Special Contracts

Off-Campus Classes

The Canadian Hearing Society's (CHS) Sign Language Services Program offers American Sign Language (ASL) instruction at both our 271 Spadina Road location, and also through Special Contracts at your workplace. Corporations, agencies, and schools can arrange to have ASL classes provided at their location by a sign language instructor from the faculty of CHS. The following are what CHS can offer your organization:

• Personalized curricula
• Flexible scheduling
• Off-Campus classroom opportunities
• Survival signs
• Language development
• Communication with coworkers
• Communication with family members

Deaf instructors, who have gone through intensive training to become qualified instructors of both ASL and Deaf Culture, teach all classes for a 30-hour session. The maximum number of students per class is 15. Classes with less than 8 participants may be accommodated by decreasing the hours of instruction to 25 hours. Classes are flexible and can be suited to fit schedules and vocabulary needs.

This service is perfect for employees of businesses or organizations who need to acquire basic signing skills for workplace communication with Deaf coworkers or, with deaf consumers requiring service. This service is also ideal for people learning to sign with Deaf family members.

If you have a group of 8 or more people who want to organize a private class please contact Sign Language Services by e-mail at sls@toronto.chs.ca for further information.

Deaf Culture Presentation

We can also provide an optional Deaf Culture Presentation before classes begin. This three-hour information session explains "Deaf Culture", which plays an important role in understanding American Sign Language (ASL), giving insights into how Deaf people interpret the world around them. Deaf Culture also has many aspects, including history, values, jokes, language, education, social relations and rules, many of which will be covered in this information session.

Breaking the Sound Barriers

Please feel free to explore our website, http://www.chs.ca/info/es/index.html regarding "Breaking the Sound Barriers – Employing People Who are Deaf, Deafened and Hard of Hearing". For further information on these presentations or other issues relating to people with Deaf Culture, you can contact Sign Language Services by e-mail at sls@toronto.chs.ca.