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The UCLA reading and writing program: an evaluation of the beginning stages.

Some individuals with developmental disabilities fail to acquire functional speech despite extensive teaching efforts. To help such individuals develop functional communication skills, a "reading and writing" program was developed. This study was designed to evaluate early parts of the program. Acquisition, transfer, and maintenance of "reading and writing" skills was examined and compared with the acquisition, transfer, and maintenance of sign language. Participants were four children with autism, who scored within the mentally retarded range on standardized tests of intellectual, adaptive, and language functioning, and three 3-year-old non-disabled children. A simultaneous-treatment design was employed to compare the rate of acquisition of "reading and writing" skills to the rate at which the participants acquired receptive and expressive signs. For the participants with autism, acquisition of "reading and writing" was more successful than receptive and expressive signing on all variables assessed. All non-disabled participants acquired all of the "reading and writing" and sign language skills, but participants with autism did not. However, "reading" was acquired slightly quicker by the participants with autism than the non-disabled participants, and the participants with autism also showed some evidence of better transfer and maintenance than the non-disabled participants did.

Autistic Disorder↗

PubMed2005

Challenges of mental health interpreting when working with deaf patients.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this present paper is to highlight some of the issues faced by therapists and sign language interpreters when working with deaf patients. CONCLUSIONS: Key issues include linguistic, interpreting and role challenges, and potential threats to the therapeutic alliance. Recommendations are made in relation to preparation strategies and training for sign language interpreters and therapists.

Deafness↗

PubMed1994

Evolution of mechanical fingerspelling hands for people who are deaf-blind.

People who are both deaf and blind can experience extreme social and informational isolation due to their inability to converse easily with others. To communicate, many of these individuals employ a tactile version of fingerspelling and/or sign language, gesture systems representing letters or words, respectively. These methods are far from ideal, however, as they permit interaction only with others who are in physical proximity, knowledgeable in sign language or fingerspelling, and willing to engage in one of these "hands-on-hands" communication techniques. The problem is further exacerbated by the fatigue of the fingers, hands, and arms during prolonged conversations. Mechanical hands that fingerspell may offer a solution to this communication situation. These devices can translate messages typed at a keyboard in person-to-person communication, receive TDD (Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf) telephone calls, and gain access to local and remote computers and the information they contain.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Dissociating linguistic and nonlinguistic gestural communication in the brain.

Gestures of the face, arms, and hands are components of signed languages used by Deaf people. Signaling codes, such as the racecourse betting code known as Tic Tac, are also made up of such gestures. Tic Tac lacks the phonological structure of British Sign Language (BSL) but is similar in terms of its visual and articulatory components. Using fMRI, we compared the neural correlates of viewing a gestural language (BSL) and a manual-brachial code (Tic Tac) relative to a low-level baseline task. We compared three groups: Deaf native signers, hearing native signers, and hearing nonsigners. None of the participants had any knowledge of Tic Tac. All three groups activated an extensive frontal-posterior network in response to both types of stimuli. Superior temporal cortex, including the planum temporale, was activated bilaterally in response to both types of gesture in all groups, irrespective of hearing status. The engagement of these traditionally auditory processing regions was greater in Deaf than hearing participants. These data suggest that the planum temporale may be responsive to visual movement in both deaf and hearing people, yet when hearing is absent early in development, the visual processing role of this region is enhanced. Greater activation for BSL than Tic Tac was observed in signers, but not in nonsigners, in the left posterior superior temporal sulcus and gyrus, extending into the supramarginal gyrus. This suggests that the left posterior perisylvian cortex is of fundamental importance to language processing, regardless of the modality in which it is conveyed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Allegations of unlawful discrimination in education: parents taking their fight for Auslan to the courts.

This paper examines the use of the Disability Discrimination Act (Commonwealth of Australia, 1992) by parents seeking access for their deaf children to native sign language in the classroom. It reviews a number of cases in which Australian parents have claimed indirect discrimination by educational authorities over their children's lack of access to instruction through Australian Sign Language (Auslan) and discusses the outcomes of such litigation. The policies endorsed by deafness organizations are contrasted with those of state educational authorities. The author discusses the limitations of a complaints-based system to address systemic discrimination and suggests the need for legislation to protect the linguistic rights of deaf children.

