Family ASL is our new research project! We are investigating families with deaf children and hearing parents who have chosen to include American Sign Language as one of their family languages. Our project looks at how parents and children learn ASL together, and the children’s development in English and other areas.
For more information about how to get involved, visit our recruitment page or contact our lab.
Study 1:
Children ages 2–5
Time Commitment: 1–6 hours (30-minute sessions)
Participants of this study would:
- Participate in at least two 30-minute Zoom meetings with a lab member
- Complete language activities, assessments and games
- Receive $10 per session as a thank you
Study 2:
Children ages 2–3
Time commitment: 1–1.5 hours/week for a year
Participants in this study would:
- Join weekly Zoom meetings for ASL services and language activities
- Complete weekly recorded play sessions with your child
- Receive up to $50/month as a thank you
Resource Article
Family ASL: An Early Start to Equitable Education for Deaf Children
This article by Drs. Lillo-Martin, Chen Pichler and Gale discusses the importance of early language access and outlines actions to maximize DHH children’s chances for on-time language development.
Check out this short video for more details (Recruitment closed)
Informational Flyer - English
Folleto Informativo - Español
Co-Principal Investigators
Diane Lillo-Martin
University of Connecticut
(she/her)
Deborah Chen Pichler
Gallaudet University
(she/her)
Elaine Gale
Hunter College, CUNY
(she/her)
Contributors
Eileen Lograno
ASL Specialist
Hunter College
(she/her)
Angelica Llerena
Lab Manager
UConn
(she/her)
Amber Martin
Hunter College
(she/her)
Bettie Petersen
New Mexico School for the Deaf
(she/her)
Shuyan Wang
Post Doc
UConn
(she/her)
Jeff Palmer
NDC, UT Austin, Gallaudet
(he/him)
Matthew Hall
Temple University
(he/him)
Mary Cecilia Conte
Gallaudet
(she/her)
Graduate Students
Bonnie Barrett
Gallaudet
(she/her)
Martin Dale-Hench
Gallaudet
(he/him)
Linghui (Eva) Gan
UConn
(she/her)
Kaj Kraus
Gallaudet
(he/him)
Chui-Yi (Maggie) Lee
UConn
(she/her)
Daniel Maier
Gallaudet
(he/him)
Previous Contributors
Ana (AJ) Dejesus
Meghan Shaw
Aileen Cataquet
Brittany Farr
Shengyun Gu
Janina Piotroski
Shane Blau
Nikki Pire
Corina Goodwin
Charles Vernon
Patrice Creamer
In Memoriam
Jon Henner
1983-2023
UNC Greensboro
(he/him)
“How you language is beautiful. Don’t let anyone tell you your languaging is wrong. Your language is the story of your life.”
-Jon Henner
Related Articles
- Lillo-Martin, Diane (2025). Sign Language acquisition is a human right. Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD) 49. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. https://www.lingref.com/bucld/49/BUCLD49-01.pdf
- Lillo-Martin, Diane, Chen Pichler, Deborah & Gale, Elaine (2025). Language and Cognitive Development in Bimodal Bilingual Deaf Children with Hearing Families: Three Case Studies. Behavioral Sciences 15(8), 1124 [special issue on Language and Cognitive Development in Deaf Children]. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/8/1124
- Chen Pichler, Deborah, Conte, Mary Cecilia, Creamer, Patrice, Dale-Hench, Martin, Gale, Elaine, Gan, Linghui Eva, Goodwin, Corina, Gu, Shengyun, Kraus, Kaj, Lee, Chui-Yi, Lillo-Martin, Diane, Palmer, Jeffrey, Petersen, Bettie & Shaw, Meghan (2024). Profile of a family’s bimodal bilingual development. In Hayat AlThagafi and Jupitara Ray (Eds.), Proceedings of the Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD) 48, 158-168. Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press. https://www.lingref.com/bucld/48/BUCLD48-12.pdf
Related Presentations
Upcoming
- Barrett, Bonnie, Gan, Linghui, Chen Pichler, Deborah & Lillo-Martin, Diane. L2 Grammatical Development of ASL by Hearing Parents of Deaf Children. Linguistic Society of America annual meeting; New Orleans, LA; January 2026.
- Gale, Elaine, Creamer, Patrice, Blau, Shane, Chen Pichler, Deborah & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Envisioning the future with visual strategies for spoken and/or sign language development. American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention; Washington, DC; November 2025.
