Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Blum.
Hi Laura, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
90% of deaf children are born to hearing families, who have no prior experience with hearing loss or sign language. Sadly, less than 30% of these families will learn ASL.
I saw this communication breakdown when I was young. You see, my family moved to Maryland, and I started attending a school with a magnet program for Deaf Education near Gallaudet University. My classes had a mix of hearing and deaf students with a teacher and ASL interpreter. From the very first day, I fell in love with American Sign Language and quickly made deaf friends. Once when visiting a deaf friend’s house, their mother asked me (14 years old) to interpret a conversation with their child! I learned this was the norm among my deaf friends. Some friends had a mom who knew a handful of signs but none of them had full access to language in their homes.
Over the years many Deaf friends share, they grew up without bedtime stories. I have thought about this often, Especially, when I became a mom. Bedtime stories are one of my favorite childhood memories. This is a tradition I continued with my children and look forward to enjoying with my future grandchildren.
I was baffled why more families did not learn ASL.
Learning American Sign Language changed my life in more ways than one. Before learning ASL, I was a struggling student, back in the 70’s we didn’t have all the diverse ways of learning identified and I was just considered, “a slow learner”. Yet when we moved to Maryland, I thrived in this new bilingual and visual environment. I went from a floundering C – D student, to graduating High School on the honor roll! (An A- B student.) My parents once commented that I had “outgrown” my learning disability, but I know now, I am very much a visual and hands-on learner. I graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Family Science with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. I continued my ASL skills by taking all the ASL classes offered at BYU and became a Utah certified interpreter while I finished my degree. Interpreting helped pay my way through school and once again ASL was blessing my life.
Interpreting is an amazing flexible career that worked around my schedule as a mom. As an interpreter, I provide a bridge between two languages without adding my own opinions, advice, thoughts etc. I spent the last 30 plus years interpreting and have loved my association with the Deaf community. When my children were grown, I came to a point in my career, I wanted to find a full-time opportunity that I could use and employ more of my talents. I thought about the Deaf community and the language deprivation that is still prevalent today.
With all the technology advancements, this statistic that less than 30% of families will learn ASL, has not budged! There were a lot of barriers in the past to learning ASL. Families in the 80’s did not have the benefit of apps and zoom group meetings where they can learn ASL in the comfort of their own homes. I wondered WHY didn’t more families learn ASL?
This issue is very complex- that I won’t go into all the reasons. But I reached out to my local early intervention organization, to see how I could help. I learned that many families WANT to learn ASL. They start on the path to learn ASL but get discouraged when after months of effort, they don’t feel any success and don’t see any progress. So sadly, many give up. Director of Utah’s Parent Infant Program, Stephanie Morgan shared ‘Parents get discouraged they can’t sign a baby board book.’
That stuck with me. Parents want to bond by reading books! As an interpreter, translating books is challenging. Especially if trying to keep the linguistic integrity of the book. Many children’s books rhyme and this important word play is often lost in translation. ASL is not a written language and so I wondered, “Can you write a book that is written in English to be simple to sign and RHYME in ASL?” I became obsessed with the idea. (A rhyme is a repetition of sound, in spoken languages. In ASL, a rhyme is a visual repetition. For example, the sign for YELLOW and the sign for WHALE repeat the same hand shape but are distinguished by different movements and location.)
I wrote a dozen books and tried to get them published. As you can imagine, I experienced many rejections. This type of book has never been published. Most ASL books, even for kids, are more like vocabulary books. One sign a page. The publishers didn’t know if rhyming in ASL was even real! I did have one publisher interested in the story “What Will Bear Wear?” This story rhymes in English and ASL. (Quite a feat that I am very proud of.) Yet they would not hire a Deaf Artist to illustrate the book. They explained they already had artists on the payroll and assured me it would turn out wonderful. (Again, missing the point.)
Deaf artists add so much to our Simple to Sign books because they know the language. So, I felt very much like the little red hen and thought, “I know Deaf artists, I know Deaf mentors, we’ll just make these resources ourselves.” I partnered with the local Deaf community to develop resources that were both effective and culturally appropriate. I grabbed my best friend, Gina Freelove, (who is Deaf) and also wanted to create a better future for deaf children and we started the nonprofit About Love and Language.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road. To start, ASL is not a written language. Our goal is to create stories that originated in ASL and rhyme, while being written and make sense in English. So, while our books look like traditional baby board books they are very intentionally designed. Each book:
– is illustrated by a Deaf artist
-has QR codes that can be scanned, and caregivers can learn signs from a Deaf mentor as needed.
-has rhyming elements in ASL
– are developmentally appropriate. Our collection of 13 books follows the ages and stages of childhood development
– teaches an ASL skills in small manageable steps.
Another challenge is learning how to run a business/nonprofit. I am a very creative person, and not business minded. To make things worse, I am not computer savvy. Learning the logistics of how to start a nonprofit along with self-publishing and the process of producing a video etc. It ALL has been a huge learning curve.
Just to share one example, while developing our first three books, a volunteer had offered to format the videos accompanying each book, while I worked with Deaf Artist to format the books for the printing deadline. As the deadline approached, the videos were not ready. To meet the Christmas orders, I published the books with a placeholder for the QR codes, planning to attach stickers later. The volunteer promised to complete the videos by the new deadline.
One day, when I returned home from work, I found the garage door unexpectedly locked. Instead of waiting, I took a detour to another door I believed was open. I had a distinct impression that I should use this same mentality when I hit a roadblock with the books. Instead of standing at a “locked door” frustrated or mad- I should not waste time but quickly find another solution.
