#25 DL for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing with Adam Bair

Show Notes

In this episode, the team interviews Adam Bair, a parent whose daughter participates in CILC's Community of Learning events. Adam shares his journey and the impact of distance learning on the education of his daughter Emma  who is deaf. They discuss the importance of exposure to new content for children with hearing loss and the impact of using American Sign Language (ASL) on learning methods and outcomes. Adam also highlights the evolution of accessibility features in video conferencing and the funding opportunities available for accessibility initiatives. Mention is made that as people age and their hearing is reduced similar accomodation supports their continued mental health. The conversation emphasizes the power of distance learning to provide equitable access to education.

Takeaways

• Distance learning provides access to locations and experiences that may not be possible otherwise.
• ASL interpretation and accessibility features in video conferencing have improved, making distance learning more inclusive.
• Distance learning allows for exposure to new content and concepts, which is crucial for deaf children's incidental learning.
• ASL is a conceptual language that conveys ideas rather than a direct word-for-word translation. (There is also manually signed English which is word-for-word.
• Funding opportunities are available for organizations and individuals looking to support accessibility initiatives.

Episode links:

• Learn more about the resources available at the American Society for Deaf Children here: deafchildren.org/

Host links:
The Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC) offers free Memberships and interactive virtual learning programs and resources: cilc.org/

Tune-in to the CILC Community of Learning education series that airs every Tuesday -Friday at 1PM. Select programs have live American Sign Language (ASL Interpretation), thanks to Emma and the American Society for Deaf Children. Check out the full schedule and register for FREE here: cilc.org/community.Check out Banyan Global

Check out Learning Live virtual programs for character education at https://banyangloballearning.com/live-virtual-field-trips/.

Creators and Guests

Host

Allyson Mitchell

SF

Host

Seth Fleischauer

TM

Host

Tami Moehring

What is Why Distance Learning??

Why Distance Learning? is a podcast about the decisions, design choices, and assumptions that determine whether live virtual learning becomes shallow and transactional—or meaningful, relational, and effective at scale.

The show is designed for education leaders, instructional designers, and system-level practitioners responsible for adopting, scaling, and sustaining virtual, hybrid, and online learning models. Each episode examines the structural conditions under which distance learning actually works—and the predictable reasons it fails when it doesn’t.

Through conversations with researchers, experienced practitioners, and field-shaping leaders, Why Distance Learning? translates research, field evidence, and lived experience into decision-relevant insight. Episodes surface real tradeoffs, near-failures, and hard-won lessons, equipping listeners with clear framing and language they can use to explain, defend, or redesign distance learning models in real organizational contexts.

Hosted by Seth Fleischauer of Banyan Global Learning, and Allyson Mitchell and Tami Moehring of the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration, the podcast challenges outdated narratives about distance learning and explores what becomes possible when live virtual education is designed intentionally, human-centered, and grounded in evidence.