- Lillo-Martin, Diane, Gale, Elaine & Chen Pichler, Deborah. Sign and spoken language development in deaf children with hearing parents learning to sign. American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention; Washington, DC; November 2025.
- Barrett, Bonnie, Kraus, Kaj, Blau, Shane, Dale-Hench, Martin, Chen Pichler, Deborah & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Implementing a language-specific subscore for more informative ASL syntax assessment for hearing parents and their DHH children. Boston University Conference on Language Development; Boston, MA; November 2025.
- Gan, Linghui, Llerena, Angelica & Lillo-Martin, Diane. What does bimodal bilingual acquisition look like in deaf children with hearing parents? Boston University Conference on Language Development; Boston, MA; November 2025.
- Kraus, Kaj, Barrett, Bonnie, Blau, Shane, Dale-Hench, Martin, Conte, Mary Cecilia, Lillo-Martin, Diane, Gale, Elaine & Chen Pichler, Deborah. Relationships between L2 hearing parent and L1 deaf child learning of ASL: Vocabulary and syntax. Poster presentation, Boston University Conference on Language Development; Boston, MA; November 2025.
- Wang, Shuyan, Lee, Chui Yi, Lillo-Martin, Diane & Chen Pichler, Deborah. Development of syntax in spoken English by bimodal bilingual deaf children with cochlear implants: Comparison with hearing bilinguals and monolinguals. Boston University Conference on Language Development; Boston, MA; November 2025.
- Gale, E., Blau, S., & Creamer, P. (2025, October). Starting with Visual Strategies for Communication. Researching the Deaf Community. Moscow, Russia.
- Gu, Shengyun & Lillo-Martin, Diane. The family language project. Society for the Neurobiology of Language; Washington, DC; September 2025.
2025
- Creamer, P., Gale, E., Blau, S. (2025, August). Seeing Language: Visual Strategies for Supporting Deaf Children in Black Families. National Black Deaf Advocates. Kansas City, Missouri.
- Newman, T., Gale, E. & Cloete, N. (2025, July). Deaf Gain: Building Identity & Literacy Skills through Bilingual Storybook Apps. International Congress on the Education of the Deaf, Rome, Italy.
- Gale, E. & Creamer, P. (2025, July). More Than Words: Deaf Adults’ Visual Strategies with Deaf Children for Language-Rich Play Environments. International Congress on the Education of the Deaf, Rome, Italy.
- Chen Pichler, Deborah & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Family ASL: Bimodal bilingual development by deaf children with hearing parents. International Congress on the Education of the Deaf; Rome; July 2025
- Chen Pichler (2025, July) More than (signed) words: The broader impact of hearing signer parents on deaf children's development. Keynote presentation at the International Congress on the Education of the Deaf (ICED), Rome, Italy.
- Lillo-Martin, Diane, Lee, Chui-Yi, Gale, Elaine, Chen Pichler, Deborah. Bimodal Bilingual Benefits Counter Audism and Linguicism. ACEDHH; Washington D.C.; February 2025
- Gale, Elaine, Creamer, Patrice, Blau, Shane. Eyes on Language: Early Visual Strategies for Language-Rich Environments. ACEDHH; Washington D.C.; February 2025
- Gu, Shengyun, Lillo-Martin, Diane, Chen Pichler, Deborah & Gale, Elaine. ASL phonology development in deaf children with hearing sign-learning parents. Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR); Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Jan. 2025.
- Blau, Shane, Chen Pichler, Deborah, Gale, Elaine & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Development of visual communication and sign language by deaf children in the Family ASL project. Poster presentation, Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR); Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Jan. 2025.
- Blau, Shane, Chen Pichler, Deborah, Gale, Elaine & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Sign Language Acquisition by Deaf Children with Hearing, Signing Families: Visual Communication and Vocabulary. Linguistic Society of America Annual Meeting; Philadelphia, PA; Jan. 2025.
2024
- Lillo-Martin, Diane. Sign Language acquisition is a human right. Invited keynote presentation; Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD); Boston, MA; Nov. 2024. Lillo-Martin BUCLD Slides Handout; Lillo-Martin BUCLD References Handout, Lillo-Martin Keynote -ASL Interpretation
- Gale, Elaine & Creamer, Patrice. Family ASL: Visual communication strategies for optimal language learning [Concurrent presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, Gale, Luci, Creamer, Patrice, Best, Suzy, & Gale, Zivia. Promoting family wellbeing: Deaf gain in children’s books [Poster presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2024.