The day the semi-truck delivered the books, the volunteer informed me they couldn’t complete the videos. I was speechless. Remembering my “locked door” experience, I sought another solution. Through prayer and binge-watching YouTube videos, I discovered my computer already had the needed software installed! After pulling an all-nighter, it truly was a miracle, I managed to create the videos, print the QR code stickers and fulfill orders on time.
Lastly, we would love to have a traditional publisher who to distribute our books. American Sign Language is beneficial for all babies: sadly, publishers have shied away from publishing our books. Unfamiliar with ASL, some wonder if rhyming in ASL is a real thing? Dr. Erin Campbell, PhD validates, “Simple to Sign books align with decades of evidence on how to support language and literacy development.” Yet publishers also are concerned the market is not big enough to support the cost to publish these specialized resources.
Regardless of the size of market, we feel the cause is too great to not champion. Language deprivation is preventable, and families need resources to build a language with their children who are at risk. One parent explains, “It is hard to teach both ASL and English when you basically are telling 2 stories. When I can sign what I say, my kids pay attention. Especially at night when they don’t have hearing aids in, before bed. These books are so important.” And the unique ASL rhyming feature of the books are really making a difference in language acquisition. Another parent shares, “My daughter is hard of hearing. Introducing ASL rhymes was a bridge we didn’t know she needed until it was presented to her. The ability to connect handshapes with words has opened her access to language and truly aided her in her bilingual journey.” Stories like this keep us moving forward.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am so proud of the collaboration with Deaf community members. Deaf mentors and Deaf artist truly elevate these books. I love this observation by Rebecca Tucker an Early Intervention Specialist, “Simple to Sign Books are ASL-rich resources that are simple enough for new signers, while honoring ASL as a full and vibrant language. The stories are not just written in English to be signed; they are written in a way that honors ASL in print.”
What is something that sets me apart? I am a tenacious person. I don’t ever expect anything to happen quickly or easily. So I rarely get derailed when things don’t go as planned. I think because I struggled so much in school during my formative years, I learned the value of showing up and grinding away at problems.
Our mission is to prevent language breakdowns in families and addressing language deprivation which is prevalent in the Deaf community. This is such a goliath of a problem. While I felt confident, I had found a creative approach to mediate the situation, (Simple to Sign books that help parents share books with emerging ASL skills, building language and bonding with bedtime stories.) I did not see myself as the person to spear-head such a mission. I tried to give this idea to everyone and anyone who already worked with families in early intervention. While many intervention programs were interested in buying these types of books, none of them could produce and publish these much-needed resources.
Thankfully, I was familiar with the Self-Reliance Programs offered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I had already completed the Personal Finance program and loved the approach of applying the gospel and scriptures to our every day challenges. I knew there was a program for those wanting to start their own business. Truthfully, I did not want to start a business, it really seemed presumptuous to think I could. I am painfully aware of my strengths/skill set and my very weak business sense. But the Starting and Growing My Business is an amazing program for people who are willing to trust God and act. My first step in this venture was making the Lord my business partner. (Phillipians 4:13 “ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”.) I rationalized, with the Lord by my side, how could I fail? The Self-Reliance program challenges you to read your scriptures daily and live the commandments while following the weekly lessons. The scriptures truly became a comfort and source of strength for me.
As I followed the program, I committed to show up and trust that the Lord would magnify my efforts. I learned from examples in the scripture like Moses who reminded me, if the Lord brings you to it-(the Red Sea) He will help you through it. (And that I need to be open to unconventional answers)
Once I was presenting about our work at a national conference for early intervention providers and I was terrified! I do not enjoy public speaking. Self-doubt came crashing down hard. Impostor syndrome began, as I told myself, “I don’t have all the credentials behind my name to present with authority on the topic of Language Acquisition!?!” Yet I remembered David, when he was preparing to face Goliath. He recounted that the Lord had prepared him in his youth, I thought about my own childhood- I have been giving talks since a Sunbeam in Primary, countless callings over the years and teaching lessons, etc. I reasoned, “Who else at this conference has more experience than me in public speaking?” Alma 37:7 reminded me, the Lord loves working with weak and simple things. “.. by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise…” As a result, I was able to confidently present and made many important connections because I didn’t shy away from the opportunity.
So many blessings have come from starting this nonprofit. Not just personal wins like learning how to replace fear with faith, but when I read feedback from providers and parents, I know we are helping address this important issue. One parent shares, “I have been scouring the Internet looking for MORE books that are simple to sign. My little girl was born deaf and we were introduced to these books by our UtahPIP Language gal. My daughter LOVES these books more than any other books.”
I have spoken much about the Deaf community, but About Love and Language is for ALL families who would benefit from using ASL to communicate with their children. Forexmaple, children with Autism, Down Syndrome, and other conditions that make articulating difficult, benefit from ASL. We love our acronym A.L.L echo’s our mission to serve all families build bonds of love and language.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
What most people might not know about me? I love people, but I honestly get anxious around groups of people. When I get nervous, I talk a lot, and I tend to talk fast. So, most people think I am an extravert. But really, I am very much an introvert. Ask my family- every night by 8:30 pm I am done “people-ing” for the day and can be found in the bath reading a good book.
Thank you so much for this opportunity to share what we do and why.
Pricing:
- $15/book
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aboutloveandlanguage.org
- Instagram: @rhymeswhensigned
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2567506680203622
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/founder-laura-blum/
- Other: https://www.simpletosignbooks.org
