Gallaudet University in Washington DC specializes in providing post-secondary education to deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The school provides free sign- language classes to the parents of children with significant hearing problems. This allows the parents to start communicating with the child when she is younger, encouraging a healthier development of communication skills.
Located 40 miles north of the nation's capital, the city of Baltimore, Maryland is home to The Hearing and Speech Agency (HASA), a center dedicated to those challenged by hearing issues. HASA offers several American Sign Language (ASL) classes on Tuesday evenings in ten-week intervals. There are four different difficulty levels to the course, and children's classes are also available.
Washington's Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library has an adaptive services program that assists the blind, physically handicapped and deaf communities. Learning resources, accommodation material and equipment are available at the library, as are regular free classes in American Sign Language (ASL). Class schedules are posted on the library's website.
Located just across the Potomac River from Washington, the Arlington, Virgina public school system offers two ASL classes as part of its adult-education program. ASL I introduces students to making signs and to basic vocabulary; ASL II introduces concepts that can be used in conversation, as well as some basic grammatical structure. Etiquette in signing will be taught, with special attention given to simulating how hearing-impaired people experience daily living.