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Neural systems mediating American sign language: effects of sensory experience and age of acquisition.

ERPs were recorded from deaf and hearing native signers and from hearing subjects who acquired ASL late or not at all as they viewed ASL signs that formed sentences. The results were compared across these groups and with those from hearing subjects reading English sentences. The results suggest that there are constraints on the organization of the neural systems that mediate formal languages and that these are independent of the modality through which language is acquired. These include different specializations of anterior and posterior cortical regions in aspects of grammatical and semantic processing and a bias for the left hemisphere to mediate aspects of mnemonic functions in language. Additionally, the results suggest that the nature and timing of sensory and language experience significantly impact the development of the language systems of the brain. Effects of the early acquisition of ASL include an increased role for the right hemisphere and for parietal cortex and this occurs in both hearing and deaf native signers. An increased role of posterior temporal and occipital areas occurs in deaf native signers only and thus may be attributable to auditory deprivation.

Adult↗

Sign language and multisensory input training of children with communication and related developmental disorders.

This report deals with the preliminary findings of a research project on simultaneous communication and multisensory input in the treatment of six autistic and communication disordered children. The children, aged 5 to 12, were taught manually signed English and speech using a multisensory-intrusion approach. The hypothesis was that such a technique would serve to alleviate the children's difficulties in information processing, organization of experience, and affect. The dependent measures were behavioral ratings derived from both structured (teaching) and unstructured (free play) sessions. The results indicate that the children manifested a consistent acquisition of sign lanuage, which in some cases transferred into verbal communication skills. Moreover, statistical analyses of some of the observed socioaffective behaviors (i.e., nonsolitary play, interaction with peers and adults, exploration, and detachment) revealed tendencies supportive of the hypothesis. The variability of the data preclude any categorical statement in relation to the hypothesis. However, the preliminary results strongly support the continuation of the study.

Auditory Perception↗

Sign language as a communication prosthesis with language-impaired children.

Many language-impaired children rely on telegraphic speech for expression. Functors such as prepositions and pronouns are mostly absent from their utterances. In an experimental analogue to clinical work, 14 3- to 11-year-old children with various levels of language impairment were exposed to drawings portraying a single scene. A meaningful sentence including either a pronoun or a preposition, which the children were not spontaneously using at pretesting, was associated with each drawing. Training the children to use the functors followed one of two approaches. The experimenter either vocalized the functor, or she vocalized and signed it. Results revealed that, for both functor acquisition and functor recall, speech and sign training was superior to speech training. Type of functor trained was also important, with prepositions faring better than pronouns. Reasons for this speech facilitation through signs, and issues related to implementation, are discussed.

Child↗

Preparing the educational interpreter. A survey of sign language interpreter training programs.

Despite rapid growth in the field of educational interpreting little is known about the formal training of educational interpreters. This gap in the research is the focus of this study. A questionnaire was sent to the directors of 50 interpreter training programs nationwide asking for information about their course work in educational interpreting and related areas; instruction in signed English systems; and the directors' opinions on certain ethical and professional questions facing the educational interpreter. The results suggest that graduates of interpreter training programs who obtain employment as public school interpreters are not adequately prepared. Training programs provide few courses on the education of deaf children, on the language systems used, and on issues specific to classroom interpreting. The directors of these programs overwhelmingly support the development of guidelines on the educational interpreter's role. They show some support for the "interpreter as tutor" role but are equivocal about the development of a special certification for educational interpreters.

Data Collection↗

The diagnostic interview schedule for deaf patients on interactive video: a preliminary investigation.

OBJECTIVE: The authors investigated the feasibility of translating the National Institute of Mental Health Quick Diagnostic Interview Schedule-III, Revised, computer version, for deaf individuals. METHOD: The study involved translation of selected scales into American Sign Language, Signed English, and speech reading; review by an advisory panel and back translator; and collection and analysis of deaf individuals' reactions to translations. RESULTS: Focus groups responded favorably, translation problems were revealed, and solutions were suggested. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the feasibility of translation of the Quick Diagnostic Interview Schedule-III, Revised, into American Sign Language, Signed English, and speech reading for deaf patients.

Adolescent↗

Brain organization for language: clues from sign aphasia.

Since sign language conveys many grammatical relations by manipulating spatial relations, its study provides a unique opportunity to investigate cerebral specialization for language. Three deaf signers with damage to the left hemisphere were administered an array of formal sign language tests and a linguistic analysis of their spontaneous signing was performed. All three signers showed aphasia for sign language. Strikingly, in these patients, differential damage within the left hemisphere appeared to lead to selective impairment of the structural layers of sign language (e.g. lexicon versus grammar). These data provide the first demonstration of grammatical breakdown in sign language. Importantly, the language impairments of these patients stood in marked contrast to their relatively intact capacities to process nonlanguage visual-spatial relationships. These results suggest that the two cerebral hemispheres of deaf signers can develop separate specializations for linguistic and for visual-spatial processing, even for a visual-spatial language. They further suggest that the left hemisphere has an innate predisposition for language.

Adult↗