How Far We Have Come Pioneering educators in the 1970s and 1980s created a new vision for infants and toddlers with hearing loss, emphasizing early identification and family training—revolutionary ideas then, best practices now. By Jayne Sowers, Ed.D. 1980, Atlanta. “Can you help us? Our 2-year-old has huge tantrums. She throws plates of food, she screams and yells. She doesn’t talk yet. We really need help!” 1977, Chicago. “I’ve been working with these 12-yearolds for two years. I know they are deaf, but why aren’t they learning to read?” 30
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1976, Portland, Oregon. “The 4-year-olds in my preschool class for the deaf are doing well—they are picking up language better than the kids who are deaf who didn’t start school until they were 6. Why is that?” These were the questions being raised by teachers of the deaf in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
