Pantomime

Information

Mission Statement


SPROUT is committed to empowering diverse families with children and youth having hearing impairment by embracing full access to language-rich environments through mentoring, advocacy, resources, and collaborative networks.



Vision Statement


All children and youth with hearing impairment shall have the opportunity to thrive in every aspect of their lives through the empowerment of their families and the support of the community.



Our Values


We deliver and delight, create a "wow" experience, and achieve the win-win situation through:

We say what we'll do, do what we say, and do the right thing.
We are stewards of what we stand for, focused on our goal to facilitate learning for the physically impaired.
We are can-do, agile, and embrace change.
We are honest, ethical, and direct in all of our dealings.
We are always learning and improving.
We are committed to helping our users achieve high-quality, actionable results.
We are user-centered, good listeners, provide high quality interactive lessons for the hearing impaired.


CORE BELIEFS


We believe in the celebration of a positive identity of all hearing impaired children through healthy family support, linguistic competence and high quality education in the home, school, and community. We believe deaf children are entitled to full language and communication access. We also believe that language development, respect for deaf individuals, and access to deaf mentors are important to ensure optimal intellectual, social and emotional development. We believe that consideration of language opportunities for children with hearing impairment should be based on facts. Research consistently demonstrates that fluency in Sign Language and English, with or without technology, offers all children with hearing impairment optimal opportunities for academic and social success, and thus both should be part of their language-rich and fully accessible environment. We believe that there should be access to early identification and education by qualified providers, engaged family involvement, and educational opportunities equal to those provided for hearing children. Our objective is to ensure that young children with hearing impairment will achieve kindergarten readiness and will be academically and socially prepared by the time they enter elementary school. Kindergarten readiness is a critical step for children on the path of developing into happy and successful adults. We affirm that parents have the right and the responsibility to be primary decision makers and advocates for their deaf children. For this role, parents need access to accurate and current information, educational opportunities, and support.

WHY US?


Why SPROUT? Well, it may not surprise you to learn that more than 90% of deaf and hard of hearing children are born to hearing parents. But it may surprise you to learn that many of those parents will never learn sign language – a decision that will have a huge impact on the rest of their child’s life. Even if a parent has made the decision to get cochlear implants and plan to have English as their child’s primary language, it’s critical that deaf and hard of hearing children be given access to sign language right from the start. Here’s why:

Who lacked early language skills went on to have difficulties knowing social norms, developing work skills, understanding and exhibiting interpersonal and interaction skills, and some have difficulty living independently.
Who acquire ASL at a young age perform better academically, understand more English, and often have better skills for organizing, maintaining attention, and inhibiting impulses.
Who rated their communication with their families as poor reported more symptoms of depression.

Conclusion


In addition to evidence from academic research, there is ample evidence from real life that children who grow up with both Sign Language and English can – and do – go on to be successful bilingual adults. The bottom line is that if hearing parents invest in learning and using SPROUT, they can provide a solid foundation for their child to learn, thrive, and succeed.