A new Bilingual Stories Bookshelf App was unveiled on October 19 during Homecoming 2024. This app was created to support early language acquisition for deaf and hard of hearing children and their families by providing bilingual storybooks in both American Sign Language (ASL) and English. It is a product of the Regional Early Acquisition of Language (REAL) project, a collaborative initiative between the Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.

The app offers a unique collection of both classic published stories and new, original stories written, illustrated, and signed by Deaf individuals from diverse backgrounds. This ensures that children not only access bilingual content but also see themselves represented in stories that reflect a variety of culturally Deaf perspectives, fostering a deeper connection to language and culture.

This app offers a virtual bookshelf of 46 signed storybook videos, with interactive modes to engage users:

WATCH: Enjoy the entire story signed, with the book's pages as the background.

READ: Experience page-by-page videos, with each page accompanied by its text.

LEARN: Explore key vocabulary words signed and fingerspelled.

The collection includes both published books and original stories by culturally Deaf authors and illustrators, creating a rich and accessible learning environment. A highlight of the app is the Shakur Series, the only published series featuring stories by Black Deaf creators, specifically designed for children from birth to age 3. This series is the first of five, with each series featuring stories from different Deaf families of cultural and racial backgrounds, further enriching the diversity of the content.

This app will be a valuable resource not only for families with deaf and hard of hearing children but also for anyone interested in bilingual learning through ASL.

Published books will be available for free download through the app, and the Shakur Series will be available for purchase on the iPad and iPhone, and on Android devices. Printed versions of the Shakur Series are also available for purchase from Gallaudet University Press.

Families with children ages 0-3 who register with their REAL regional center or with the Clerc Center Early Intervention Team will have access to free downloads of the Shakur Series and any additional paid content that will be added to the app over the next few years. They will also have access to the published books through the REAL Family Resource Packages, distributed by the REAL regional centers.

The REAL project anticipates adding at least 120 more stories to the app over the next three years, with a total of 135 published bilingual stories and 30 original stories written, illustrated, and signed by diverse Deaf community members. "We are excited to continue expanding this rich content," says Sarah Honigfield, Director of Early Intervention at Clerc Center.