American Sign Language

Story Preservation Initiative is excited to introduce its new literacy-based project developed for young deaf and hard-of-hearing children, grades K-3+.

SPI has added American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation to five folktales in the K-3 Storytelling Learning Lab site. The stories are brought to life visually through the genius of ASL storysigner Ian Sanborn, an eight-year veteran of the National Theatre of the Deaf. Whether those watching are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or hearing, Ian’s ASL storysigning is magic – breaking down barriers and reaching across cultural and linguistic divides.

Stories in the ASL collection include African and African-American folktales, traditional Native American stories, tales from the Pacific Rim, Russia, Scandinavia, and bi-lingual stories from Latin America.