Family Network for Deaf Children

And FNDCs summer program, Deaf

Youth Today (DYT)

PO Box 50075, Southslope RPO

Burnaby, BC V5J 5G3
Phone: 604-684-1860 voice/text
Email: fndc@shaw.ca
Website: www.fndc.ca

May 7, 2016
This letter confirms that Silas Woodsmith registered for the FNDC workshop on Saturday, May 7th, 2016 with Dr.
Deborah Chen Pichler, Professor of Linguistics, Gallaudet University. The workshop consists of two 2.5 hour sessions (5
hours in total), including lunch from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The cost for the full day was $20.00.
Dr. Chen Pichlers workshop provided a quality professional development opportunity for: Teachers of the Deaf/Hard of
Hearing, Interpreters, Speech Language Pathlogists, Audiologists, Educational Assistants, Early Childhood Educators,
Youth & Childcare workers, as well as those working in the medical, mental health and social work professions.
About the presenter: Deborah Chen Pichler became interested in linguistics and bilingualism as a young child, growing
up in a bilingual English-Taiwanese household. Since 2002, she has been a member of the Gallaudet Linguistics faculty,
teaching courses on first and second language acquisition and generative syntax. Her research interests focus on the
acquisition of ASL by Deaf children of Deaf families (both with and without cochlear implants) and hearing bilinguals
(Coda children), as well as the acquisition of ASL as a second language by adults. She also has a strong interest in the use
of technology in teaching, particularly in deaf classrooms.
5 Myths about ASL and signing children
Are sign languages really easier to learn than spoken languages? Does sign make your child smarter? Will learning ASL at
the same time as English cause language confusion? The claims about ASL in the media are conflicting and often
inaccurate. Come examine 5 popular myths about ASL and signing children, and learn about the research that debunks
them. Along the way, we will also discuss basic milestones in the development of ASL by babies and children.
New in sign language research: What sign languages tell us about your brain. For centuries, everything we knew about
language and the brain was based on what we observed for spoken language. But as we learn more about sign
languages and their status as true languages, this new knowledge challenges many of our assumptions about how
languages are acquired and lost, and how they interact with other languages in our brains. Come join us for a nontechnical exploration of some surprising revelations coming out of recent psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic research
on sign languages. This workshop is a bit more academic focussed and is perfect for professionals, parents of deaf/hard
of hearing children of all ages and the communities that support our children.
If you have any questions, I may be contacted at fndc@shaw.ca
Sincerely,
Cecelia Klassen
Cecelia Klassen
Executive Director
FNDC Family Network for Deaf Children
FNDC Family Network for Deaf Children

604-684-1860 fndc@shaw.ca