The Lexington Center for the Deaf has announced open enrollment of its ten-week course to learn American Sign Language.
The center is located at 26-26 75th Street, Jackson Height, with plenty of parking and the classes are being offered mid-day, afternoon, and evening.
According to Adele Agin, executive director of the Lexington Center for the Deaf, the ten week semester classes will be taught by professional, sign-language teachers who are deaf themselves and the program will be offered to adult teenagers, age 16 to adults.
The course will begin on April 26 until June 28, 2011 and structures to help students learn American Sign Language by mastering the vocabulary, sentences and grammar needed to communicate in common life situations.
“The Lexington Center provides a variety of services to individuals who are deaf and to the New York city community at large, which includes a very extensive hearing and speech center, job placement for deaf and individuals, therapy, and a very large community-based American sign language program,” said Agin. “Hearing individuals take sign language for a variety of reasons, very often it’s just because they’ve always had a fascination for this very special, beautiful language.”
“Once again the Lexington School for the Deaf shows why it is one of the finest schools of its kind in the city,” said New York State Assemblymember Michael DenDekker. “Offering this course in American Sign Language not only raises visibility for the hearing-impaired community, but provides a way to learn the communications skills necessary to lessen some of the challenges associated with deafness.”
“The Lexington School is the largest based school for the deaf in New York, and the Lexington Center is its sister agency,” Agin said.
Agin noted that the pace is tailored toward the individual and each student will learn using expressive and receptive skills.
Enrollment for the course is on a first-come, first-served basis. The classes are each two hours long, and meet once a week on Tuesdays.
The cost for the course is $150; the text book material is $35, which would be used for four semesters.
For more information about the course, contact the Lexington Center for the Deaf at 718-350-3110 or Assemblymember DenDekker’s district office at 718-457-0384 or visit the school’s website at ASL@lexnyc.org.
