The Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MECDHH) offers a variety of opportunities for learning American Sign Language to families of children who are deaf and the general public. These opportunities fall into three broad categories.
ASL for the Hearing Community
The Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing offers two American Sign Language (ASL) Courses for the hearing community. ASL I will be taught by John Smith, an ASLTA certified teacher with 25 years experience teaching ASL in the public arena, will instruct this course. ASL II will be taught by Sally Albert, an ASLTA certified teacher with more than 25 years experience throughout Maine and with more than 10 years experience teaching ASL through distance learning, will instruct this course.
Ideal for community leaders, disability coordinators, adult education directors, special education directors, education personnel, and human service agency personnel, this course will be taught through ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) distance learning. ATM distance learning allows teacher and participants to interact in real time through video cameras. Students from throughout the state can participate in the course from sites located near to where they live. Sites will be determined according to where interested participants are clustered.
These courses will be adult focused and limited to 25 students. The cost is $200.00. For the dates and time click here. For more information and to register contact Barbara Keefe at (207) 781-6209 or click on her name to send an email.
ASL for High School Credit
MECDHH is fortunate to be a site for one of Maine's state-of-the-art Distance Learning Centers. Through this technology an ASLTA certified teacher, who is herself Deaf, instructs public high school students in ASL through live videoconferencing. The students receive foreign language credit for the course. MECDHH can broadcast this class to up to four schools simultaneously and has reached as many as nine schools in a school year.
Utilizing Distance Learning Centers around the state, MECDHH offers American Sign Language classes exclusively for families, caregivers and others in close contact with children that sign. The goal of the program is to provide families with ASL skills as they apply to regular, daily communication. Course content is driven by the families' needs. Courses are offered in the fall and again in the spring. Click here for the current schedule
For more information contact Barbara Keefe at (207) 781-6209 or click on her name to send an email.
ASL for Employees
MECDHH demonstrates its commitment to a fully accessible environment by offering free weekly ASL classes to all employees of the school on work time.
| 