- Gale, Elaine & Martin, Amber. Family and provider partnership: Guiding values for deaf children’s early language access [Poster presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, Martin, Amber, & Lograno, Eileen. Family ASL: Monitoring shared attention through deaf eyes for families and professionals [Concurrent presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, Rems-Smario, Julie, Hopkins, Karen, & Olson, Stephanie. Deaf adults in early intervention: Preliminary data on parent experiences and perspectives [Poster presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2024.
- Chen Pichler, Deborah, Gale, Elaine, Lillo-Martin, Diane, Creamer, Patrice, & Schroeder, Jillian. Family ASL: Research in support of family bimodal bilingual development. International Congress on Family-Centered Early Intervention for Children who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing (FCEI); Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2024.
- Creamer, Patrice & Gale, Elaine. Family ASL: Tips for teaching and learning ASL online [Poster presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2024.
- Creamer, Patrice, & Gale, Elaine. Families learning ASL on Zoom: The good, the bad and the beautiful [Concurrent Presentation]. Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), Denver, Colorado, United States; March, 2024.
- Gale, Elaine & Creamer, Patrice. Family ASL: Mini-lessons on visual communication strategies [Concurrent presentation]. Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), Denver, Colorado, United States; March, 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, Gale, Lucy, Creamer, Patrice, Best, Suzy, & Gale, Zivia. Diversity, equity and inclusion: Deaf gain in children’s books [Poster presentation]. Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), Denver, Colorado, United States; March, 2024.
- Gale, Elaine & Martin, Amber. Guiding values for deaf children’s language access [Poster presentation]. Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), Denver, Colorado, United States; March, 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, Martin, Amber, & Lograno, Elaine. Family ASL: Researching shared attention through deaf eyes [Poster Presentation]. Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), Denver, Colorado, United States; March, 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, Rems-Smario, Julie, Hopkins, Karen, & Olson, Stephanie. DHH adult consumer-to-family support services: Exploring parent experiences and perspectives [Poster Presentation]. Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), Denver, Colorado, United States; March, 2024.
- Lillo-Martin, Diane, Gale, Elaine, Chen Pichler, Deborah, & Creamer, Patrice. Family bimodal bilingual language development: Longitudinal study of families learning ASL. Early Hearing Detection & Intervention (EHDI), Denver, Colorado, United States; March, 2024.
- Creamer, Patrice, & Gale, Elaine. Family ASL Zoom engagement: New era of ASL learning with families. Association of College Educators – Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACEDHH), Las Vegas, Nevada; February 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, & Creamer, Patrice. Family ASL: Teaching mini-lessons on visual communication strategies [Poster presentation]. Association of College Educators – Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACEDHH), Las Vegas, Nevada; February 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, Gale, Lucile, Creamer, Patrice, & Best, Suzy. Elevate, empower, and engage: Deaf gain in children’s books [Poster presentation]. Association of College Educators – Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACEDHH), Las Vegas, Nevada; February 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, & Martin, Amber. Guiding values for elevating deaf children’s early language access [Poster presentation]. Association of College Educators – Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACEDHH), Las Vegas, Nevada; February 2024.
- Gale, Elaine, Rems-Smario, Julie, Hopkins, Karen, & Olson, Stephanie. Exploring parent perspectives: When should professionals in early intervention offer families access to deaf adults? Association of College Educators – Deaf and Hard of Hearing (ACEDHH), Las Vegas, Nevada; February 2024.
- Gu, Shengyun, Lillo-Martin, Diane, Chen Pichler, Deborah, & Gale, Elaine. Early development in ASL phonology: A longitudinal study of deaf children with hearing parents. Linguistics Society of America, New York, NY; January 2024.
- Lillo-Martin, Diane, Gan, Linghui (Eva), Hochgesang, Julie & Chen Pichler, Deborah. Assessing the development of ASL by deaf children: Longitudinal spontaneous production data. Formal and Experimental Advances in Sign Language Theory (FEAST); Ann Arbor, MI; August 2024.
