This story has been updated.
Planned Parenthood of Delaware (PPDE) releases a series of sex education videos in American Sign Language for Deaf middle and high school students.
PPDE received grant money from Planned Parenthood Federation of America to create four videos that tackle topics like consent, body image, birth control, STIs and identity.
PPDE Disabilities Program Coordinator Quinn Vermillion says while she was interning at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, she saw a "huge need" for more materials for Deaf and hard of hearing students.
She explains consulting with the Deaf community was a priority for the project, including hiring hard-of-hearing actors and producers.
“We knew from the very beginning that we needed to have a Deaf videographer team because how can you film a series in American sign language with hearing videographers? They don't know even what they’re seeing, they don't know how to do the editing, they don’t know what they’d be clipping," she said.
Vermillion says accessibility was another large component, including making the videos free to access on YouTube, adding Spanish and English captioning and voiceover from some of the actors.
"I realized I was in a room of people who think like me — in a room of people who are very invested and very passionate about explaining education, of getting this education out there." one of the actors, Phoenix Cook, said.
In addition to the free videos, educators can access a free supplemental lesson plan.
“The lessons really try to capture a variety of different needs that the students might have. Some are very simple, the activities, some are a little more complex, they go deeper, and it's up to the educator to decide what matches their students."
Vermillion presented the videos at the American Medical Professionals with Hearing Loss conference and hopes attendees will continue to spread the word about the material availability, noting there was a lot of positive reception.
PPDE was able to pilot the lessons at the Delaware School for the Deaf, but Vermillion hopes to promote the videos to all deaf schools nationwide.
"So the videos just launched last month, and now it's summer, so in the fall, hopefully this will really take off. We are also going to be putting a lot of effort into reaching out to different Deaf schools across the U.S. right now, in this summer period before the next school year starts and again at the beginning of the school year to make sure that people know about it. There are roughly 85 Deaf schools in the country, and we're going to be trying to reach out to all of them."
