Deaf Children Learn to Sign by Toying with RFID
From: RFID Journal - 09/11/2009
By: Claire Swedberg

Language Acquisition Manipulatives Blending Early-childhood Research and
Technology (LAMBERT) is a system that hearing-impaired students in Louisiana
and Texas are using to learn American Sign Language. The system was developed
by researchers at Southeastern University to address the language
requirements of deaf preschoolers, their teachers, and their non-deaf
parents. LAMBERT uses 25 toys outfitted with radio-frequency identification
(RFID) tags that help students learn to use sign language, in conjunction
with a laptop or desktop PC and an RFID interrogator that plugs into a
computer's USB portal. An object's tag must be held in close proximity to the
reader, and once the tag is read, the computer runs an animated sequence that
includes video of an individual signing that object's word, along with
several pictures of the item so the student becomes familiar with the many
versions of that object. The word is then spoken for the benefit of users
with some hearing capabilities. The US Department of Education is funding an
expansion of the LAMBERT system through a $390,000 grant. Southwestern
University professor and LAMBERT co-developer Becky Sue Parton says the grant
will expand the number of RFID-enabled items from 25 to 500. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/5199

Links:
Louisiana School for the Deaf
http://www.lalsd.org/

Becky Sue Parton
http://www.selu.edu/acad_research/depts/edlt/faculty/bios/bsueparton.html

Southeastern Researchers Explore Approach to Improve Deaf Education
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/American_Sign_Language/Deaf_Education/prweb2822424.htm

Jean Massieu Academy
http://www.jeanmassieu.com/

LSD is Pilot Site for LAMBERT Project
http://www.lalsd.org/news_detail.cfm?AID=793