- Lillo-Martin, Diane, Chen Pichler, Deborah & Gale, Elaine. Family ASL: Deaf children and hearing parents learning ASL together. SIGN10; Trinidad; December 2024.
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Gale, Elaine, Creamer, Patrice, Blau, Shane. Language Input for Deaf Infants: What Do Deaf Babies Need and How Can Parents Provide it? SIGN10; Trinidad; December 2024.
2023
- Chen Pichler, Deborah, Conte, Mary Cecilia, Creamer, Patrice, Dale-Hench, Martin, Gale, Elaine, Goodwin, Corina, Gu, Shengyun, Kraus, Kaj, Lee, Chui-Yi, Lillo-Martin, Diane, Palmer, Jeffrey, Petersen, Bettie & Shaw, Meghan. Profile of a family’s bimodal bilingual development [poster presentation]. Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD); Boston, MA; Nov. 2023.
- Lillo-Martin, Diane, Gale, Elaine, Chen Pichler, Deborah, & Martin, Amber. Sign Language Acquisition as a Human Right. International seminar (online); Language Convergence Research Institute, Chosun University, South Korea; July 2023.
- Gale, Elaine & Creamer, Patrice. Family ASL: Visual communication strategies for optimal language learning [Concurrent presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2023.
- Gale, Elaine, Gale, Laura, Creamer, Patrice, Best, Sarah, & Gale, Zoe. Promoting family wellbeing: Deaf gain in children’s books [Poster presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2023.
- Gale, Elaine & Martin, Amber. Family and provider partnership: Guiding values for deaf children’s early language access [Poster presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2023.
- Gale, Elaine, Martin, Amber, & Lograno, Eileen. Family ASL: Monitoring shared attention through deaf eyes for families and professionals [Concurrent presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2023.
- Gale, Elaine, Rems-Smario, Julie, Hopkins, Krista, & Olson, Sarah. Deaf adults in early intervention: Preliminary data on parent experiences and perspectives [Poster presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2023.
- Creamer, Patrice & Gale, Elaine. Family ASL: Tips for teaching and learning ASL online [Poster presentation]. International Congress on Family Centered Early Intervention (FCEI), Bad Ischl, Austria; May 2023.
2022
- Kraus, Kaj, Gu, Shengyun, Lillo-Martin, Diane & Chen Pichler, Deborah. L2 Signer Accent: Phonological Development in ASL Learners. Theoretical Issues in Sign Language Research (TISLR); Osaka, Japan; Sept. 2022.
- Chen Pichler, Deborah, Gale, Elaine & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Family ASL: An Early Start to Equitable Education for Deaf Children. 5th International Congress on Family-Centered Early Intervention for Children who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing (FCEI); Bad Ischl, Austria; Originally scheduled for May 2020 but postponed to June 2022.
- Lillo-Martin, Diane, Chen Pichler, Deborah & Gale, Elaine. Understanding diverse contexts for bimodal bilingual development: L1 vs. L2 learning. 5th International Congress on Family-Centered Early Intervention for Children who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing (FCEI); Bad Ischl, Austria; Originally scheduled for May 2020 but postponed to June 2022.
2021
- Chen Pichler, Deborah, Gale, Elaine & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Stuck at beginner level: Hearing parents’ challenges in learning ASL word order [poster presentation]. 20th Annual Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Meeting; All online; March 2021.
- Gale, Elaine, Chen Pichler, Deborah & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Bimodal Bilingualism for an early start to equitable education for deaf children. 20th Annual Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Meeting; All online; March 2021.
2020
- Chen Pichler, Deborah, Gale, Elaine & Lillo-Martin, Diane. How to support ASL as an L1 for children and L2 for parents: An interactive discussion. Early Hearing Detection and Intervention; March 2020.
2019
- Chen Pichler, Deborah & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Motivation for L2 ASL learning by hearing parents with deaf children [poster presentation]. Boston University Conference on Language Development (BUCLD); November 2019.
- Chen Pichler, Deborah, Gagne, Deanna & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Parents partnering with language researchers. American Society for Deaf Children Conference; Newark, Delaware; June 2019.
2018
- Chen Pichler, Deborah & Lillo-Martin, Diane. Hearing parents and deaf children learning a sign language together. 4th International Congress on Family-Centered Early Intervention for Children who are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing; Bad Ischl, Austria; June 15, 2018.