The Clerc Center has been steadily broadening its influence across various platforms and projects, with a dedicated focus on supporting our mission. At the core of our efforts is the belief that every deaf and hard of hearing child deserves full language access and the opportunity to engage meaningfully with their communities.

Our initiatives aim to create pathways for connection, ensuring that each child and family has access to the resources they need to succeed. From early language development to comprehensive educational support, we are committed to fostering environments where children can flourish—academically, socially, and emotionally.

A key part of our strategy is the Regional Early Acquisition of Language (REAL), an integral component of our early intervention work. Recently, the REAL resource has forged a partnership with the Motion Light Lab (ML2) team, which has been developing a bookshelf app for several years. This collaboration has made the Bilingual Stories Bookshelf app a centerpiece of the REAL project, which is spearheaded by the Clerc Center and the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind.

The mission behind the Bilingual Stories Bookshelf app is to provide deaf and hard of hearing children, from birth to age 3, and their families with bilingual storybooks in both American Sign Language (ASL) and English. This resource is designed to support early language acquisition during a critical developmental period, helping children build a strong language foundation. The app offers a virtual bookshelf with entire books translated into ASL through signed storybook videos.

While the ML2 team was working on the app, I was developing the website and aligning its design with the vision of the Clerc Center, specifically focusing on showcasing our resources. The website enables users to easily navigate and access a variety of materials across different platforms, including the option to purchase books directly. This integration ensures that families, educators, and caregivers can seamlessly find and utilize the resources they need to support their child’s language and literacy development.

To further enhance engagement, the app features three interactive modes, allowing children and their families to explore stories in a bilingual format that promotes language development and literacy. We are excited to announce that the SHAKUR series is our first storybook being released as part of this collaboration.

At the Clerc Center, we believe that language is the key to unlocking a child’s potential, and we remain deeply committed to ensuring that no child is left behind on their journey toward success. Through innovative projects and collaborative partnerships, we continue to build a future where every deaf and hard of hearing child has the opportunity to grow, learn, and lead.