Deaf Children Learn to Sign By Toying With RFID

With the RFID system, an item's tag needs to be held close to the reader, at about 90 centimeters (35 inches) or less. The interrogator then captures the tag's unique ID number and sends it to the computer's software via the USB connection. "The code we wrote takes each number and tells the system to launch the appropriate animation," Parton says. The animation includes a 15-second video of an individual signing that item's word, as well as several pictures of the item so the child becomes familiar with the many versions of that object (such as multiple types of airplanes, balls or apples). It then speaks the word for those with some hearing capabilities.

The system also allows the video to be projected onto a 5-by-5-foot Smart Board attached to the computer via a USB cable, so that more students can participate and watch.

Initially, researchers presented a prototype of the LAMBERT system to the Louisiana School for the Deaf, and teachers there agreed to try it. They received one kit with the 25 tagged objects and a computer. Southeastern then provided 10 laptop versions of the kit for the Parent Pupil Education Program (PPEP), for use at home by 10 children up to three years of age. In their homes, the kids could not only practice their words, but also encourage their hearing parents to learn to sign as well.

"One of the biggest problems [in sign acquisition for deaf children] is that hearing parents don't learn sign language," Parton says. Therefore, children of deaf parents who do know sign language have a much higher vocabulary by the time they are school-aged, compared with those with hearing parents.

With the DOE grant, Parton says, Southeastern is now creating a much larger kit with 500 tagged items. Shopping for that many items has been daunting, she notes, and researchers are considering providing tags in the future that could be attached to items at a school or home.

Additionally, the system is now being used by the Jean Massieu Academy in Texas, with one kit in the classroom and 10 laptop versions for children to take home. The DOE grant will allow Southeastern to make three full kits with 500 objects—one for the university, and one each for the deaf schools in Texas and Louisiana.

"It's a fabulous system," Ford says. "We use it on a daily basis. For children with no language foundation, it's a huge benefit."

According to Parton, the system could be marketed for commercial use. However, she notes, she does not intend to do so unless additional funding becomes available.