This discussion of the use of distance education for deaf students argues that distance education methodologies appear to be relatively attractive to the hearing impaired student because they rely to a substantial extent upon the written word and visual transmission of information. Several projects that use computer or interactive systems to teach language to deaf students are discussed, and it is noted that deaf students seem to interact well with a computerized system, in particular because they feel that working at a terminal is an "adult" task which maintains their interest. It is suggested that distance education systems for the deaf should be developed with interactive capabilities so that these students are not isolated from their teachers or other students. An example of such a system is described--the British Open University's CYCLOPS system, which is a distance telewriting system that permits the tutor to generate visual information and transmit over telephone lines, with student response via a light pen on the screen. Computer conferencing systems are also cited as types of systems that would enable such interaction for hearing impaired students. (EW)