Australia↗

PubMed2004

Deaf persons and computer use.

Deaf person's computer use was studied (N = 227). Respondents self-administered a survey in their preferred language (voice, American Sign Language, captions, or printed English). A small nonparticipant sample was also recruited. Demographics were consistent with those in other studies of deaf people: 63% of respondents reported computer use, mostly at home; 50% of nonparticipants reported computer use. Subjects with hearing loss due to meningitis were less likely to use computers (p = .0004). Computer use was associated with English usage at home (p = .008), with hearing persons (p = .002), and with physicians and nurses (p = .00001). It was also associated with the use of Signed English as a child to communicate (p = .02), teacher use of Signed English (p = .04), and teacher use of ASL (p = .03). Two thirds of respondents reported using computers, though nonresponder data suggested less use among all deaf persons. Computer use was associated with English use and inversely associated with hearing loss due to meningitis.

Age Factors↗

PubMed1998

Knowledge and attitudes about AIDS among deaf and hard of hearing persons.

We investigated whether the public information being dispensed about Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) reaches Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D&HH) persons to the same extent as the rest of the American population. Using a self-administered written survey, modified so that D&HH persons whose primary language is American Sign Language (ASL) could understand the questions, we studied 40 D&HH and 37 hearing persons in southeast Michigan. There were no significant demographic differences between the two populations, but there were differences regarding attitudes towards and knowledge about AIDS. D&HH persons were less likely to associate sexual contact with drug users and number of sexual partners as high risk sexual behaviours, were more likely to believe that storing blood for future personal use lowers their chances of contracting AIDS, and believed that using public restrooms, kisses on the cheek and visiting an AIDS patients increased their chance of contracting AIDS. Furthermore, they were more likely to believe they did not need to change their sexual behaviour as a result of the AIDS epidemic. D&HH persons also reported different attitudes towards AIDS patients, such as they were not important to their community, dentists with AIDS should not be allowed to continue working, and landlords should be able to evict people with AIDS. Our findings suggest differences in receiving, trusting, and/or being exposed to current information about AIDS by the Deaf community, consistent with the fact that they are a minority population with distinct knowledge and cultural traditions.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed2006

Examining the communication skills of a young cochlear implant pioneer.

The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to closely examine one deaf child's experience with a cochlear implant and his speech, language, and communication skills from kindergarten through middle and high school using both developmental and sociocultural frameworks. The target child was one of the first children to receive a cochlear implant in the United States in 1988, when he was 5 years of age. The developmental analysis revealed that prior to receiving a cochlear implant the child demonstrated profound delays in speech and language skill development. His speech and language skills grew slowly during the first 3-4 years following implantation, very rapidly from about 5 through 7 years postimplantation, then slowed to rates that were highly similar to same-age peers with normal hearing. The sociocultural analysis revealed that the child's communicative competence improved; that he used sign language but use of sign language decreased as his oral communication skills improved; that as his oral communication skills improved, the adults talked and directed the topic of conversation less frequently; and that topics became less concrete and more personal over time. The results of this study indicate that we may learn more about how to support children who use cochlear implants by examining what they are saying as well as how they are saying it.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1995

She won't look at me.

Early-onset hearing impairment is a common disability in the United States. Persons with hearing loss, whether they use American Sign Language or lip-read, must look at those with whom they are speaking. Lip reading is not a reliable method of communication for most deaf persons. Reading and writing also limit the amount of communication between health care providers and deaf patients. The best way to communicate with most deaf persons is through a qualified American Sign Language interpreter. This paper discusses communication with deaf persons and ways in which health care providers and hospitals can improve their interactions with deaf patients.

Communication Devices for People with Disabilities↗

PubMed1981

The invariance of sentence performance structures across language modality.

