Hearing impaired students need the opportunity to develop their creative reading ability (the ability to acquire ideas and information through printed words, to apply them to personal problems, and to attempt to resolve those problems). Although many hearing impaired students have the intelligence to be successful readers, they have been discouraged by the attitudes of others toward their deafness. A hearing impaired program with small classes that encourages students to share their common problems and to develop skills in many areas can improve self-esteem and then permit the improvement of reading skills, comprehension, vocabulary, concentration, and memory. A program developed along these lines at Ohlone Community College in Fremont, California, has been shown to produce significant gains in the creative reading potentials of hearing impaired students. Students who have been successful in such a program may procede to regular classes with hearing students. (TJ)