Deaf Literacy Center

Mission Statement

The Deaf Literacy Center provides basic literacy instruction, life skills training, and library and information services to Deaf individuals and their families.

Facts About Deafness

	There are 28 million Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals in the United States.
	More than 120,000 Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons reside in Pinellas County, Florida.
	75% of 18 year old Deaf persons are functionally illiterate.
	The average reading level of Deaf high school graduates in the United States is roughly at the fourth grade level.
	Only one fourth of severely to profoundly Deaf students leaving school read at the fifth grade level.
	90% of Deaf children are born to hearing parents who do not communicate with them.