Native users of American Sign Language were asked to manipulate sentences in four different ways: sign them at slow rate, parse them, make relatedness judgments of pairs of signs taken from each sentence, and recall the sentences. The data obtained from these four tasks (pause durations, parsing values, indices of relatedness and probe latencies) were used to construct hierarchical performance structures for each of the sentences. The resulting structures were highly similar across tasks; that is, performance structures are not task specific. The four measures at each sign boundary in each sentence were well predicted by a performance model, elaborated by Grosjean, Grosjean, and Lane for speech, that combines a parsing measure with a symmetry measure. Thus performance structures appear to be founded in the processing of language, be it visual or oral, and not in the properties of any particular communication modality.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

[An investigation of the experiences of hearing-impaired people undergoing medical examinations in health-checkups].

OBJECTIVE: The end purpose of this research is to ascertain modifications that are needed in order to provide an environment in which hearing-impaired people can receive health-checkups equivalent to those received by people with normal hearing. The problems experienced by hearing-impaired person when undergoing a health consultation was thus investigated and differences in the requirements of deaf people and those with impaired hearing were also examined. METHODS: Questionnaires were completed by 250 members of the Tokyo Federation of the Deaf and 100 members of the Tokyo Association for the Hard of Hard of Hearing. Areas investigated included, the person's history of health-checkups, aspects of medical examinations found to be inconvenient, communication that occurred during medical examinations, communication that a hearing-impaired person experts of a hospital, and methods by which hospitals could ensure information was understood. Responses to questionnaires were compared between the members of Tokyo Federation of the Deaf and the members of Tokyo Association for the Hard of Hearing. RESULTS: Of 151 subjects enrolled in the present study, 56 were male and 96 were female (2 did not reveal their gender). Respondents were aged between 21-85 years (mean 54.8 years), with 50.3% receiving an annual health-checkup. The problems described by respondents in the context of a medical examination included; 1) not being able to recognize when their turn to be seen had arrived, even if called by name, 2) not being able to understand medical information and instructions given by healthcare staff. In order to ensure they understood the information given, respondents described measures that they wished to see implemented. These differed between the 2 organizations, with members of the Tokyo Federation of the Deaf wanting information to be provided in both sign language and written form, whereas members of the Tokyo Association for the Hard of Hearing wished only for written information. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to people with normal hearing, relatively few hearing-impaired people receive health checkups. In order to ensure that hearing-impaired people can understand the information given, and therefore receive maximal health benefits, while reducing the risk of potentially harmful mishearing of advice, both sign language and written information are required.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

A data mining technique for discovering distinct patterns of hand signs: implications in user training and computer interface design.

Hand signs are considered as one of the important ways to enter information into computers for certain tasks. Computers receive sensor data of hand signs for recognition. When using hand signs as computer inputs, we need to (1) train computer users in the sign language so that their hand signs can be easily recognized by computers, and (2) design the computer interface to avoid the use of confusing signs for improving user input performance and user satisfaction. For user training and computer interface design, it is important to have a knowledge of which signs can be easily recognized by computers and which signs are not distinguishable by computers. This paper presents a data mining technique to discover distinct patterns of hand signs from sensor data. Based on these patterns, we derive a group of indistinguishable signs by computers. Such information can in turn assist in user training and computer interface design.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2006

Teaching manual communication to preservice teachers of the deaf in an accredited comprehensive undergraduate teacher preparation program.

NOTING THAT there are no standardized manual communication curricula or proficiency assessments available to teacher preparation programs, the author used a case study to describe how preservice teachers of the deaf are taught to incorporate American Sign Language and various forms of signed English as effective communication tools for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. An accredited undergraduate teacher preparation program located in a rural area was selected for the study. Eight curricular components were examined, and data were triangulated from observations, interviews, and document analyses. The author found (a) that manual communication was taught in three required courses making up 6.57% of the overall curriculum, (b) direct application to the classroom was limited, and (c) there was minor misalignment across the eight curricular components examined. The program did not require an exit-level proficiency exam.

Curriculum↗

PubMed2004

Education of deaf students in Spain: legal and educational politics developments.

This article examines the legal instruments and educational politics affecting deaf persons' educational rights in Spain. We present a historical view of deaf education in Spain before and after the Congress of Milan (1880) and then introduce educational legislation and practices in recent decades. At present, Spanish legislation is moving toward recognition of sign languages and the suitability of bilingual education for deaf students at all educational levels. This is a consequence of taking into account the low academic achievement of two generations of deaf students educated in a monolingual model. Bilingual projects are now run throughout Spain. We emphasize that efforts must be made in the legal sphere to regulate the way in which professionals who know sign language and Deaf culture-teachers, interpreters, deaf adult models-are incorporated in bilingual deaf schools.

