

Participants are encouraged to read a short pre-reading in advance: Pesch (2026), “Embracing Bilingualism for DHH.”