Programs

Life Skills

The Life Skills Development Program assists clients who are deaf, intellectually disabled, or have mental health needs by improving daily living skills and fostering independence. It promotes self-growth through enhanced communication and social interaction. All staff are fluent in American Sign Language, knowledgeable about Deaf Culture, and trained to support this population. HDS programs also collaborate with the community, such as with students from the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Duquesne University and residents at UPMC Shadyside Family Medicine, who learn to accommodate deaf individuals in medical settings.


Contact: Dave Cummings, Director, Pittsburgh Life Skills, dcummings@hdscenter.org

Our program is designed to support clients in a variety of essential skill areas. In academics, clients build foundational reading, writing, and math skills. Instruction is tailored to individual proficiency levels - some may work on reading simple sentences, while others focus on solving multiplication problems.


Social skills development is another key focus. Clients gain social awareness and learn how to build meaningful interpersonal relationships. Training also includes workplace readiness - covering topics such as job interviews, appropriate work behavior, and understanding income.


In physical education, clients explore personal hygiene, nutrition, and basic human biology. They also engage in exercises that promote physical fitness and overall health.


Computer training is customized to accommodate various skill levels, ranging from basic typing to using programs like Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.


Finally, clients are introduced to Deaf culture, including American Sign Language and appropriate conversation etiquette. This helps foster respectful and effective communication within the Deaf community.

American Sign Language

Many deaf people rely on sign language as their primary mode of communication. Just like English, sign language has many forms and dialects, depending on a person’s background, education, geography, and the age at which they became deaf. However, significant differences in the grammatical structure of the two languages often create communication gaps.


Sign Language interpreters bridge the communication barrier between hearing and deaf persons by conveying the purpose, thought, and spirit of the message in a consumers’ preferred mode of communication from oral transliterating to American Sign Language.


The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), gives persons who are deaf or hard of hearing the right to accessible communication. In many situations, this calls for qualified interpreters to facilitate interactions between persons with a hearing loss and hearing persons. The ADA mandates that public or private entities are responsible for providing this accessibility.

Schedule an ASL Interpreter

Interpreters are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. During emergencies, we have been able to have an interpreter on site in an hour or less.