Adult↗

PubMed1983

Effects of parental deafness and early exposure to manual communication on the cognitive skills, English language skill, and field independence of young deaf adults.

Congenitally deaf college students with deaf parents who were native ASL signers (the ASL group) were compared to congenitally deaf college students who learned to sign between the ages of 6 and 12 years and who had hearing parents (the Delayed sign language group) on tests of cognitive skills, the cognitive style of field independence/dependence, and English language presented and produced through spoken, written, and sign modes. A control group of hearing college students was also included in the study. Differential effects of parental deafness and early exposure to manual communication, generally reported for deaf children, were not observed in the cognitive and communication performance of the experimental subjects. Furthermore, the Delayed sign language group performed significantly better than the ASL group on tests of speech perception and speech intelligibility. No differences on tests on cognitive skills were observed between the deaf and hearing subjects or between males and females. However, deaf females in both groups were more field dependent than deaf males and hearing females, while deaf males did not differ from hearing males. A test of speech reception skill was the only predictor of field independence for the ASL group while a test of cognitive skills was the only predictor of field independence for the other two groups.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Vulnerable but strong: deaf people challenge established understandings of deafness.

BACKGROUND: In the last 35 years, hearing majorities have, in variable degree, gradually recognized that deaf people can be strong and able and a common knowledge of deaf people as linguistic minorities is partly embraced in public life. This is by and large a result of a long-time deaf struggle for the recognition of sign language and against paternalistic policies of pity. AIM: This article aims at showing how contemporary deaf identities are crafted by balancing vulnerability and empowering forces. METHODS: In the presentation of life narratives from one deaf Norwegian and one deaf American, different aspects of being deaf are explored. These two stories have emerged from two related deaf research projects. They are deliberately chosen because they illustrate central insights gained within this research. RESULTS: The empowering aspects of being sign language users are in focus, as well as the joys of being connected to a global deaf movement. Difficulties and hardship are also part and parcel of the deaf lives displayed, and strong arguments are put forward against the medical model of deafness in particular. CONCLUSION: One conclusion is that deaf identities are vulnerable but at the same time can be strongly rewarding.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1998

Memory for faces and objects by deaf and hearing signers and hearing nonsigners.

The memory of 11 deaf and 11 hearing British Sign Language users and 11 hearing nonsigners for pictures of faces of and verbalizable objects was measured using the game Concentration. The three groups performed at the same level for the objects. In contrast the deaf signers were better for faces than the hearing signers, who in turn were superior to the hearing nonsigners, who were the worst. Three hypotheses were made: That there would be no significant difference in terms of the number of attempts between the three groups on the verbalizable object task, that the hearing and deaf signers would demonstrate superior performance to that of the hearing nonsigners on the matching faces task, and that the hearing and deaf signers would exhibit similar performance levels on the matching faces task. The first two hypotheses were supported, but the third was not. Deaf signers were found to be superior for memory for faces to hearing signers and hearing nonsigners. Possible explanations for the findings are discussed, including the possibility that deafness and the long use of sign language have additive effects.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Neural organization for recognition of grammatical and emotional facial expressions in deaf ASL signers and hearing nonsigners.

Recognition of emotional facial expressions is universal for all humans, but signed language users must also recognize certain non-affective facial expressions as linguistic markers. fMRI was used to investigate the neural systems underlying recognition of these functionally distinct expressions, comparing deaf ASL signers and hearing nonsigners. Within the superior temporal sulcus (STS), activation for emotional expressions was right lateralized for the hearing group and bilateral for the deaf group. In contrast, activation within STS for linguistic facial expressions was left lateralized only for signers and only when linguistic facial expressions co-occurred with verbs. Within the fusiform gyrus (FG), activation was left lateralized for ASL signers for both expression types, whereas activation was bilateral for both expression types for nonsigners. We propose that left lateralization in FG may be due to continuous analysis of local facial features during on-line sign language processing. The results indicate that function in part drives the lateralization of neural systems that process human facial expressions.

Adult↗